{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1150/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1150","id":"gutenberg_1150","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1150","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Medieval/Middle Ages","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Denmark -- History -- To 1241","Folklore -- Scandinavia"],"text":"Produced by Douglas B. Killings and David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DANISH HISTORY,\n\nBOOKS I-IX\n\nby\n\nSaxo Grammaticus\n\n(\"Saxo the Learned\") fl. Late 12th - Early 13th Century A.D.\n\n\n     PREPARER'S NOTE:\n\n     Originally written in Latin in the early years of the 13th\n     Century A.D. by the Danish historian Saxo, of whom little is\n     known except his name.\n\n     The text of this edition is based on that published as\n     \"The Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus\",\n     translated by Oliver Elton (Norroena Society, New York, 1905).\n     This edition is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN in the United States.\n\n     This electronic edition was edited, proofed, and prepared by\n     Douglas B. Killings.\n\n     The preparer would like to thank Mr. James W. Marchand and Mr.\n     Jessie D. Hurlbut for their invaluable assistance in the\n     production of this electronic text.  Thank you.  I am indebted to\n     you both.\n\n     Although Saxo wrote 16 books of his \"Danish History\", only the\n     first nine were ever translated by Mr. Oliver Elton; it is these\n     nine books that are here included.  As far as the preparer knows,\n     there is (unfortunately) no public domain English translation of\n     Books X-XVI.  Those interested in the latter books should search\n     for the translation mentioned below.\n\n\n\n\nSELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:\n\nORIGINAL TEXT--\n\nOlrik, J and Raeder (Ed.): \"Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum\"\n(Copenhagen, 1931).\n\nDansk Nationallitteraert Arkiv: \"Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum\" (DNA,\nCopenhagen, 1996). Web-based Latin edition of Saxo, substantiallly based\non the above edition; currently at the\n\n\nOTHER TRANSLATIONS--\n\nFisher, Peter (Trans.) and Hilda Ellis Davidson (Ed.): \"Saxo\nGrammaticus: History of the Danes\" (Brewer, Cambridge, 1979).\n\n\nRECOMMENDED READING--\n\nJones, Gwyn: \"History of the Vikings\" (Oxford University Press, Oxford,\n1968, 1973, 1984).\n\nSturlson, Snorri: \"The Heimskringla\" (Translation: Samual Laing, London,\n1844; released as Online Medieval and Classical Library E-text\n#15, 1996). Web version at the following URL:\nhttp://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Heimskringla/\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\n\n\nSAXO'S POSITION.\n\nSaxo Grammaticus, or \"The Lettered\", one of the notable historians of\nthe Middle Ages, may fairly be called not only the earliest chronicler\nof Denmark, but her earliest writer. In the latter half of the twelfth\ncentury, when Iceland was in the flush of literary production, Denmark\nlingered behind. No literature in her vernacular, save a few Runic\ninscriptions, has survived. Monkish annals, devotional works, and lives\nwere written in Latin; but the chronicle of Roskild, the necrology of\nLund, the register of gifts to the cloister of Sora, are not literature.\nNeither are the half-mythological genealogies of kings; and besides, the\nmass of these, though doubtless based on older verses that are lost,\nare not proved to be, as they stand, prior to Saxo. One man only, Saxo's\nelder contemporary, Sueno Aggonis, or Sweyn (Svend) Aageson, who wrote\nabout 1185, shares or anticipates the credit of attempting a connected\nrecord. His brief draft of annals is written in rough mediocre Latin.\nIt names but a few of the kings recorded by Saxo, and tells little that\nSaxo does not. Yet there is a certain link between the two writers.\nSweyn speaks of Saxo with respect; he not obscurely leaves him the task\nof filling up his omissions. Both writers, servants of the brilliant\nBishop Absalon, and probably set by him upon their task, proceed, like\nGeoffrey of Monmouth, by gathering and editing mythical matter. This\nthey more or less embroider, and arrive in due course insensibly at\nactual history. Both, again, thread their stories upon a genealogy of\nkings in part legendary. Both write at the spur of patriotism, both to\nlet Denmark linger in the race for light and learning, and desirous to\nsave her glories, as other nations have saved theirs, by a record. But\nwhile Sweyn only made a skeleton chronicle, Saxo leaves a memorial in\nwhich historian and philologist find their account. His seven later\nbooks are the chief Danish authority for the times which they relate;\nhis first nine, here translated, are a treasure of myth and folk-lore.\nOf the songs and stories which Denmark possessed from the common\nScandinavian stock, often her only native record is in Saxo's Latin.\nThus, as a chronicler both of truth and fiction, he had in his own\nland no predecessor, nor had he any literary tradition behind him.\nSingle-handed, therefore, he may be said to have lifted the dead-weight\nagainst him, and given Denmark a writer. The nature of his work will be\ndiscussed presently.\n\n\n\n\nLIFE OF SAXO.\n\nOf Saxo little is known but what he himself indicates, though much\ndoubtful supposition has gathered round his name.\n\nThat he was born a Dane his whole language implies; it is full of a glow\nof aggressive patriotism. He also often praises the Zealanders at the\nexpense of other Danes, and Zealand as the centre of Denmark; but that\nis the whole contemporary evidence for the statement that he was a\nZealander. This statement is freely taken for granted three centuries\nafterwards by Urne in the first edition of the book (1514), but is not\ntraced further back than an epitomator, who wrote more than 200 years\nafter Saxo's death. Saxo tells us that his father and grandfather fought\nfor Waldemar the First of Denmark, who reigned from 1157 to 1182. Of\nthese men we know nothing further, unless the Saxo whom he names as one\nof Waldemar's admirals be his grandfather, in which case his family was\none of some distinction and his father and grandfather probably \"King's\nmen\". But Saxo was a very common name, and we shall see the licence of\nhypothesis to which this fact has given rise. The notice, however,\nhelps us approximately towards Saxo's birth-year. His grandfather, if\nhe fought for Waldemar, who began to reign in 1157, can hardly have been\nborn before 1100, nor can Saxo himself have been born before 1145 or\n1150. But he was undoubtedly born before 1158, since he speaks of the\ndeath of Bishop Asker, which took place in that year, as occurring \"in\nour time\". His life therefore covers and overlaps the last half of the\ntwelfth century.\n\nHis calling and station in life are debated. Except by the anonymous\nZealand chronicler, who calls him Saxo \"the Long\", thus giving us the\none personal detail we have, he has been universally known as Saxo\n\"Grammaticus\" ever since the epitomator of 1431 headed his compilation\nwith the words, \"A certain notable man of letters (\"grammaticus\"), a\nZealander by birth, named Saxo, wrote,\" etc. It is almost certain that\nthis general term, given only to men of signal gifts and learning,\nbecame thus for the first time, and for good, attached to Saxo's name.\nSuch a title, in the Middle Ages, usually implied that its owner was\na churchman, and Saxo's whole tone is devout, though not conspicuously\nprofessional.\n\nBut a number of Saxos present themselves in the same surroundings with\nwhom he has been from time to time identified. All he tells us himself\nis, that Absalon, Archbishop of Lund from 1179 to 1201, pressed him, who\nwas \"the least of his companions, since all the rest refused the task\",\nto write the history of Denmark, so that it might record its glories\nlike other nations. Absalon was previously, and also after his\npromotion, Bishop of Roskild, and this is the first circumstance giving\ncolour to the theory--which lacks real evidence--that Saxo the historian\nwas the same as a certain Saxo, Provost of the Chapter of Roskild,\nwhose death is chronicled in a contemporary hand without any mark of\ndistinction. It is unlikely that so eminent a man would be thus barely\nnamed; and the appended eulogy and verses identifying the Provost and\nthe historian are of later date. Moreover, the Provost Saxo went on\na mission to Paris in 1165, and was thus much too old for the theory.\nNevertheless, the good Bishop of Roskild, Lave Urne, took this identity\nfor granted in the first edition, and fostered the assumption. Saxo was\na cleric; and could such a man be of less than canonical rank? He was\n(it was assumed) a Zealander; he was known to be a friend of Absalon,\nBishop of Roskild. What more natural than that he should have been the\nProvost Saxo? Accordingly this latter worthy had an inscription in gold\nletters, written by Lave Urne himself, affixed to the wall opposite his\ntomb.\n\nEven less evidence exists for identifying our Saxo with the scribe of\nthat name--a comparative menial--who is named in the will of Bishop\nAbsalon; and hardly more warranted is the theory that he was a member,\nperhaps a subdeacon, of the monastery of St. Laurence, whose secular\ncanons formed part of the Chapter of Lund. It is true that Sweyn\nAageson, Saxo's senior by about twenty years, speaks (writing about\n1185) of Saxo as his \"contubernalis\". Sweyn Aageson is known to have had\nstrong family connections with the monastery of St. Laurence; but there\nis only a tolerably strong probability that he, and therefore that Saxo,\nwas actually a member of it. (\"Contubernalis\" may only imply comradeship\nin military service.) Equally doubtful is the consequence that\nsince Saxo calls himself \"one of the least\" of Absalon's \"followers\"\n(\"comitum\"), he was probably, if not the inferior officer, who is called\nan \"acolitus\", at most a sub-deacon, who also did the work of a superior\n\"acolitus\". This is too poor a place for the chief writer of Denmark,\nhigh in Absalon's favor, nor is there any direct testimony that Saxo\nheld it.\n\nHis education is unknown, but must have been careful. Of his training\nand culture we only know what his book betrays. Possibly, like other\nlearned Danes, then and afterwards, he acquired his training and\nknowledge at some foreign University. Perhaps, like his contemporary\nAnders Suneson, he went to Paris; but we cannot tell. It is not even\ncertain that he had a degree; for there is really little to identify him\nwith the \"M(agister) Saxo\" who witnessed the deed of Absalon founding\nthe monastery at Sora.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY.\n\nHow he was induced to write his book has been mentioned. The expressions\nof modesty Saxo uses, saying that he was \"the least\" of Absalon's\n\"followers\", and that \"all the rest refused the task\", are not to be\ntaken to the letter. A man of his parts would hardly be either the least\nin rank, or the last to be solicited. The words, however, enable us to\nguess an upward limit for the date of the inception of the work. Absalon\nbecame Archbishop in 1179, and the language of the Preface (written,\nas we shall see, last) implies that he was already Archbishop when he\nsuggested the History to Saxo. But about 1185 we find Sweyn Aageson\ncomplimenting Saxo, and saying that Saxo \"had `determined' to set forth\nall the deeds\" of Sweyn Estridson, in his eleventh book, \"at greater\nlength in a more elegant style\". The exact bearing of this notice on\nthe date of Saxo's History is doubtful. It certainly need not imply that\nSaxo had already written ten books, or indeed that he had written\nany, of his History. All we call say is, that by 1185 a portion of the\nhistory was planned. The order in which its several parts were composed,\nand the date of its completion, are not certainly known, as Absalon died\nin 1201. But the work was not then finished; for, at the end of Bk. XI,\none Birger, who died in 1202, is mentioned as still alive.\n\nWe have, however, a yet later notice. In the Preface, which, as its\nwhole language implies, was written last, Saxo speaks of Waldemar II\nhaving \"encompassed (`complexus') the ebbing and flowing waves of Elbe.\"\nThis language, though a little vague, can hardly refer to anything but\nan expedition of Waldemar to Bremen in 1208. The whole History was in\nthat case probably finished by about 1208. As to the order in which its\nparts were composed, it is likely that Absalon's original instruction\nwas to write a history of Absalon's own doings. The fourteenth and\nsucceeding books deal with these at disproportionate length, and\nAbsalon, at the expense even of Waldemar, is the protagonist. Now Saxo\nstates in his Preface that he \"has taken care to follow the statements\n(\"asserta\") of Absalon, and with obedient mind and pen to include both\nhis own doings and other men's doings of which he learnt.\"\n\nThe latter books are, therefore, to a great extent, Absalon's personally\ncommunicated memoirs. But we have seen that Absalon died in 1201,\nand that Bk. xi, at any rate, was not written after 1202. It almost\ncertainly follows that the latter books were written in Absalon's\nlife; but the Preface, written after them, refers to events in 1208.\nTherefore, unless we suppose that the issue was for some reason\ndelayed, or that Saxo spent seven years in polishing--which is not\nimpossible--there is some reason to surmise that he began with that\nportion of his work which was nearest to his own time, and added\nthe previous (especially the first nine, or mythical) books, as a\ncompletion, and possibly as an afterthought. But this is a point which\nthere is no real means of settling. We do not know how late the Preface\nwas written, except that it must have been some time between 1208 and\n1223, when Anders Suneson ceased to be Archbishop; nor do we know when\nSaxo died.\n\n\n\n\nHISTORY OF THE WORK.\n\nNothing is stranger than that a work of such force and genius, unique in\nDanish letters, should have been forgotten for three hundred years, and\nhave survived only in an epitome and in exceedingly few manuscripts. The\nhistory of the book is worth recording. Doubtless its very merits, its\n\"marvellous vocabulary, thickly-studded maxims, and excellent variety of\nimages,\" which Erasmus admired long afterwards, sealed it to the vulgar.\nA man needed some Latin to appreciate it, and Erasmus' natural wonder\n\"how a Dane at that day could have such a force of eloquence\" is a\nmeasure of the rarity both of the gift and of a public that could\nappraise it. The epitome (made about 1430) shows that Saxo was felt to\nbe difficult, its author saying: \"Since Saxo's work is in many places\ndiffuse, and many things are said more for ornament than for historical\ntruth, and moreover his style is too obscure on account of the number\nof terms (\"plurima vocabula\") and sundry poems, which are unfamiliar to\nmodern times, this opuscle puts in clear words the more notable of\nthe deeds there related, with the addition of some that happened after\nSaxo's death.\" A Low-German version of this epitome, which appeared in\n1485, had a considerable vogue, and the two together \"helped to drive\nthe history out of our libraries, and explains why the annalists and\ngeographers of the Middle Ages so seldom quoted it.\" This neglect\nappears to have been greatest of all in Denmark, and to have lasted\nuntil the appearance of the \"First Edition\" in 1511.\n\nThe first impulse towards this work by which Saxo was saved, is found\nin a letter from the Bishop of Roskild, Lave Urne, dated May 1512, to\nChristian Pederson, Canon of Lund, whom he compliments as a lover of\nletters, antiquary, and patriot, and urges to edit and publish \"tam\ndivinum latinae eruditionis culmen et splendorem Saxonem nostrum\".\nNearly two years afterwards Christian Pederson sent Lave Urne a copy of\nthe first edition, now all printed, with an account of its history. \"I\ndo not think that any mortal was more inclined and ready for\" the task.\n\"When living at Paris, and paying heed to good literature, I twice sent\na messenger at my own charges to buy a faithful copy at any cost, and\nbring it back to me. Effecting nothing thus, I went back to my country\nfor this purpose; I visited and turned over all the libraries, but still\ncould not pull out a Saxo, even covered with beetles, bookworms, mould,\nand dust. So stubbornly had all the owners locked it away.\" A worthy\nprior, in compassion offered to get a copy and transcribe it with his\nown hand, but Christian, in respect for the prior's rank, absurdly\ndeclined. At last Birger, the Archbishop of Lund, by some strategy, got\na copy, which King Christian the Second allowed to be taken to Paris on\ncondition of its being wrought at \"by an instructed and skilled graver\n(printer).\" Such a person was found in Jodocus Badius Ascenshls, who\nadds a third letter written by himself to Bishop Urne, vindicating his\napplication to Saxo of the title Grammaticus, which he well defines\nas \"one who knows how to speak or write with diligence, acuteness, or\nknowledge.\" The beautiful book he produced was worthy of the zeal, and\nunsparing, unweariable pains, which had been spent on it by the band\nof enthusiasts, and it was truly a little triumph of humanism. Further\neditions were reprinted during the sixteenth century at Basic and at\nFrankfort-on-Main, but they did not improve in any way upon the first;\nand the next epoch in the study of Saxo was made by the edition and\nnotes of Stephanus Johansen Stephanius, published at Copenhagen in\nthe middle of the seventeenth century (1644). Stephanius, the first\ncommentator on Saxo, still remains the best upon his language. Immense\nknowledge of Latin, both good and bad (especially of the authors Saxo\nimitated), infinite and prolix industry, a sharp eye for the text, and\ncontinence in emendation, are not his only virtues. His very bulkiness\nand leisureliness are charming; he writes like a man who had eternity to\nwrite in, and who knew enough to fill it, and who expected readers of an\nequal leisure. He also prints some valuable notes signed with the famous\nname of Bishop Bryniolf of Skalholt, a man of force and talent, and\nothers by Casper Barth, \"corculum Musarum\", as Stephanius calls him,\nwhose textual and other comments are sometimes of use, and who worked\nwith a MS. of Saxo. The edition of Klotz, 1771, based on that of\nStephanius, I have but seen; however, the first standard commentary is\nthat begun by P. E. Muller, Bishop of Zealand, and finished after his\ndeath by Johan Velschow, Professor of History at Copenhagen, where the\nfirst part of the work, containing text and notes, was published in\n1839; the second, with prolegomena and fuller notes, appearing in 1858.\nThe standard edition, containing bibliography, critical apparatus based\non all the editions and MS. fragments, text, and index, is the admirable\none of that indefatigable veteran, Alfred Holder, Strasburg, 1886.\n\nHitherto the translations of Saxo have been into Danish. The first that\nsurvives, by Anders Soffrinson Vedel, dates from 1575, some sixty years\nafter the first edition. In such passages as I have examined it is\nvigorous, but very free, and more like a paraphrase than a translation,\nSaxo's verses being put into loose prose. Yet it has had a long life,\nhaving been modified by Vedel's grandson, John Laverentzen, in 1715,\nand reissued in 1851. The present version has been much helped by the\ntranslation of Seier Schousbolle, published at Copenhagen in 1752. It is\ntrue that the verses, often the hardest part, are put into periphrastic\nverse (by Laurentius Thura, c. 1721), and Schousbolle often does not\nface a difficulty; but he gives the sense of Saxo simply and concisely.\nThe lusty paraphrase by the enthusiastic Nik. Fred. Sev. Grundtvig, of\nwhich there have been several editions, has also been of occasional use.\nNo other translations, save of a scrap here and there into German, seem\nto be extant.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MSS.\n\nIt will be understood, from what has been said, that no complete MS. of\nSaxo's History is known. The epitomator in the fourteenth century, and\nKrantz in the seventeenth, had MSS. before them; and there was that one\nwhich Christian Pedersen found and made the basis of the first edition,\nbut which has disappeared. Barth had two manuscripts, which are said to\nhave been burnt in 1636. Another, possessed by a Swedish parish\npriest, Aschaneus, in 1630, which Stephenhis unluckily did not know of,\ndisappeared in the Royal Archives of Stockholm after his death. These\nare practically the only MSS. of which we have sure information,\nexcepting the four fragments that are now preserved. Of these by far the\nmost interesting is the \"Angers Fragment.\"\n\nThis was first noticed in 1863, in the Angers Library, where it was\nfound degraded into the binding of a number of devotional works and a\ntreatise on metric, dated 1459, and once the property of a priest at\nAlencon. In 1877 M. Gaston Paris called the attention of the learned to\nit, and the result was that the Danish Government received it next year\nin exchange for a valuable French manuscript which was in the Royal\nLibrary at Copenhagen. This little national treasure, the only piece of\ncontemporary writing of the History, has been carefully photographed and\nedited by that enthusiastic and urbane scholar, Christian Bruun. In the\nopinion both of Dr. Vigfusson and M. Paris, the writing dates from about\n1200; and this date, though difficult to determine, owing to the paucity\nof Danish MSS. of the 12th and early lath centuries, is confirmed by the\ncharacter of the contents. For there is little doubt that the Fragment\nshows us Saxo in the labour of composition. The MSS. looks as if\nexpressly written for interlineation. Besides a marginal gloss by a\nlater, fourteenth century hand, there are two distinct sets of variants,\nin different writings, interlined and running over into the margin.\nThese variants are much more numerous in the prose than in the verse.\nThe first set are in the same hand as the text, the second in another\nhand: but both of them have the character, not of variants from some\nother MSS., but of alternative expressions put down tentatively. If\neither hand is Saxo's it is probably the second. He may conceivably\nhave dictated both at different times to different scribes. No other man\nwould tinker the style in this fashion. A complete translation of all\nthese changes has been deemed unnecessary in these volumes; there is\na full collation in Holder's \"Apparatus Criticus\". The verdict of the\nAngers-Fragment, which, for the very reason mentioned, must not be taken\nas the final form of the text, nor therefore, despite its antiquity,\nas conclusive against the First Edition where the two differ, is to\nconfirm, so far as it goes, the editing of Ascensius and Pederson. There\nare no vital differences, and the care of the first editors, as well as\nthe authority of their source, is thus far amply vindicated.\n\nA sufficient account of the other fragments will be found in Holder's\nlist. In 1855 M. Kall-Rasmussen found in the private archives at\nKronborg a scrap of fourteenth century MS., containing a short passage\nfrom Bk. vii. Five years later G. F. Lassen found, at Copenhagen, a\nfragment of Bk. vi believed to be written in North Zealand, and in\nthe opinion of Bruun belonging to the same codex as Kall-Rasmussen's\nfragment. Of another longish piece, found in Copenhagen at the end of\nthe seventeenth century by Johannes Laverentzen, and belonging to a\ncodex burnt in the fire of 1728, a copy still extant in the Copenhagen\nMuseum, was made by Otto Sperling. For fragments, either extant or\nalluded to, of the later books, the student should consult the carefully\ncollated text of Holder. The whole MS. material, therefore, covers but\na little of Saxo's work, which was practically saved for Europe by the\nperseverance and fervour for culture of a single man, Bishop Urne.\n\n\n\n\nSAXO AS A WRITER.\n\nSaxo's countrymen have praised without stint his remarkable style, for\nhe has a style. It is often very bad; but he writes, he is not in\nvain called Grammaticus, the man of letters. His style is not merely\nremarkable considering its author's difficulties; it is capable at need\nof pungency and of high expressiveness. His Latin is not that of the\nGolden Age, but neither is it the common Latin of the Middle Ages. There\nare traces of his having read Virgil and Cicero. But two writers in\nparticular left their mark on him. The first and most influential is\nValerius Maximus, the mannered author of the \"Memorabilia\", who lived in\nthe first half of the first century, and was much relished in the Middle\nAges. From him Saxo borrowed a multitude of phrases, sometimes apt but\noften crabbed and deformed, as well as an exemplary and homiletic turn\nof narrative. Other idioms, and perhaps the practice of interspersing\nverses amid prose (though this also was a twelfth century Icelandic\npractice), Saxo found in a fifth-century writer, Martianus Capella, the\npedantic author of the \"De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii\" Such models\nmay have saved him from a base mediaeval vocabulary; but they were not\nworthy of him, and they must answer for some of his falsities of style.\nThese are apparent. His accumulation of empty and motley phrase, like a\ngarish bunch of coloured bladders; his joy in platitude and pomposity,\nhis proneness to say a little thing in great words, are only too easy\nto translate. We shall be well content if our version also gives some\ninkling of his qualities; not only of what Erasmus called his \"wonderful\nvocabulary, his many pithy sayings, and the excellent variety of his\nimages\"; but also of his feeling for grouping, his barbaric sense of\ncolour, and his stateliness. For he moves with resource and strength\nboth in prose and verse, and is often only hindered by his own wealth.\nWith no kind of critical tradition to chasten him, his force is often\nmisguided and his work shapeless; but he stumbles into many splendours.\n\n\n\n\nFOLK LORE INDEX.\n\nThe mass of archaic incidents, beliefs, and practices recorded by the\n12th-century writer seemed to need some other classification than a bare\nalphabetic index. The present plan, a subject-index practically,\nhas been adopted with a view to the needs of the anthropologist and\nfolk-lorist. Its details have been largely determined by the bulk and\ncharacter of the entries themselves. No attempt has been made to\nsupply full parallels from any save the more striking and obvious old\nScandinavian sources, the end being to classify material rather than to\npoint out its significance of geographic distribution. With regard to\nthe first three heads, the reader who wishes to see how Saxo compares\nwith the Old Northern poems may be referred to the Grimm Centenary\npapers, Oxford, 1886, and the Corpus Poeticurn Boreale, Oxford, 1883.\n\n\n\n\nPOLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.\n\nKing--As portrayed by Saxo, the ideal king should be (as in \"Beowulf's\nLay\") generous, brave and just. He should be a man of accomplishments,\nof unblemished body, presumably of royal kin (peasant-birth is\nconsidered a bar to the kingship), usually a son or a nephew, or brother\nof his foregoer (though no strict rule of succession seems to appear in\nSaxo), and duly chosen and acknowledged at the proper place of election.\nIn Denmark this was at a stone circle, and the stability of these\nstones was taken as an omen for the king's reign. There are exceptional\ninstances noted, as the serf-king Eormenric (cf. Guthred-Canute\nof Northumberland), whose noble birth washed out this blot of his\ncaptivity, and there is a curious tradition of a conqueror setting his\nhound as king over a conquered province in mockery.\n\nThe king was of age at twelve. A king of seven years of age has twelve\nRegents chosen in the Moot, in one case by lot, to bring him up and rule\nfor him till his majority. Regents are all appointed in Denmark, in\none case for lack of royal blood, one to Scania, one to Zealand, one to\nFunen, two to Jutland. Underkings and Earls are appointed by kings, and\nthough the Earl's office is distinctly official, succession is sometimes\ngiven to the sons of faithful fathers. The absence of a settled\nsuccession law leads (as in Muslim States) to rebellions and plots.\n\nKings sometimes abdicated, giving up the crown perforce to a rival, or\nin high age to a kinsman. In heathen times, kings, as Thiodwulf tells us\nin the case of Domwald and Yngwere, were sometimes sacrificed for\nbetter seasons (African fashion), and Wicar of Norway perishes, like\nIphigeneia, to procure fair winds. Kings having to lead in war, and\nsometimes being willing to fight wagers of battle, are short-lived as a\nrule, and assassination is a continual peril, whether by fire at a time\nof feast, of which there are numerous examples, besides the classic one\non which Biarea-mal is founded and the not less famous one of Hamlet's\nvengeance, or whether by steel, as with Hiartuar, or by trick, as in\nWicar's case above cited. The reward for slaying a king is in one case\n120 gold lbs.; 19 \"talents\" of gold from each ringleader, 1 oz. of gold\nfrom each commoner, in the story of Godfred, known as Ref's gild, \"i.e.,\nFox tax\". In the case of a great king, Frode, his death is concealed for\nthree years to avoid disturbance within and danger from without. Captive\nkings were not as a rule well treated. A Slavonic king, Daxo, offers\nRagnar's son Whitesark his daughter and half his realm, or death, and\nthe captive strangely desires death by fire. A captive king is exposed,\nchained to wild beasts, thrown into a serpent-pit, wherein Ragnar is\ngiven the fate of the elder Gunnar in the Eddic Lays, Atlakvida. The\nking is treated with great respect by his people, he is finely clad, and\nhis commands are carried out, however abhorrent or absurd, as long as\nthey do not upset customary or statute law. The king has slaves in\nhis household, men and women, besides his guard of housecarles and his\nbearsark champions. A king's daughter has thirty slaves with her, and\nthe footmaiden existed exactly as in the stories of the Wicked Waiting\nMaid. He is not to be awakened in his slumbers (cf. St. Olaf's Life,\nwhere the naming of King Magnus is the result of adherence to this\netiquette). A champion weds the king's leman.\n\nHis thanes are created by the delivery of a sword, which the king\nbolds by the blade and the thane takes by the hilt. (English earls were\ncreated by the girding with a sword. \"Taking treasure, and weapons\nand horses, and feasting in a hall with the king\" is synonymous with\nthane-hood or gesith-ship in \"Beowulf's Lay\"). A king's thanes must\navenge him if he falls, and owe him allegiance. (This was paid in the\nold English monarchies by kneeling and laying the head down at the\nlord's knee.)\n\nThe trick by which the Mock-king, or King of the Beggars (parallel to\nour Boy-bishop, and perhaps to that enigmatic churls' King of the \"O. E.\nChronicle\", s.a. 1017, Eadwiceorla-kyning) gets allegiance paid to\nhim, and so secures himself in his attack on the real king, is cleverly\ndevised. The king, besides being a counsel giver himself, and speaking\nthe law, has \"counsellors\", old and wise men, \"sapientes\" (like the\n0. E. Thyle). The aged warrior counsellor, as Starcad here and Master\nHildebrand in the \"Nibelungenlied\", is one type of these persons,\nanother is the false counsellor, as Woden in guise of Bruni, another\nthe braggart, as Hunferth in \"Beowulf's Lay\". At \"moots\" where laws\nare made, kings and regents chosen, cases judged, resolutions taken of\nnational importance, there are discussions, as in that armed most the\nhost.\n\nThe king has, beside his estates up and down the country, sometimes\n(like Hrothgar with his palace Heorot in \"Beowulf's Lay\") a great fort\nand treasure house, as Eormenric, whose palace may well have really\nexisted. There is often a primitive and negroid character about\ndwellings of formidable personages, heads placed on stakes adorn their\nexterior, or shields are ranged round the walls.\n\nThe provinces are ruled by removable earls appointed by the king,\noften his own kinsmen, sometimes the heads of old ruling families. The\n\"hundreds\" make up the province or subkingdom. They may be granted to\nking's thanes, who became \"hundred-elders\". Twelve hundreds are in one\ncase bestowed upon a man.\n\nThe \"yeoman's\" estate is not only honourable but useful, as Starcad\ngenerously and truly acknowledges. Agriculture should be fostered and\nprotected by the king, even at the cost of his life.\n\nBut gentle birth and birth royal place certain families above the common\nbody of freemen (landed or not); and for a commoner to pretend to a\nking's daughter is an act of presumption, and generally rigorously\nresented.\n\nThe \"smith\" was the object of a curious prejudice, probably akin to that\nexpressed in St. Patrick's \"Lorica\", and derived from the smith's having\ninherited the functions of the savage weapon-maker with his poisons and\ncharms. The curious attempt to distinguish smiths into good and\nuseful swordsmiths and base and bad goldsmiths seems a merely modern\nexplanation: Weland could both forge swords and make ornaments of\nmetal. Starcad's loathing for a smith recalls the mockery with which the\nHomeric gods treat Hephaistos.\n\nSlavery.--As noble birth is manifest by fine eyes and personal beauty,\ncourage and endurance, and delicate behaviour, so the slave nature\nis manifested by cowardice, treachery, unbridled lust, bad manners,\nfalsehood, and low physical traits. Slaves had, of course, no right\neither of honour, or life, or limb. Captive ladies are sent to a\nbrothel; captive kings cruelly put to death. Born slaves were naturally\nstill less considered, they were flogged; it was disgraceful to\nkill them with honourable steel; to accept a slight service from a\nslave-woman was beneath old Starcad's dignity. A man who loved another\nman's slave-woman, and did base service to her master to obtain her as\nhis consort, was looked down on. Slaves frequently ran away to escape\npunishment for carelessness, or fault, or to gain liberty.\n\n\n\n\nCUSTOMARY LAW.\n\nThe evidence of Saxo to archaic law and customary institutions is pretty\nmuch (as we should expect) that to be drawn from the Icelandic Sagas,\nand even from the later Icelandic rimur and Scandinavian kaempe-viser.\nBut it helps to complete the picture of the older stage of North\nTeutonic Law, which we are able to piece together out of our various\nsources, English, Icelandic, and Scandinavian. In the twilight of Yore\nevery glowworm is a helper to the searcher.\n\nThere are a few MAXIMS of various times, but all seemingly drawn from\ncustom cited or implied by Saxo as authoritative:--\n\n\"It is disgraceful to be ruled by a woman.\"--The great men of Teutonic\nnations held to this maxim. There is no Boudicea or Maidhbh in our own\nannals till after the accession of the Tudors, when Great Eliza rivals\nher elder kins-women's glories. Though Tacitus expressly notices one\ntribe or confederacy, the Sitones, within the compass of his Germania,\nruled by a woman, as an exceptional case, it was contrary to the feeling\nof mediaeval Christendom for a woman to be emperor; it was not till late\nin the Middle Ages that Spain saw a queen regnant, and France has never\nyet allowed such rule. It was not till long after Saxo that the great\nqueen of the North, Margaret, wielded a wider sway than that rejected by\nGustavus' wayward daughter.\n\n\"The suitor ought to urge his own suit.\"--This, an axiom of the most\narchaic law, gets evaded bit by bit till the professional advocate takes\nthe place of the plaintiff. \"Njal's Saga\", in its legal scenes, shows\nthe transition period, when, as at Rome, a great and skilled chief\nwas sought by his client as the supporter of his cause at the Moot. In\nEngland, the idea of representation at law is, as is well known, late\nand largely derived from canon law practice.\n\n\"To exact the blood-fine was as honourable as to take vengeance.\"--This\nmaxim, begotten by Interest upon Legality, established itself both in\nScandinavia and Arabia. It marks the first stage in a progress which,\nif carried out wholly, substitutes law for feud. In the society of the\nheathen Danes the maxim was a novelty; even in Christian Denmark men\nsometimes preferred blood to fees.\n\n\nMARRIAGE.--There are many reminiscences of \"archaic marriage customs\nin Saxo.\" The capture marriage has left traces in the guarded king's\ndaughters, the challenging of kings to fight or hand over their\ndaughters, in the promises to give a daughter or sister as a reward to\na hero who shall accomplish some feat. The existence of polygamy is\nattested, and it went on till the days of Charles the Great and Harold\nFairhair in singular instances, in the case of great kings, and finally\ndisappeared before the strict ecclesiastic regulations.\n\nBut there are evidences also of later customs, such as \"marriage by\npurchase\", already looked on as archaic in Saxo's day; and the free\nwomen in Denmark had clearly long had a veto or refusal of a husband for\nsome time back, and sometimes even free choice. \"Go-betweens\" negotiate\nmarriages.\n\nBetrothal was of course the usage. For the groom to defile an espoused\nwoman is a foul reproach. Gifts made to father-in-law after bridal by\nbridegroom seem to denote the old bride-price. Taking the bride home in\nher car was an important ceremony, and a bride is taken to her future\nhusband's by her father. The wedding-feast, as in France in Rabelais'\ntime, was a noisy and drunken and tumultuous rejoicing, when\nbone-throwing was in favor, with other rough sports and jokes. The three\ndays after the bridal and their observance in \"sword-bed\" are noticed\nbelow.\n\nA commoner or one of slave-blood could not pretend to wed a high-born\nlady. A woman would sometimes require some proof of power or courage at\nher suitor's hands; thus Gywritha, like the famous lady who weds Harold\nFairhair, required her husband Siwar to be over-king of the whole land.\nBut in most instances the father or brother betrothed the girl, and she\nconsented to their choice. Unwelcome suitors perish.\n\nThe prohibited degrees were, of course, different from those established\nby the mediaeval church, and brother weds brother's widow in good\narchaic fashion. Foster-sister and foster-brother may marry, as Saxo\nnotices carefully. The Wolsung incest is not noticed by Saxo. He only\nknew, apparently, the North-German form of the Niflung story. But the\nreproachfulness of incest is apparent.\n\nBirth and beauty were looked for in a bride by Saxo's heroes, and\nchastity was required. The modesty of maidens in old days is eulogised\nby Saxo, and the penalty for its infraction was severe: sale abroad into\nslavery to grind the quern in the mud of the yard. One of the tests of\nvirtue is noticed, \"lac in ubere\".\n\nThat favourite \"motif\", the \"Patient Grizzle\", occurs, rather, however,\nin the Border ballad than the Petrarcan form.\n\n\"Good wives\" die with their husbands as they have vowed, or of grief for\ntheir loss, and are wholly devoted to their interests. Among \"bad wives\"\nare those that wed their husband's slayer, run away from their husbands,\nplot against their husbands' lives. The penalty for adultery is death to\nboth, at husband's option--disfigurement by cutting off the nose of\nthe guilty woman, an archaic practice widely spread. In one case the\nadulterous lady is left the choice of her own death. Married women's\nHomeric duties are shown.\n\nThere is a curious story, which may rest upon fact, and not be merely\ntypical, where a mother who had suffered wrong forced her daughter to\nsuffer the same wrong.\n\nCaptive women are reduced to degrading slavery as \"harlots\" in one case,\naccording to the eleventh century English practice of Gytha.\n\nTHE FAMILY AND BLOOD REVENGE.--This duty, one of the strongest links of\nthe family in archaic Teutonic society, has left deep traces in Saxo.\n\nTo slay those most close in blood, even by accident, is to incur the\nguilt of parricide, or kin-killing, a bootless crime, which can only be\npurged by religious ceremonies; and which involves exile, lest the gods'\nwrath fall on the land, and brings the curse of childlessness on the\noffender until he is forgiven.\n\nBOOTLESS CRIMES.--As among the ancient Teutons, botes and were-gilds\nsatisfy the injured who seek redress at law rather than by the steel.\nBut there are certain bootless crimes, or rather sins, that imply\n\"sacratio\", devotion to the gods, for the clearing of the community.\nSuch are treason, which is punishable by hanging; by drowning in sea.\n\nRebellion is still more harshly treated by death and forfeiture; the\nrebels' heels are bored and thonged under the sinew, as Hector's feet\nwere, and they are then fastened by the thongs to wild bulls, hunted\nby hounds, till they are dashed to pieces (for which there are classic\nparallels), or their feet are fastened with thongs to horses driven\napart, so that they are torn asunder.\n\nFor \"parricide\", i.e., killing within near degrees, the criminal is hung\nup, apparently by the heels, with a live wolf (he having acted as a wolf\nwhich will slay its fellows). Cunning avoidance of the guilt by trick is\nshown.\n\nFor \"arson\" the appropriate punishment is the fire.\n\nFor \"incestuous adultery\" of stepson with his stepmother, hanging is\nawarded to the man. In the same case Swanwhite, the woman, is punished,\nby treading to death with horses. A woman accomplice in adultery is\ntreated to what Homer calls a \"stone coat.\" Incestuous adultery is a\nfoul slur.\n\nFor \"witchcraft\", the horror of heathens, hanging was the penalty.\n\n\"Private revenge\" sometimes deliberately inflicts a cruel death for\natrocious wrong or insult, as when a king, enraged at the slaying of his\nson and seduction of his daughter, has the offender hanged, an instance\nfamous in Nathan's story, so that Hagbard's hanging and hempen necklace\nwere proverbial.\n\nFor the slayer by a cruel death of their captive father, Ragnar's sons\nact the blood-eagle on Ella, and salt his flesh. There is an undoubted\ninstance of this act of vengeance (the symbolic meaning of which is not\nclear as yet) in the \"Orkney Saga\".\n\nBut the story of Daxo and of Ref's gild show that for such wrongs\nwere-gilds were sometimes exacted, and that they were considered highly\nhonourable to the exactor.\n\nAmong OFFENCES NOT BOOTLESS, and left to individual pursuit, are:--\n\n\"Highway robbery\".--There are several stories of a type such as that of\nIngemund and Ioknl (see \"Landnamaboc\") told by Saxo of highwaymen; and\nan incident of the kind that occurs in the Theseus story (the Bent-tree,\nwhich sprung back and slew the wretch bound to it) is given. The\nromantic trick of the mechanic bed, by which a steel-shod beam is\nlet fall on the sleeping traveller, also occurs. Slain highwaymen are\ngibbeted as in Christian days.\n\n\"Assassination\", as distinct from manslaughter in vengeance for a wrong,\nis not very common. A hidden mail-coat foils a treacherous javelin-cast\n(cf. the Story of Olaf the Stout and the Blind King, Hrorec); murderers\nlurk spear-armed at the threshold, sides, as in the Icelandic Sagas; a\nqueen hides a spear-head in her gown, and murders her husband (cf.\nOlaf Tryggvason's Life). Godfred was murdered by his servant (and\nYnglingatal).\n\n\"Burglary\".--The crafty discovery of the robber of the treasury by\nHadding is a variant of the world-old Rhampsinitos tale, but less\nelaborate, possibly abridged and cut down by Saxo, and reduced to a mere\nmoral example in favour of the goldenness of silence and the danger of\nletting the tongue feed the gallows.\n\nAmong other disgraceful acts, that make the offender infamous, but do\nnot necessarily involve public action:--\n\n\"Manslaughter in Breach of Hospitality\".--Probably any gross breach of\nhospitality was disreputable and highly abhorred, but \"guest-slaughter\"\nis especially mentioned. The ethical question as to whether a man should\nslay his guest or forego his just vengeance was often a \"probleme du\njour\" in the archaic times to which these traditions witness. Ingeld\nprefers his vengeance, but Thuriswend, in the Lay cited by Paul the\nDeacon, chooses to protect his guest. Heremod slew his messmates in his\nwrath, and went forth alone into exile. (\"Beowulf's Lay\".)\n\n\"Suicide\".--This was more honourable than what Earl Siward of\nNorthumberland called a \"cow-death.\" Hadding resolves to commit suicide\nat his friend's death. Wermund resolves to commit suicide if his son be\nslain (in hopelessness of being able to avenge him, cf. \"Njal's Saga\",\nwhere the hero, a Christian, prefers to perish in his burning house than\nlive dishonoured, \"for I am an old man and little fitted to avenge my\nsons, but I will not live in shame\"). Persons commit suicide by slaying\neach other in time of famine; while in England (so Baeda tells) they\n\"decliffed\" themselves in companies, and, as in the comic little\nIcelandic tale Gautrec's birth, a Tarpeian death is noted as the\ncustomary method of relieving folks from the hateful starvation\ndeath. It is probable that the violent death relieved the ghost or\nthe survivors of some inconveniences which a \"straw death\" would have\nbrought about.\n\n\"Procedure by Wager of Battle\".--This archaic process pervades Saxo's\nwhole narrative. It is the main incident of many of the sagas from\nwhich he drew. It is one of the chief characteristics of early Teutonic\ncustom-law, and along with \"Cormac's Saga\", \"Landnamaboc\", and the\nWalter Saga, our author has furnished us with most of the information we\nhave upon its principles and practice.\n\nSteps in the process are the Challenge, the Acceptance and Settlement of\nConditions, the Engagement, the Treatment of the vanquished, the Reward\nof the conqueror, and there are rules touching each of these, enough\nalmost to furnish a kind of \"Galway code\".\n\nA challenge could not, either to war or wager of battle, be refused with\nhonor, though a superior was not bound to fight an inferior in rank. An\nally might accept for his principal, or a father for a son, but it was\nnot honourable for a man unless helpless to send a champion instead of\nhimself.\n\nMen were bound to fight one to one, and one man might decline to fight\ntwo at once. Great champions sometimes fought against odds.\n\nThe challenged man chose the place of battle, and possibly fixed the\ntime. This was usually an island in the river.\n\nThe regular weapons were swords and shields for men of gentle blood.\nThey fought by alternate separate strokes; the senior had the first\nblow. The fight must go on face to face without change of place; for the\nground was marked out for the combatants, as in our prize ring, though\none can hardly help fancying that the fighting ground so carefully\ndescribed in \"Cormac's Saga\", ch. 10, may have been Saxo's authority.\nThe combatants change places accidentally in the struggle in one story.\n\nThe combat might last, like Cuchullin's with Ferdia, several days; a\nnine days' fight occurs; but usually a few blows settled the matter.\nEndurance was important, and we are told of a hero keeping himself in\nconstant training by walking in a mail coat.\n\nThe conqueror ought not to slay his man if he were a stripling, or\nmaimed, and had better take his were-gild for his life, the holmslausn\nor ransom of \"Cormac's Saga\" (three marks in Iceland); but this was\na mere concession to natural pity, and he might without loss of honor\nfinish his man, and cut off his head, though it was proper, if the slain\nadversary has been a man of honor, to bury him afterward.\n\nThe stakes are sometimes a kingdom or a kingdom's tribute, often a lady,\nor the combatants fought for \"love\" or the point of honor. Giants\nand noted champions challenge kings for their daughters (as in the\nfictitious parts of the Icelandic family sagas) in true archaic\nfashion, and in true archaic fashion the prince rescues the lady from a\ndisgusting and evil fate by his prowess.\n\nThe champion's fee or reward when he was fighting for his principal and\ncame off successful was heavy--many lands and sixty slaves. Bracelets\nare given him; a wound is compensated for at ten gold pieces; a fee for\nkilling a king is 120 of the same.\n\nOf the incidents of the combat, beside fair sleight of fence, there is\nthe continual occurrence of the sword-blunting spell, often cast by the\neye of the sinister champion, and foiled by the good hero, sometimes\nby covering his blade with thin skin, sometimes by changing the blade,\nsometimes by using a mace or club.\n\nThe strength of this tradition sufficiently explains the necessity of\nthe great oath against magic taken by both parties in a wager of battle\nin Christian England.\n\nThe chief combats mentioned by Saxo are:--\n\nSciold v. Attila. Sciold v. Scate, for the hand of Alfhild. Gram v.\nSwarin and eight more, for the crown of the Swedes. Hadding v. Toste, by\nchallenge. Frode v. Hunding, on challenge. Frode v. Hacon, on challenge.\nHelge v. Hunding, by challenge at Stad. Agnar v. Bearce, by challenge.\nWizard v. Danish champions, for truage of the Slavs. Wizard v. Ubbe,\nfor truage of the Slavs. Coll v. Horwendill, on challenge. Athisl v.\nFrowine, meeting in battle. Athisl v. Ket and Wig, on challenge. Uffe\nv. Prince of Saxony and Champion, by challenge. Frode v. Froger, on\nchallenge. Eric v. Grep's brethren, on challenge, twelve a side. Eric\nv. Alrec, by challenge. Hedin v. Hogni, the mythic everlasting battle.\nArngrim v. Scalc, by challenge. Arngrim v. Egtheow, for truage of\nPermland. Arrow-Odd and Hialmar v. twelve sons of Arngrim Samsey fight.\nAne Bow-swayer v. Beorn, by challenge. Starkad v. Wisin, by challenge.\nStarkad v. Tanlie, by challenge. Starkad v. Wasce--Wilzce, by challenge.\nStarkad v. Hame, by challenge. Starkad v. Angantheow and eight of\nhis brethren, on challenge. Halfdan v. Hardbone and six champions,\non challenge. Halfdan v. Egtheow, by challenge. Halfdan v. Grim, on\nchallenge. Halfdan v. Ebbe, on challenge, by moonlight. Halfdan v.\nTwelve champions, on challenge. Halfdan v. Hildeger, on challenge. Ole\nv. Skate and Hiale, on challenge. Homod and Thole v. Beorn and Thore, by\nchallenge. Ref. v. Gaut, on challenge. Ragnar and three sons v. Starcad\nof Sweden and seven sons, on challenge.\n\nCIVIL PROCEDURE.--\"Oaths\" are an important art of early procedure, and\nnoticed by Saxo; one calling the gods to witness and therefor, it is\nunderstood, to avenge perjury if he spake not truth.\n\n\"Testification\", or calling witnesses to prove the steps of a legal\naction, was known, \"Glum's Saga\" and \"Landnamaboc\", and when a manslayer\nproceeded (in order to clear himself of murder) to announce the\nmanslaughter as his act, he brings the dead man's head as his proof,\nexactly as the hero in the folk-tales brings the dragon's head or tongue\nas his voucher.\n\nA \"will\" is spoken of. This seems to be the solemn declaration of\na childless man to his kinsfolk, recommending some person as his\nsuccessor. Nothing more was possible before written wills were\nintroduced by the Christian clergy after the Roman fashion.\n\n\n\n\nSTATUTE LAWS.\n\n\"Lawgivers\".--The realm of Custom had already long been curtailed by the\nconquests of Law when Saxo wrote, and some epochs of the invasion were\nwell remembered, such as Canute's laws. But the beginnings were dim, and\nthere were simply traditions of good and bad lawyers of the past; such\nwere \"Sciold\" first of all the arch-king, \"Frode\" the model lawgiver,\n\"Helge\" the tyrant, \"Ragnar\" the shrewd conqueror.\n\n\"Sciold\", the patriarch, is made by tradition to fulfil, by abolishing\nevil customs and making good laws, the ideal of the Saxon and Frankish\nCoronation oath formula (which may well go back with its two first\nclauses to heathen days). His fame is as widely spread. However, the\nonly law Saxo gives to him has a story to it that he does not plainly\ntell. Sciold had a freedman who repaid his master's manumission of him\nby the ingratitude of attempting his life. Sciold thereupon decrees\nthe unlawfulness of manumissions, or (as Saxo puts it), revoked all\nmanumissions, thus ordaining perpetual slavery on all that were or might\nbecome slaves. The heathen lack of pity noticed in Alfred's preface\nto \"Gregory's Handbook\" is illustrated here by contrast with the\nphilosophic humanity of the Civil Law, and the sympathy of the mediaeval\nChurch.\n\nBut FRODE (known also to the compiler of \"Beowulf's Lay\", 2025) had, in\nthe Dane's eyes, almost eclipsed Sciold as conqueror and lawgiver. His\nname Frode almost looks as if his epithet Sapiens had become his popular\nappellation, and it befits him well. Of him were told many stories, and\nnotably the one related of our Edwin by Bede (and as it has been told by\nmany men of many rulers since Bede wrote, and before). Frode was able to\nhang up an arm-ring of gold in three parts of his kingdom that no thief\nfor many years dared touch. How this incident (according to our version\npreserved by Saxo), brought the just king to his end is an archaic and\ninteresting story. Was this ring the Brosinga men?\n\nSaxo has even recorded the Laws of Frode in four separate bits, which we\ngive as A, B, C, D.\n\nA. is mainly a civil and military code of archaic kind:\n\n(a) The division of spoil shall be--gold to captains, silver to\nprivates, arms to champions, ships to be shared by all. Cf. Jomswickinga\nS. on the division of spoil by the law of the pirate community of Jom.\n\n(b) No house stuff to be locked; if a man used a lock he must pay a gold\nmark.\n\n(c) He who spares a thief must bear his punishment.\n\n(d) The coward in battle is to forfeit all rights (cf. \"Beowulf\", 2885).\n\n(e) Women to have free choice (or, at least, veto) in taking husbands.\n\n(f) A free woman that weds a slave loses rank and freedom (cf. Roman\nLaw).\n\n(g) A man must marry a girl he has seduced.\n\n(h) An adulterer to be mutilated at pleasure of injured husband.\n\n(i) Where Dane robbed Dane, the thief to pay double and peace-breach.\n\n(k) Receivers of stolen goods suffer forfeiture and flogging at most.\n\n(l) Deserter bearing shield against his countrymen to lose life and\nproperty.\n\n(m) Contempt of fyrd-summons or call to military service involves\noutlawry and exile.\n\n(n) Bravery in battle to bring about increase in rank (cf. the old\nEnglish \"Ranks of Men\").\n\n(o) No suit to lie on promise and pledge; fine of a gold lb. for asking\npledge.\n\n(p) Wager of battle is to be the universal mode of proof.\n\n(q) If an alien kill a Dane two aliens must suffer. (This is practically\nthe same principle as appears in the half weregild of the Welsh in West\nSaxon Law.)\n\nB. An illustration of the more capricious of the old enactments and the\njealousy of antique kings.\n\n(a) Loss of gifts sent to the king involves the official responsible; he\nshall be hanged. (This is introduced as illustration of the cleverness\nof Eric and the folly of Coll.)\n\nC. Saxo associates another set of enactments with the completion of a\nsuccessful campaign of conquest over the Ruthenians, and shows Frode\nchiefly as a wise and civilising statesman, making conquest mean\nprogress.\n\n(a) Every free householder that fell in war was to be set in his barrow\nwith horse and arms (cf. \"Vatzdaela Saga\", ch. 2).\n\nThe body-snatcher was to be punished by death and the lack of sepulture.\n\nEarl or king to be burned in his own ship.\n\nTen sailors may be burnt on one ship.\n\n(b) Ruthenians to have the same law of war as Danes.\n\n(c) Ruthenians must adopt Danish sale-marriage. (This involves\nthe abolition of the Baltic custom of capture-marriage. That\ncapture-marriage was a bar to social progress appears in the legislation\nof Richard II, directed against the custom as carried out on the borders\nof the Palatine county of Chester, while cases such as the famous one of\nRob Roy's sons speak to its late continuance in Scotland. In Ireland it\nsurvived in a stray instance or two into this century, and songs like\n\"William Riley\" attest the sympathy of the peasant with the eloping\ncouple.)\n\n(d) A veteran, one of the Doughty, must be such a man as will attack one\nfoe, will stand two, face three without withdrawing more than a little,\nand be content to retire only before four. (One of the traditional\nfolk-sayings respecting the picked men, the Doughty or Old Guard, as\ndistinguished from the Youth or Young Guard, the new-comers in the\nking's Company of House-carles. In Harald Hardrede's Life the Norwegians\ndread those English house-carles, \"each of whom is a match for four,\"\nwho formed the famous guard that won Stamford Bridge and fell about\ntheir lord, a sadly shrunken band, at Senlake.)\n\n(f) The house-carles to have winter-pay. The house-carle three pieces\nof silver, a hired soldier two pieces, a soldier who had finished his\nservice one piece.\n\n(The treatment of the house-carles gave Harald Harefoot a reputation\nlong remembered for generosity, and several old Northern kings have\nwon their nicknames by their good or ill feeding and rewarding their\ncomitatus.)\n\nD. Again a civil code, dealing chiefly with the rights of travellers.\n\n(a) Seafarers may use what gear they find (the \"remis\" of the text may\ninclude boat or tackle).\n\n(b) No house is to be locked, nor coffer, but all thefts to be\ncompensated threefold. (This, like A, b, which it resembles, seems a\npopular tradition intended to show the absolute security of Frode's\nreign of seven or three hundred years. It is probably a gloss wrongly\nrepeated.)\n\n(c) A traveller may claim a single supper; if he take more he is a\nthief (the mark of a prae-tabernal era when hospitality was waxing cold\nthrough misuse).\n\n(d) Thief and accomplices are to be punished alike, being hung up by\na line through the sinews and a wolf fastened beside. (This, which\ncontradicts A, i, k, and allots to theft the punishment proper for\nparricide, seems a mere distorted tradition.)\n\nBut beside just Frode, tradition spoke of the unjust Kinge HELGE, whose\nlaws represent ill-judged harshness. They were made for conquered races,\n(a) the Saxons and (b) the Swedes.\n\n(a) Noble and freedmen to have the same were-gild (the lower, of course,\nthe intent being to degrade all the conquered to one level, and to allow\nonly the lowest were-gild of a freedman, fifty pieces, probably, in the\ntradition).\n\n(b) No remedy for wrong done to a Swede by a Dane to be legally\nrecoverable. (This is the traditional interpretation of the conqueror's\nhaughty dealing; we may compare it with the Middle-English legends of\nthe pride of the Dane towards the conquered English. The Tradition sums\nup the position in such concrete forms as this Law of Helge's.)\n\nTwo statutes of RAGNAR are mentioned:--\n\n(a) That any householder should give up to his service in war the worst\nof his children, or the laziest of his slaves (a curious tradition, and\nused by Saxo as an opportunity for patriotic exaltation).\n\n(b) That all suits shall be absolutely referred to the judgment of\ntwelve chosen elders (Lodbroc here appearing in the strange character of\noriginator of trial by jury).\n\n\"Tributes\".--Akin to laws are the tributes decreed and imposed by kings\nand conquerors of old. Tribute infers subjection in archaic law. The\npoll-tax in the fourteenth century in England was unpopular, because of\nits seeming to degrade Englishmen to the level of Frenchmen, who paid\ntribute like vanquished men to their absolute lord, as well as for other\nreasons connected with the collection of the tax.\n\nThe old fur tax (mentioned in \"Egil's Saga\") is here ascribed to FRODE,\nwho makes the Finns pay him, every three years, a car full or sledge\nfull of skins for every ten heads; and extorts one skin per head from\nthe Perms. It is Frode, too (though Saxo has carved a number of Frodes\nout of one or two kings of gigantic personality), that made the Saxons\npay a poll-tax, a piece of money per head, using, like William the\nConqueror, his extraordinary revenue to reward his soldiers, whom he\nfirst regaled with double pay. But on the conquered folks rebelling,\nhe marked their reduction by a tax of a piece of money on every limb a\ncubit long, a \"limb-geld\" still more hateful than the \"neb-geld.\"\n\nHOTHERUS (Hodr) had set a tribute on the Kurlanders and Swedes, and\nHROLF laid a tribute on the conquered Swedes.\n\nGODEFRIDUS-GOTRIC is credited with a third Saxon tribute, a heriot of\n100 snow-white horses payable to each Danish king at his succession, and\nby each Saxon chief on his accession: a statement that, recalling sacred\nsnow-white horses kept in North Germany of yore makes one wish for\nfuller information. But Godefridus also exacted from the Swedes the\n\"Ref-gild\", or Fox-money; for the slaying of his henchman Ref, twelve\npieces of gold from each man of rank, one from every commoner. And his\nFriesland tribute is stranger still, nor is it easy to understand from\nSaxo's account. There was a long hall built, 240 feet, and divided up\ninto twelve \"chases\" of 20 feet each (probably square). There was a\nshield set up at one end, and the taxpayers hurled their money at it; if\nit struck so as to sound, it was good; if not, it was forfeit, but not\nreckoned in the receipt. This (a popular version, it may be, of some\nearly system of treasury test) was abolished, so the story goes, by\nCharles the Great.\n\nRAGNAR'S exaction from Daxo, his son's slayer, was a yearly tribute\nbrought by himself and twelve of his elders barefoot, resembling in part\nsuch submissions as occur in the Angevin family history, the case of the\nCalais burgesses, and of such criminals as the Corporation of Oxford,\nwhose penance was only finally renounced by the local patriots in our\nown day.\n\n\n\n\nWAR.\n\n\"Weapons\".--The sword is the weapon par excellence in Saxo's narrative,\nand he names several by name, famous old blades like our royal Curtana,\nwhich some believed was once Tristrem's, and that sword of Carlus, whose\nfortunes are recorded in Irish annals. Such are \"Snyrtir\", Bearce's\nsword; \"Hothing\", Agnar's blade; \"Lauf\", or \"Leaf\", Bearce's sword;\n\"Screp\", Wermund's sword, long buried and much rust-eaten, but sharp and\ntrusty, and known by its whistle; Miming's sword (\"Mistletoe\"), which\nslew Balder. Wainhead's curved blade seems to be a halbert; \"Lyusing\"\nand \"Hwiting\", Ragnald of Norway's swords; \"Logthe\", the sword of Ole\nSiward's son.\n\nThe \"war-club\" occurs pretty frequently. But it is usually introduced as\na special weapon of a special hero, who fashions a gold-headed club\nto slay one that steel cannot touch, or who tears up a tree, like the\nSpanish knight in the ballad, or who uses a club to counteract spells\nthat blunt steel. The bat-shapen archaic rudder of a ship is used as a\nclub in the story of the Sons of Arngrim.\n\nThe \"spear\" plays no particular part in Saxo: even Woden's spear Gungne\nis not prominent.\n\n\"Bows and arrows\" are not often spoken of, but archer heroes, such as\nToki, Ane Bow-swayer, and Orwar-Odd, are known. Slings and stones are\nused.\n\nThe shield, of all defensive armour, is far the most prominent. They\nwere often painted with devices, such as Hamlet's shield, Hildiger's\nSwedish shield. Dr. Vigfusson has shown the importance of these painted\nshields in the poetic history of the Scandinavians.\n\nA red shield is a signal of peace. Shields are set round ramparts on\nland as round ships at sea.\n\n\"Mail-coats\" are worn. Frode has one charmed against steel. Hother has\nanother; a mail-coat of proof is mentioned and their iron meshes are\nspoken of.\n\n\"Helmets\" are used, but not so carefully described as in \"Beowulf's\nLay\"; crested helmets and a gilded helmet occur in Bearca-mal and in\nanother poem.\n\n\"Banners\" serve as rallying points in the battle and on the march. The\nHuns' banners are spoken of in the classic passage for the description\nof a huge host invading a country. Bearcamal talks of golden banners.\n\n\"Horns\" (1) were blown pp at the beginning of the engagement and for\nsignalling. The gathering of the host was made by delivery of a wooden\narrow painted to look like iron.\n\n\"Tactics\".--The hand-to-hand fight of the wager of battle with sword\nand shield, and the fighting in ranks and the wedge-column at close\nquarters, show that the close infantry combat was the main event of the\nbattle. The preliminary hurling of stones, and shooting of arrows,\nand slinging of pebbles, were harassing and annoying, but seldom\nsufficiently important to affect the result of the main engagement.\n\nMen ride to battle, but fight on foot; occasionally an aged king is\ncar-borne to the fray, and once the car, whether by Saxo's adorning\nhand, or by tradition, is scythe-armed.\n\nThe gathered host is numbered, once, where, as with Xerxes, counting was\ntoo difficult, by making each man as he passed put a pebble in a pile\n(which piles survive to mark the huge size of Frode's army). This is,\nof course, a folktale, explaining the pebble-hills and illustrating the\nbelief in Frode's power; but armies were mustered by such expedients of\nold. Burton tells of an African army each man of whom presented an egg,\nas a token of his presence and a means of taking the number of the host.\n\nWe hear of men marching in light order without even scabbards, and\ngetting over the ice in socks.\n\nThe war equipment and habits of the Irish, light armoured, clipped at\nback of head, hurling the javelin backwards in their feigned flight; of\nthe Slavs, small blue targets and long swords; of the Finns, with their\ndarts and skees, are given.\n\nWatches are kept, and it is noted that \"uht\", the early watch\nafter midnight, is the worst to be attacked in (the duke's\ntwo-o'clock-in-the-morning courage being needed, and the darkness and\ncold helping the enemy).\n\nSpies were, of course, slain if discovered. But we have instances of\nkings and heroes getting into foeman's camps in disguise (cf. stories of\nAlfred and Anlaf).\n\nThe order of battle of Bravalla fight is given, and the ideal array of a\nhost. To Woden is ascribed the device of the boar's head, hamalt fylking\n(the swine-head array of Manu's Indian kings), the terrible column with\nwedge head which could cleave the stoutest line.\n\nThe host of Ring has men from Wener, Wermland, Gotaelf, Thotn, Wick,\nThelemark, Throndham, Sogn, Firths, Fialer, Iceland; Sweden, Gislamark,\nSigtun, Upsala, Pannonia.\n\nThe host of Harold had men from Iceland, the Danish provinces, Frisia,\nLifland; Slavs, and men from Jom, Aland, and Sleswick.\n\nThe battle of Bravalla is said to have been won by the Gotland archers\nand the men of Throndham, and the Dales. The death of Harald by\ntreachery completed the defeat, which began when Ubbe fell (after he had\nbroken the enemy's van) riddled with arrows.\n\nThe defeated, unless they could fly, got little quarter. One-fifth only\nof the population of a province are said to have survived an invasion.\nAfter sea-battles (always necessarily more deadly) the corpses choke the\nharbours. Seventy sea-kings are swept away in one sea-fight. Heads seem\nto have been taken in some cases, but not as a regular Teutonic usage,\nand the practice, from its being attributed to ghosts and aliens,\nmust have already been considered savage by Saxo, and probably by his\ninformants and authorities.\n\nPrisoners were slaves; they might be killed, put to cruel death,\noutraged, used as slaves, but the feeling in favour of mercy was\ngrowing, and the cruelty of Eormenric, who used tortures to his\nprisoners, of Rothe, who stripped his captives, and of Fro, who sent\ncaptive ladies to a brothel in insult, is regarded with dislike.\n\nWounds were looked on as honourable, but they must be in front or\nhonourably got. A man who was shot through the buttocks, or wounded in\nthe back, was laughed at and disgraced. We hear of a mother helping her\nwounded son out of battle.\n\nThat much of human interest centered round war is evident by the mass\nof tradition that surrounds the subject in Saxo, both in its public and\nprivate aspects. Quaint is the analysis of the four kinds of warriors:\n(a) The Veterans, or Doughty, who kill foes and spare flyers; (b) the\nYoung men who kill foes and flyers too; (c) the well-to-do, landed, and\npropertied men of the main levy, who neither fight for fear nor fly for\nshame; (d) the worthless, last to fight and first to fly; and curious\nare the remarks about married and unmarried troops, a matter which Chaka\npondered over in later days. Homeric speeches precede the fight.\n\n\"Stratagems of War\" greatly interested Saxo (probably because Valerius\nMaximus, one of his most esteemed models, was much occupied with such\nmatters), so that he diligently records the military traditions of the\nnotably skillful expedients of famous commanders of old.\n\nThere is the device for taking a town by means of the \"pretended death\"\nof the besieging general, a device ascribed to Hastings and many more\ncommanders (see Steenstrup Normannerne); the plan of \"firing\" a besieged\ntown by fire-bearing birds, ascribed here to Fridlev, in the case of\nDublin to Hadding against Duna (where it was foiled by all tame birds\nbeing chased out of the place).\n\nThere is the \"Birnam Wood\" stratagem, by which men advanced behind a\nscreen of boughs, which is even used for the concealment of ships, and\nthe curious legend (occurring in Irish tradition also, and recalling\nCapt. B. Hall's \"quaker gun\" story) by which a commander bluffs off his\nenemy by binding his dead to stakes in rows, as if they were living men.\n\nLess easy to understand are the \"brazen horses\" or \"machines\" driven\ninto the close lines of the enemy to crush and open them, an invention\nof Gewar. The use of hooked weapons to pull down the foes' shields and\nhelmets was also taught to Hother by Gewar.\n\nThe use of black tents to conceal encampment; the defence of a pass by\nhurling rocks from the heights; the bridge of boats across the Elbe;\nand the employment of spies, and the bold venture, ascribed in our\nchronicles to Alfred and Anlaf, of visiting in disguise the enemy's\ncamp, is here attributed to Frode, who even assumed women's clothes for\nthe purpose.\n\nFrode is throughout the typical general, as he is the typical statesman\nand law-giver of archaic Denmark.\n\nThere are certain heathen usages connected with war, as the hurling of\na javelin or shooting of an arrow over the enemy's ranks as a \"sacratio\"\nto Woden of the foe at the beginning of a battle. This is recorded in\nthe older vernacular authorities also, in exact accordance with the\nHomeric usage, \"Odyssey\" xxiv, 516-595.\n\nThe dedication of part of the spoils to the god who gave good omens for\nthe war is told of the heathen Baltic peoples; but though, as Sidonius\nrecords, it had once prevailed among the Saxons, and, as other witnesses\nadd, among the Scandinavian people, the tradition is not clearly\npreserved by Saxo.\n\n\"Sea and Sea Warfare.\"--As might be expected, there is much mention of\nWicking adventure and of maritime warfare in Saxo.\n\nSaxo tells of Asmund's huge ship (Gnod), built high that he might shoot\ndown on the enemy's craft; he speaks of a ship (such as Godwin gave as\na gift to the king his master), and the monk of St. Bertin and the\ncourt-poets have lovingly described a ship with gold-broidered sails,\ngilt masts, and red-dyed rigging. One of his ships has, like the ships\nin the Chansons de Geste, a carbuncle for a lantern at the masthead.\nHedin signals to Frode by a shield at the masthead. A red shield was a\npeace signal, as noted above. The practice of \"strand-hewing\", a great\nfeature in Wicking-life (which, so far as the victualling of raw meat\nby the fishing fleets, and its use raw, as Mr. P. H. Emerson informs\nme, still survives), is spoken of. There was great fear of monsters\nattacking them, a fear probably justified by such occasional attacks of\nangry whales as Melville (founding his narrative on repeated facts) has\nimmortalised. The whales, like Moby Dick, were uncanny, and inspired by\ntroll-women or witches (cf. \"Frithiof Saga\" and the older \"Lay of\nAtle and Rimegerd\"). The clever sailing of Hadding, by which he eludes\npursuit, is tantalising, for one gathers that, Saxo knows the details\nthat he for some reason omits. Big fleets of 150 and a monster armada of\n3,000 vessels are recorded.\n\nThe ships were moved by oars and sails; they had rudders, no doubt such\nas the Gokstad ship, for the hero Arrow-Odd used a rudder as a weapon.\n\n\"Champions\".--Professed fighting men were often kept by kings and\nearls about their court as useful in feud and fray. Harald Fairhair's\nchampions are admirably described in the contemporary Raven Song by\nHornclofe--\n\n     \"Wolf-coats they call them that in battle\n     Bellow into bloody shields.\n     They wear wolves' hides when they come into the fight,\n     And clash their weapons together.\"\n\nand Saxo's sources adhere closely to this pattern.\n\nThese \"bear-sarks\", or wolf-coats of Harald give rise to an O. N. term,\n\"bear-sarks' way\", to describe the frenzy of fight and fury which such\nchampions indulged in, barking and howling, and biting their shield-rims\n(like the ferocious \"rook\" in the narwhale ivory chessmen in the British\nMuseum) till a kind of state was produced akin to that of the Malay when\nhe has worked himself up to \"run-a-muck.\" There seems to have been in\nthe 10th century a number of such fellows about unemployed, who\nbecame nuisances to their neighbours by reason of their bullying and\nhighhandedness. Stories are told in the Icelandic sagas of the way such\npersons were entrapped and put to death by the chiefs they served when\nthey became too troublesome. A favourite (and fictitious) episode in\nan \"edited\" Icelandic saga is for the hero to rescue a lady promised to\nsuch a champion (who has bullied her father into consent) by slaying the\nruffian. It is the same \"motif\" as Guy of Warwick and the Saracen lady,\nand one of the regular Giant and Knight stories.\n\nBeside men-warriors there were \"women-warriors\" in the North, as Saxo\nexplains. He describes shield-maidens, as Alfhild, Sela, Rusila\n(the Ingean Ruadh, or Red Maid of the Irish Annals, as Steenstrup so\ningeniously conjectures); and the three she-captains, Wigbiorg, who fell\non the field, Hetha, who was made queen of Zealand, and Wisna, whose\nhand Starcad cut off, all three fighting manfully at Bravalla fight.\n\n\n\n\nSOCIAL LIFE AND MANNERS.\n\n\"Feasts\".--The hall-dinner was an important feature in the old Teutonic\ncourt-life. Many a fine scene in a saga takes place in the hall while\nthe king and his men are sitting over their ale. The hall decked with\nhangings, with its fires, lights, plate and provisions, appears in Saxo\njust as in the Eddic Lays, especially Rigsmal, and the Lives of the\nNorwegian Kings and Orkney Earls.\n\nThe order of seats is a great point of archaic manners. Behaviour at\ntable was a matter of careful observance. The service, especially that\nof the cup-bearer, was minutely regulated by etiquette. An honoured\nguest was welcomed by the host rising to receive him and giving him a\nseat near himself, but less distinguished visitors were often victims to\nthe rough horseplay of the baser sort, and of the wanton young gentleman\nat court. The food was simple, boiled beef and pork, and mutton without\nsauce, ale served in horns from the butt. Roast meat, game, sauces,\nmead, and flagons set on the table, are looked on by Starcad as foreign\nluxuries, and Germany was credited with luxurious cookery.\n\n\"Mimes and jugglers\", who went through the country or were attached to\nthe lord's court to amuse the company, were a despised race because of\ntheir ribaldry, obscenity, cowardice, and unabashed self-debasement;\nand their newfangled dances and piping were loathsome to the old\ncourt-poets, who accepted the harp alone as an instrument of music.\n\nThe story that once a king went to war with his jugglers and they ran\naway, would represent the point of view of the old house-carle, who\nwas neglected, though \"a first-class fighting man\", for these debauched\nforeign buffoons.\n\n\n\n\nSUPERNATURAL BEINGS.\n\nGODS AND GODDESSES.--The gods spring, according to Saxo's belief, from\na race of sorcerers, some of whom rose to pre-eminence and expelled and\ncrushed the rest, ending the \"wizard-age\", as the wizards had ended the\nmonster or \"giant-age\". That they were identic with the classic gods he\nis inclined to believe, but his difficulty is that in the week-days we\nhave Jove : Thor; Mercury : Woden; whereas it is perfectly well known\nthat Mercury is Jove's son, and also that Woden is the father of Thor--a\ncomic \"embarras\". That the persians the heathens worshipped as gods\nexisted, and that they were men and women false and powerful, Saxo\nplainly believes. He has not Snorre's appreciation of the humorous side\nof the mythology. He is ironic and scornful, but without the kindly,\nnaive fun of the Icelander.\n\nThe most active god, the Dane's chief god (as Frey is the Swede's god,\nand patriarch), is \"Woden\". He appears in heroic life as patron of great\nheroes and kings. Cf. \"Hyndla-Lay\", where it is said of Woden:--\n\n     \"Let us pray the Father of Hosts to be gracious to us!\n     He granteth and giveth gold to his servants,\n     He gave Heremod a helm and mail-coat,\n     And Sigmund a sword to take.\n     He giveth victory to his sons, to his followers wealth,\n     Ready speech to his children and wisdom to men.\n     Fair wind to captains, and song to poets;\n     He giveth luck in love to many a hero.\"\n\nHe appears under various disguises and names, but usually as a one-eyed\nold man, cowled and hooded; sometimes with another, bald and ragged, as\nbefore the battle Hadding won; once as \"Hroptr\", a huge man skilled in\nleechcraft, to Ragnar's son Sigfrid.\n\nOften he is a helper in battle or doomer of feymen. As \"Lysir\", a rover\nof the sea, he helps Hadding. As veteran slinger and archer he helps his\nfavourite Hadding; as charioteer, \"Brune\", he drives Harald to his death\nin battle. He teaches Hadding how to array his troops. As \"Yggr\" the\nprophet he advises the hero and the gods. As \"Wecha\" (Waer) the leech he\nwoos Wrinda. He invented the wedge array. He can grant charmed lives to\nhis favourites against steel. He prophesies their victories and death.\nHe snatches up one of his disciples, sets him on his magic horse that\nrides over seas in the air, as in Skida-runa the god takes the beggar\nover the North Sea. His image (like that of Frey in the Swedish story\nof Ogmund dytt and Gunnar helming, \"Flatey book\", i, 335) could speak by\nmagic power.\n\nOf his life and career Saxo gives several episodes.\n\nWoden himself dwelt at Upsala and Byzantium (Asgard); and the northern\nkings sent him a golden image ring-bedecked, which he made to speak\noracles. His wife Frigga stole the bracelets and played him false with a\nservant, who advised her to destroy and rob the image.\n\nWhen Woden was away (hiding the disgrace brought on him by Frigga his\nwife), an imposter, Mid Odin, possibly Loke in disguise, usurped his\nplace at Upsala, instituted special drink-offerings, fled to Finland on\nWoden's return, and was slain by the Fins and laid in barrow. But\nthe barrow smote all that approached it with death, till the body was\nunearthed, beheaded, and impaled, a well-known process for stopping the\nhaunting of an obnoxious or dangerous ghost.\n\nWoden had a son Balder, rival of Hother for the love of Nanna, daughter\nof King Gewar. Woden and Thor his son fought for him against Hother,\nbut in vain, for Hother won the laity and put Balder to shameful flight;\nhowever, Balder, half-frenzied by his dreams of Nanna, in turn drove him\ninto exile (winning the lady); finally Hother, befriended hy luck and\nthe Wood Maidens, to whom he owed his early successes and his magic\ncoat, belt, and girdle (there is obvious confusion here in the text), at\nlast met Balder and stabbed him in the side. Of this wound Balder died\nin three days, as was foretold by the awful dream in which Proserpina\n(Hela) appeared to him. Balder's grand burial, his barrow, and the magic\nflood which burst from it when one Harald tried to break into it, and\nterrified the robbers, are described.\n\nThe death of Balder led Woden to seek revenge. Hrossthiof the wizard,\nwhom he consulted, told him he must beget a son by \"Wrinda\" (Rinda,\ndaughter of the King of the Ruthenians), who should avenge his\nhalf-brother.\n\nWoden's wooing is the best part of this story, half spoilt, however,\nby euhemeristic tone and lack of epic dignity. He woos as a victorious\nwarrior, and receives a cuff; as a generous goldsmith, and gets a\nbuffet; as a handsome soldier, earning a heavy knock-down blow; but in\nthe garb of a women as Wecha (Wakr), skilled in leechcraft, he won his\nway by trickery; and (\"Wale\") \"Bous\" was born, who, after some years,\nslew Hother in battle, and died himself of his wounds. Bous' barrow\nin Bohusland, Balder's haven, Balder's well, are named as local\nattestations of the legend, which is in a late form, as it seems.\n\nThe story of Woden's being banished for misbehaviour, and especially\nfor sorcery and for having worn woman's attire to trick Wrinda, his\nreplacement by \"Wuldor\" (\"Oller\"), a high priest who assumed Woden's\nname and flourished for ten years, but was ultimately expelled by the\nreturning Woden, and killed by the Danes in Sweden, is in the same\nstyle. But Wuldor's bone vessel is an old bit of genuine tradition\nmangled. It would cross the sea as well as a ship could, by virtue of\ncertain spells marked on it.\n\nOf \"Frey\", who appears as \"satrapa\" of the gods at Upsala, and as the\noriginator of human sacrifice, and as appeased by black victims, at a\nsacrifice called Froblod (Freys-blot) instituted by Hadding, who began\nit as an atonement for having slain a sea-monster, a deed for which he\nhad incurred a curse. The priapic and generative influences of Frey are\nonly indicated by a curious tradition mentioned. It almost looks as\nif there had once been such an institution at Upsala as adorned the\nPhoenician temples, under Frey's patronage and for a symbolic means of\nworship.\n\n\"Thunder\", or \"Thor\", is Woden's son, strongest of gods or men, patron\nof Starcad, whom he turned, by pulling off four arms, from a monster to\na man.\n\nHe fights by Woden's side and Balder's against Hother, by whose magic\nwand his club (hammer) was lopped off part of its shaft, a wholly\ndifferent and, a much later version than the one Snorre gives in the\nprose Edda. Saxo knows of Thor's journey to the haunt of giant Garfred\n(Geirrod) and his three daughters, and of the hurling of the iron\n\"bloom\", and of the crushing of the giantesses, though he does not seem\nto have known of the river-feats of either the ladies or Thor, if we may\njudge (never a safe thing wholly) by his silence.\n\nWhether \"Tew\" is meant by the Mars of the Song of the Voice is not\nevident. Saxo may only be imitating the repeated catch-word \"war\" of the\noriginal.\n\n\"Loke\" appears as Utgard-Loke, Loke of the skirts of the World, as\nit were; is treated as a venomous giant bound in agony under a\nserpent-haunted cavern (no mention is made of \"Sigyn\" or her pious\nministry).\n\n\"Hela\" seems to be meant by Saxo's Proserpina.\n\n\"Nanna\" is the daughter of Gewar, and Balder sees her bathing and falls\nin love with her, as madly as Frey with Gertha in Skirnismal.\n\n\"Freya\", the mistress of Od, the patroness of Othere the homely, the\nsister of Frey-Frode, and daughter of Niord-Fridlaf, appears as Gunwara\nEric's love and Syritha Ottar's love and the hair-clogged maiden, as Dr.\nRydberg has shown.\n\nThe gods can disguise their form, change their shape, are often met in\na mist, which shrouds them save from the right person; they appear\nand disappear at will. For the rest they have the mental and physical\ncharacteristics of the kings and queens they protect or persecute\nso capriciously. They can be seen by making a magic sign and looking\nthrough a witch's arm held akimbo. They are no good comates for men or\nwomen, and to meddle with a goddess or nymph or giantess was to ensure\nevil or death for a man. The god's loves were apparently not always so\nfatal, though there seems to be some tradition to that effect. Most of\nthe god-sprung heroes are motherless or unborn (i.e., born like Macduff\nby the Caesarean operation)--Sigfred, in the Eddic Lays for instance.\n\nBesides the gods, possibly older than they are, and presumably mightier,\nare the \"Fates\" (Norns), three Ladies who are met with together, who\nfulfil the parts of the gift-fairies of our Sleeping Beauty tales, and\nbestow endowments on the new-born child, as in the beautiful \"Helge\nLay\", a point of the story which survives in Ogier of the Chansons de\nGeste, wherein Eadgar (Otkerus or Otgerus) gets what belonged to Holger\n(Holge), the Helga of \"Beowulf's Lay\". The caprices of the Fates, where\none corrects or spoils the others' endowments, are seen in Saxo, when\nbeauty, bounty, and meanness are given together. They sometimes meet\nheroes, as they met Helgi in the Eddic Lay (Helgi and Sigrun Lay),\nand help or begift them; they prepare the magic broth for Balder, are\ncharmed with Hother's lute-playing, and bestow on him a belt of victory\nand a girdle of splendour, and prophesy things to come.\n\nThe verse in Biarca-mal, where \"Pluto weaves the dooms of the mighty and\nfills Phlegethon with noble shapes,\" recalls Darrada-liod, and points to\nWoden as death-doomer of the warrior.\n\n\"Giants\".--These are stupid, mischievous, evil and cunning in Saxo's\neyes. Oldest of beings, with chaotic force and exuberance, monstrous in\nextravagant vitality.\n\nThe giant nature of the older troll-kind is abhorrent to man and woman.\nBut a giantess is enamoured of a youth she had fostered, and giants\ncarry off king's daughters, and a three-bodied giant captures young\nchildren.\n\nGiants live in caves by the sea, where they keep their treasure. One\ngiant, Unfoot (Ofoti), is a shepherd, like Polyphemus, and has a famous\ndog which passed into the charge of Biorn, and won a battle; a giantess\nis keeping goats in the wilds. A giant's fury is so great that it takes\ntwelve champions to control him, when the rage is on him. The troll\n(like our Puss-in-Boots Ogre) can take any shape.\n\nMonstrous apparitions are mentioned, a giant hand (like that in one\nstory of Finn) searching for its prey among the inmates of a booth\nin the wilds. But this Grendel-like arm is torn off by a giantess,\nHardgrip, daughter of Wainhead and niece possibly of Hafle.\n\nThe voice heard at night prophesying is that of some god or monster,\npossibly Woden himself.\n\n\"Dwarves\".--These Saxo calls Satyrs, and but rarely mentions. The dwarf\nMiming, who lives in the desert, has a precious sword of sharpness\n(Mistletoe?) that could even pierce skin-hard Balder, and a ring\n(Draupnir) that multiplied itself for its possessor. He is trapped by\nthe hero and robbed of his treasures.\n\n\n\n\nFUNERAL RITES AND MAN'S FUTURE STATE.\n\n\"Barrow-burials\".--The obsequies of great men (such as the classic\nfuneral of \"Beowulf's Lay\", 3138-80) are much noticed by Saxo, and we\nmight expect that he knew such a poem (one similar to Ynglingatal, but\nnot it) which, like the Books of the Kings of Israel and Judah, recorded\nthe deaths and burials, as well as the pedigrees and deeds, of the\nDanish kings.\n\nThe various stages of the \"obsequy by fire\" are noted; the byre\nsometimes formed out of a ship; the \"sati\"; the devoted bower-maidens\nchoosing to die with their mistress, the dead man's beloved (cf. The\nEddic funerals of Balder, Sigfred, and Brunhild, in the Long \"Brunhild's\nLay\", Tregrof Gudrumar and the lost poem of Balder's death paraphrased\nin the prose Edda); the last message given to the corpse on the pyre\n(Woden's last words to Balder are famous); the riding round the pyre;\nthe eulogium; the piling of the barrow, which sometimes took whole days,\nas the size of many existing grass mounds assure us; the funeral feast,\nwhere an immense vat of ale or mead is drunk in honor of the dead; the\nepitaph, like an ogham, set up on a stone over the barrow.\n\nThe inclusion of a live man with the dead in a barrow, with the live or\nfresh-slain beasts (horse and bound) of the dead man, seems to point to\na time or district when burning was not used. Apparently, at one time,\njudging from Frode's law, only chiefs and warriors were burnt.\n\nNot to bury was, as in Hellas, an insult to the dead, reserved for the\nbodies of hated foes. Conquerors sometimes show their magnanimity (like\nHarald Godwineson) by offering to bury their dead foes.\n\nThe buried \"barrow-ghost\" was formidable; he could rise and slay and\neat, vampire-like, as in the tale of Asmund and Aswit. He must in such\ncase be mastered and prevented doing further harm by decapitation and\nthigh-forking, or by staking and burning. So criminals' bodies were\noften burnt to stop possible haunting.\n\nWitches and wizards could raise corpses by spells to make them prophesy.\nThe dead also appeared in visions, usually foretelling death to the\nperson they visited.\n\nOTHER WORLDS.--The \"Land of Undeath\" is spoken of as a place reached by\nan exiled hero in his wanderings. We know it from Eric the traveller's\nS., Helge Thoreson's S., Herrand and Bose S., Herwon S., Thorstan\nBaearmagn S., and other Icelandic sources. But the voyage to the Other\nWorlds are some of the most remarkable of the narratives Saxo has\npreserved for us.\n\n\"Hadding's Voyage Underground\".--(a) A woman bearing in her lap angelica\nfresh and green, though it was deep winter, appears to the hero at\nsupper, raising her head beside the brazier. Hadding wishes to know\nwhere such plants grow.\n\n(b) She takes him with her, under cover of her mantle, underground.\n\n(c) They pierce a mist, get on a road worn by long use, pass nobly-clad\nmen, and reach the sunny fields that bear the angelica:--\n\n     \"Through griesly shadowes by a beaten path,\n     Into a garden goodly garnished.\"\n     --F.Q. ii. 7, 51.\n\n(d) Next they cross, by a bridge, the \"River of Blades\", and see \"two\narmies fighting\", ghosts of slain soldiers.\n\n(e) Last they came to a high wall, which surrounds the land of Life, for\na cock the woman brought with her, whose neck she wrung and tossed over\nthis wall, came to life and crowed merrily.\n\nHere the story breaks off. It is unfinished, we are only told that\nHadfling got back. Why he was taken to this under-world? Who took him?\nWhat followed therefrom? Saxo does not tell. It is left to us to make\nout.\n\nThat it is an archaic story of the kind in the Thomas of Ercildoune\nand so many more fairy-tales, e.g., Kate Crack-a-Nuts, is certain. The\n\"River of Blades\" and \"The Fighting Warriors\" are known from the Eddic\nPoems. The angelica is like the green birk of that superb fragment, the\nballad of the Wife of Usher's Well--a little more frankly heathen, of\ncourse--\n\n     \"It fell about the Martinmas, when nights are long and mirk,\n     The carline wife's three sons cam hame, and their hats were\n     o' the birk.\n     It neither grew in syke nor dyke, nor yet in ony sheugh,\n     But at the gates o' Paradise that birk grew fair eneuch.\"\n\nThe mantel is that of Woden when he bears the hero over seas; the cock\nis a bird of sorcery the world over; the black fowl is the proper gift\nto the Underground powers--a heriot really, for did not the Culture god\nsteal all the useful beasts out of the underground world for men's use?\n\nDr. Rydberg has shown that the \"Seven Sleepers\" story is an old Northern\nmyth, alluded to here in its early pre-Christian form, and that with\nthis is mixed other incidents from voyages of Swipdag, the Teutonic\nOdusseus.\n\n\"Thorkill's Second Voyage to Outgarth-Loke to get Knowledge\".--(a)\nGuthrum is troubled as to the immortality and fate of the soul, and the\nreward of piety after death. To spite Thorkill, his enviers advised the\nking to send him to consult Outgarth-Loke. He required of the king that\nhis enemies should be sent with him.\n\n(b) In one well-stored and hide-defended ship they set out, reached\na sunless, starless land, without fuel; ate raw food and suffered. At\nlast, after many days, a fire was seen ashore. Thorkill, setting a jewel\nat the mast-head to be able to regain his vessel easily, rows ashore to\nget fire.\n\n(c) In a filthy, snake-paved, stinking cavern he sees two horny-nebbed\ngiants, (2) making a fire. One of the giants offers to direct him to\nLoke if he will say three true things in three phrases, and this done,\ntells him to row four days and then he would reach a Dark and Grassless\nLand. For three more true sayings he obtains fire, and gets back to his\nvessel.\n\n(d) With good wind they make Grassless Land, go ashore, find a huge,\nrocky cavern, strike a flint to kindle a fire at the entrance as a\nsafeguard against demons, and a torch to light them as they explored the\ncavern.\n\n(e) First appears iron seats set amid crawling snakes.\n\n(f) Next is sluggish water flowing over sand.\n\n(g) Last a steep, sloping cavern is reached, in a chamber of which lay\nOutgarth-Loke chained, huge and foul.\n\n(h) Thorkill plucks a hair of his beard \"as big as a cornel-wood spear.\"\nThe stench that arose was fearful; the demens and snakes fell upon the\ninvaders at once; only Thorkill and five of the crew, who had sheltered\nthemselves with hides against the virulent poison the demons and snakes\ncast, which would take a head off at the neck if it fell upon it, got\nback to their ship.\n\n(i) By vow to the \"God that made the world\", and offerings, a good\nvoyage was made back, and Germany reached, where Thorkill became a\nChristian. Only two of his men survived the effects of the poison and\nstench, and he himself was scarred and spoilt in the face.\n\n(k) When he reached the king, Guthrum would not listen to his tale,\nbecause it was prophesied to him that he would die suddenly if he heard\nit; nay, he even sent men to smite him as he lay in bed, but, by the\ndevice of laying a log in his place, he escaped, and going to the king\nas he sat at meat, reproached him for his treachery.\n\n(l) Guthrum bade him tell his story, but died of horror at hearing his\ngod Loke foully spoken of, while the stench of the hair that Thorkill\nproduced, as Othere did his horn for a voucher of his speech, slew many\nbystanders.\n\nThis is the regular myth of Loke, punished by the gods, lying bound with\nhis own soils' entrails on three sharp stones and a sword-blade, (this\nlatter an addition, when the myth was made stones were the only blades),\nwith snakes' venom dripping on to him, so that when it falls on him he\nshakes with pain and makes earthquakes--a Titan myth in answer to the\nquestion, \"Why does the earth quake?\" The vitriolic power of the poison\nis excellently expressed in the story. The plucking of the hair as a\ntoken is like the plucking of a horn off the giant or devil that occurs\nin some folk-tale.\n\n\n\n\nMAGIC AND FOLK-SCIENCE.\n\nThere is a belief in magic throughout Saxo's work, showing how fresh\nheathendom still was in men's minds and memories. His explanations, when\nhe euhemerizes, are those of his day.\n\nBy means of spells all kinds of wonders could be effected, and the\npowers of nature forced to work for the magician or his favourite.\n\n\"Skin-changing\" (so common in \"Landnamaboc\") was as well known as in the\nclassic world of Lucian and Apuleius; and, where Frode perishes of the\nattacks of a witch metamorphosed into a walrus.\n\n\"Mist\" is induced by spells to cover and hide persons, as in Homer,\nand \"glamour\" is produced by spells to dazzle foemen's sight. To cast\nglamour and put confusion into a besieged place a witch is employed by\nthe beleaguerer, just as William the Conqueror used the witch in the\nFens against Hereward's fortalice. A soothsayer warns Charles the Great\nof the coming of a Danish fleet to the Seine's mouth.\n\n\"Rain and bad weather\" may be brought on, as in a battle against\nthe enemy, but in this, as in other instances, the spell may be\ncounteracted.\n\n\"Panic Terror\" may be induced by the spell worked with a dead horse's\nhead set up on a pole facing the antagonist, but the spell may be met\nand combatted by silence and a counter-curse.\n\n\"Magic help\" may be got by calling on the friendly magician's name.\nThe magician has also the power of summoning to him anyone, however\nunwilling, to appear.\n\nOf spells and magic power to blunt steel there are several instances;\nthey may be counteracted (as in the Icelandic Sagas) by using the hilt,\nor a club, or covering the blade with fine skin. In another case the\nchampion can only be overcome by one that will take up some of the dust\nfrom under his feet. This is effected by the combatants shifting their\nground and exchanging places. In another case the foeman can only\nbe slain by gold, whereupon the hero has a gold-headed mace made and\nbatters the life out of him therewith. The brothers of Swanhild cannot\nbe cut by steel, for their mail was charmed by the witch Gudrun, but\nWoden taught Eormenric, the Gothic king, how to overcome them with\nstones (which apparently cannot, as archaic weapons, be charmed against\nat all, resisting magic like wood and water and fire). Jordanis tells\nthe true history of Ermanaric, that great Gothic emperor whose rule\nfrom the Dnieper to the Baltic and Rhine and Danube, and long reign of\nprosperity, were broken by the coming of the Huns. With him vanished the\nfirst great Teutonic empire.\n\nMagic was powerful enough even to raise the dead, as was practised\nby the Perms, who thus renewed their forces after a battle. In the\nEverlasting battle the combatants were by some strange trick of fate\nobliged to fulfil a perennial weird (like the unhappy Vanderdecken).\nSpells to wake the dead were written on wood and put under the corpses'\ntongue. Spells (written on bark) induce frenzy.\n\n\"Charms\" would secure a man against claw or tooth.\n\n\"Love philtres\" (as in the long \"Lay of Gudrun) appear as everywhere in\nsavage and archaic society.\n\n\"Food\", porridge mixed with the slaver of tortured snakes, gives magic\nstrength or endues the eater with eloquence and knowledge of beast and\nbird speech (as Finn's broiled fish and Sigfred's broiled dragon-heart\ndo).\n\n\"Poison\" like these hell-broths are part of the Witch or Obi\nstock-in-trade, and Frode uses powdered gold as an antidote.\n\n\"Omens\" are observed; tripping as one lands is lucky (as with our\nWilliam the Norman). Portents, such as a sudden reddening of the sea\nwhere the hero is drowned, are noticed and interpreted.\n\n\"Dreams\" (cf. Eddic Lays of Attila, and the Border ballads) are\nprophetic (as nine-tenths of Europeans firmly believe still); thus the\nvisionary flame-spouting dragon is interpreted exactly as Hogne's and\nAttila's dreams. The dreams of the three first bridals nights (which\nwere kept hallowed by a curious superstition, either because the dreams\nwould then bold good, or as is more likely, for fear of some Asmodeus)\nwere fateful. Animals and birds in dreams are read as persons, as\nnowadays.\n\nA \"curse\" is powerful unless it can be turned back, when it will harm\nits utterer, for harm someone it must. The \"curse\" of a dying man on his\nslayer, and its lack of effect, is noted.\n\nSometimes \"magic messengers\" are sent, like the swans that bore a token\nand uttered warning songs to the hero.\n\n\"Witches and wizards\" (as belonging to the older layer of archaic\nbeliefs) are hateful to the gods, and Woden casts them out as accursed,\nthough he himself was the mightiest of wizards. Heathen Teutonic life\nwas a long terror by reason of witchcraft, as is the heathen African\nlife to-day, continual precautions being needful to escape the magic of\nenemies. The Icelandic Sagas, such as Gretter's, are full of magic and\nwitchcraft. It is by witchcraft that Gretter is first lamed and finally\nslain; one can see that Glam's curse, the Beowulf motif, was not really\nin the original Gretter story.\n\n\"Folk-medicine\" is really a branch of magic in old days, even to such\npioneers of science as Paracelsus.\n\nSaxo's traditions note drinking of a lion's blood that eats men as a\nmeans of gaining might and strength; the drinking of bear's blood is\nalso declared to give great bodily power.\n\nThe tests for \"madness\" are of a primitive character, such as those\napplied to Odusseus, who, however, was not able, like Hamlet, to evade\nthem.\n\nThe test for death is the red-hot iron or hot brand (used by the\nAbyssinians of to-day, as it was supposed in the thirteenth century to\nhave been used by Grimhild. \"And now Grimhild goes and takes a great\nbrand, where the house had burnt, and goes to Gernot her brother, and\nthrusts the burning brand in his mouth, and will know whether he is dead\nor living. But Gernot was clearly dead. And now she goes to Gislher and\nthrusts the firebrand in his mouth. He was not dead before, but Gislher\ndied of that. Now King Thidrec of Bern saw what Grimhild is doing,\nand speaks to King Attila. `See how that devil Grimhild, thy wife, is\nkilling her brothers, the good warriors, and how many men have lost\ntheir lives for her sake, and how many good men she has destroyed, Huns\nand Amalungs and Niflungs; and in the same way would she bring thee and\nme to hell, if she could do it?' Then spake King Attila, `Surely she is\na devil, and slay thou her, and that were a good work if thou had done\nit seven nights ago! Then many a gallant fellow were whole that is now\ndead.' Now King Thidrec springs at Grimhild and swings up his sword\nEckisax, and hews her asunder at the middle\").\n\nIt was believed (as in Polynesia, where \"Captain Cook's path\" was shown\nin the grass) that the heat of the hero's body might blast the grass; so\nStarcad's entrails withered the grass.\n\nIt was believed that a severed head might bite the ground in rage, and\nthere were certainly plenty of opportunities for observation of such\ncases.\n\nIt was believed that a \"dumb man\" might be so wrought on by passion that\nhe would speak, and wholly acquire speech-power.\n\nLittle is told of \"surgery\", but in one case of intestines protruding\nowing to wounds, withies were employed to bind round the trunk and keep\nthe bowels from risk till the patient could be taken to a house and his\nwounds examined and dressed. It was considered heroic to pay little heed\nto wounds that were not dangerous, but just to leave them to nature.\n\nPersonal \"cleanliness\" was not higher than among savages now. A lover is\nloused by his lady after the mediaeval fashion.\n\nCHRISTIANITY--In the first nine books of Saxo, which are devoted to\nheathendom, there is not much save the author's own Christian point\nof view that smacks of the New Faith. The apostleships of Ansgarius in\nDenmark, the conversion of King Eric, the Christianity of several later\nDanish Kings, one of whom was (like Olaf Tryggwason) baptised in Britain\nare also noticed.\n\nOf \"Christian legends\" and beliefs, besides the euhemerist theory,\nwidely held, of the heathen gods there are few hints, save the idea\nthat Christ was born in the reign of Frode, Frode having been somehow\nsynchronised with Augustus, in whose reign also there was a world-peace.\n\nOf course the christening of Scandinavia is history, and the mythic\nbooks are little concerned with it. The episode in Adam of Bremen, where\nthe king offers the people, if they want a new god, to deify Eric, one\nof their hero-kings, is eminently characteristic and true.\n\n\n\n\nFOLK-TALES.\n\nThere might be a classification of Saxo's stories akin to that of the\nIrish poets, Battles, Sieges, Voyages, Rapes, Cattle Forays, etc.; and\nquite apart from the historic element, however faint and legendary,\nthere are a set of stories ascribed by him, or rather his authorities,\nto definite persons, which had, even in his day, probably long been the\nproperty of Tis, their original owners not being known owing to lapse\nof time and the wear of memory, and the natural and accidental\ncatastrophies that impair the human record. Such are the \"Dragon-Slayer\"\nstories. In one type of these the hero (Frithlaf) is cast on a desolate\nisland, and warned by a dream to attack and slay a dragon guarding\ntreasure. He wakes, sees the dragon arise out of the waves, apparently,\nto come ashore and go back to the cavern or mound wherein the treasure\nlay. His scales are too hard to pierce; he is terribly strong, lashing\ntrees down with his tail, and wearing a deep path through the wood and\nover the stones with his huge and perpetual bulk; but the hero, covered\nwith hide-wrapped shield against the poison, gets down into the\nhollow path, and pierces the monster from below, afterward rifling its\nunderground store and carrying off its treasure.\n\nAgain the story is repeated; the hero (Frode Haddingsson) is warned by\na countryman of the island-dragon and its hoard, is told to cover his\nshield and body with bulls' hides against the poison, and smite the\nmonster's belly. The dragon goes to drink, and, as it is coming back,\nit is attacked, slain, and its treasure lifted precisely as before. The\nanalogies with the Beowulf and Sigfred stories are evident; but no great\npoet has arisen to weave the dragon-slaying intimately into the lives of\nFrode and Frithlaf as they have been woven into the tragedy of Sigfred\nthe wooer of Brunhild and, if Dr. Vigffisson be right the conqueror of\nVarus, or into the story of Beowulf, whose real engagements were with\nsea-monsters, not fiery dragons.\n\nAnother type is that of the \"Loathly Worm\". A king out hunting (Herod\nor Herraud, King of Sweden), for some unexplained reason brings home two\nsmall snakes as presents for his daughter. They wax wonderfully, have\nto be fed a whole ox a day, and proceed to poison and waste the\ncountryside. The wretched king is forced to offer his daughter (Thora)\nto anyone who will slay them. The hero (Ragnar) devises a dress of a\npeculiar kind (by help of his nurse, apparently), in this case, woolly\nmantle and hairy breeches all frozen and ice-covered to resist the\nvenom, then strapping his spear to his hand, he encounters them boldly\nalone. The courtiers hide \"like frightened little girls\", and the king\nbetakes him to a \"narrow shelter\", an euphemism evidently of Saxo's, for\nthe scene is comic. The king comes forth when the hero is victorious,\nand laughing at his hairy legs, nick-names him Shaggy-breech, and bids\nhim to the feast. Ragnar fetches up his comrades, and apparently seeks\nout the frightened courtiers (no doubt with appropriate quip, omitted by\nSaxo, who hurries on), feasts, marries the king's daughter, and begets\non her two fine sons.\n\nOf somewhat similar type is the proud \"Maiden guarded\" by Beasts. Here\nthe scene is laid in Gaulardale in Norway. The lady is Ladgerda, the\nhero Ragnar. Enamoured of the maiden by seeing her prowess in war, he\naccepts no rebuffs, but leaving his followers, enters the house, slays\nthe guardian Bear and Dog, thrusting one through with a spear and\nthrottling the other with his hand. The lady is won and wed, and two\ndaughters and a son (Frithlaf) duly begotten. The story of Alf and\nAlfhild combines several types. There are the tame snakes, the baffled\nsuitors' heads staked to terrify other suitors, and the hero using\nred-hot iron and spear to slay the two reptiles.\n\nThe \"Proud Lady\", (cf. Kudrun and the Niebelungen, and Are's story\nof the queen that burnt her suitors) appears in Hermintrude, Queen of\nScotland, who battles and slays her lovers, but is out-witted by the\nhero (Hamlet), and, abating her arrogance, agrees to wed him. This seems\nan obvious accretion in the original Hamlet story, and probably owing\nnot to Saxo, but to his authority.\n\nThe \"Beggar that stole the Lady\" (told of Snio Siwaldson and the\ndaughter of the King of the Goths), with its brisk dialogue, must have\nbeen one of the most artful of the folk-tales worked on by Saxo or his\ninformants; but it is only half told, unfortunately.\n\nThe \"Crafty Soaker\" is another excellent comic folk-tale. A terrible\nfamine made the king (Snio) forbid brewing to save the barley for\nbread, and abolished all needless toping. The Soaker baffled the king by\nsipping, never taking a full draught. Rebuked, he declared that he never\ndrank, but only sucked a drop. This was forbidden him for the future, so\nhe sopped his bread in ale, and in that inconvenient manner continued to\nget drunk, excusing himself with the plea that though it was forbidden\nto drink or sip beer, it was not forbidden to eat it. When this was in\nturn prohibited, the Soaker gave up any pretence, and brewed and\ndrank unabashed, telling the angry king that he was celebrating his\napproaching funeral with due respect, which excuse led to the repeal of\nthe obnoxious decree. A good Rabelaisian tale, that must not have\nbeen wide-spread among the Danish topers, whose powers both Saxo and\nShakespeare have celebrated, from actual experience no doubt.\n\nThe \"Magician's tricks to elude pursuit\", so common an incident in\nour fairy tales, e.g., Michael Scot's flight, is ascribed here to the\nwonder-working and uncanny Finns, who, when pursued, cast behind\nthem successively three pebbles, which become to their enemies' eyes\nmountains, then snow, which appeared like a roaring torrent. But they\ncould not cast the glamour on Arngrim a third time, and were forced to\nsubmit. The glamour here and in the case of the breaking of Balder's\nbarrow is akin to that which the Druid puts on the sons of Uisnach.\n\nThe tale of the king who shuts up his daughter in an \"earth-house\" or\nunderground chamber with treasures (weapons and gold and silver), in\nfear of invasion, looks like a bit of folk-tale, such as the \"Hind in\nthe Wood\", but it may have a traditional base of some kind here.\n\nA folk-tale, very imperfectly narrated, is the \"Clever King's Daughter\",\nwho evidently in the original story had to choose her suitor by his feet\n(as the giantess in the prose Edda chooses her husband), and was able to\ndo so by the device she had practised of sewing up her ring in his leg\nsometime before, so that when she touched the flesh she could feel the\nhardness of the ring beneath the scar.\n\nBits of folk-tales are the \"Device for escaping threatened death by\nputting a log in one's bed\" (as in our Jack the Giant-Killer). The\ndevice, as old as David's wife, of dressing up a dummy (here a basket\nwith a dog inside, covered outside with clothes), while the hero\nescapes, is told of Eormenric, the mighty Gothic King of Kings, who,\nlike Walter of Aquitaine, Theodoric of Varona, Ecgherht, and Arminius,\nwas an exile in his youth. This traditional escape of the two lads from\nthe Scyths should be compared with the true story in Paul the Deacon\nof his little ancestor's captivity and bold and successful stroke for\nfreedom.\n\n\"Disguise\" plays a great part in the folk-tales used by Saxo. Woden\ndisguises himself in a cowl on his earthly travels, and heroes do the\nsame; a king disguises himself as a slave at his rival's court, to try\nand find occasion of slaying him; a hero wraps himself up in skins, like\nAlleleirah.\n\n\"Escaped recognition\" is accordingly a feature in many of these simple\nbut artistic plots. A son is not known by his mother in the story of\nHrolf.\n\nOther \"Devices\" are exemplified, such as the \"booby-trap\" loaded with\na millstone, which slays a hateful and despised tyrant, imposed by\na foreign conqueror; evasion by secret passages, and concealment in\nunderground vaults or earth-houses. The feigning of madness to escape\ndeath occurs, as well as in the better-known Hamlet story. These\nstratagems are universal in folk-history.\n\nTo Eric, the clever and quick of speech, is ascribed an excellent\nsailor's smuggling trick to hide slaughtered cattle, by sinking them\ntill the search is over.\n\nThe \"Hero's Mighty Childhood\" (like David's) of course occurs when\nhe binds a bear with his girdle. Sciold is full grown at fifteen, and\nHadding is full grown in extreme youth. The hero in his boyhood slays a\nfull-grown man and champion. The cinder-biting, lazy stage of a mighty\nyouth is exemplified.\n\nThe \"fierce eyes\" of the hero or heroine, which can daunt an assassin as\ncould the piercing glance of Marius, are the \"falcon eyes\" of the Eddic\nLays.\n\nThe shining, effulgent, \"illuminating hair\" of the hero, which gives\nlight in the darkness, is noticed here, as it obtains in Cuaran's\nthirteenth century English legend.\n\nThe wide-spread tale of the \"City founded on a site marked out by a hide\ncut into finest thongs\", occurs, told of Hella and Iwarus exactly as our\nKentishmen told it of Hengist, and as it is also told of Dido.\n\nThe incidents of the \"hero sleeping by a rill\", of the guarded king's\ndaughter, with her thirty attendants, the king's son keeping sheep, are\npart of the regular stock incidents in European folk-tales. So are the\nNausicaa incident of the \"king's daughter going a washing\", the hero\ndisguising himself as a woman and winding wool (like a second Heracles).\n\nThere are a certain number of stories, which only occur in Saxo and in\nour other Northern sources with attributions, though they are of course\nlegendary; such are:\n\nThe \"Everlasting Battle\" between Hedhin and Hogne, a legend connected\nwith the great Brisinga-men story, and paralleled by the Cordelia-tale\namong the Britons.\n\nThe story of the \"Children preserved\" is not very clearly told, and\nSaxo seems to have euhemerized. It is evidently of the same type as the\nLionel-Lancelot story in the Arthurian cycle. Two children, ordered to\nbe killed, are saved by the slaying of other children in their place;\nand afterwards by their being kept and named as dogs; they come to their\nown and avenge their wrongs.\n\nThe \"Journey to Hell\" story is told of Eric, who goes to a far land to\nfetch a princess back, and is successful. It is apparently an adventure\nof Swipdag, if everyone had their rights. It is also told of Thorkill,\nwhose adventures are rather of the \"True Thomas\" type.\n\nThe \"Test of Endurance\" by sitting between fires, and the relief of the\ntortured and patient hero by a kindly trick, is a variant of the famous\nEddic Lays concerning Agnar.\n\nThe \"Robbers of the Island\", evidently comes from an Icelandic source\n(cf. The historic \"Holmveria Saga\" and Icelandic folk-tales of later\ndate), the incident of the hero slaying his slave, that the body might\nbe mistaken for his, is archaic in tone; the powerful horse recalls\nGrani, Bayard, and even Sleipner; the dog which had once belonged to\nUnfoot (Ofote), the giant shepherd (cf. its analogues in old Welsh\ntales), is not quite assimilated or properly used in this story.\nIt seems (as Dr. Rydberg suspects) a mythical story coloured by the\nIcelandic relater with memory full of the robber-hands of his own land.\n\nThe stratagem of \"Starcad\", who tried even in death to slay his slayer,\nseems an integral part of the Starcad story; as much as the doom of\nthree crimes which are to be the price for the threefold life that a\ntriple man or giant should enjoy. The noose story in Starcad (cf. that\ntold of Bicce in the Eormenric story), is also integral.\n\n\n\n\nSAXO'S MYTHOLOGY.\n\nNo one has commented upon Saxo's mythology with such brilliancy, such\nminute consideration, and such success as the Swedish scholar, Victor\nRydberg. More than occasionally he is over-ingenious and over-anxious to\nreduce chaos to order; sometimes he almost loses his faithful reader in\nthe maze he treads so easily and confidently, and sometimes he stumbles\nbadly. But he has placed the whole subject on a fresh footing, and much\nthat is to follow will be drawn from his \"Teutonic Mythology\" (cited\nhere from the English version by Rasmus B. Anderson, London, 1889, as\n\"T.M.\").\n\nLet us take first some of the incontestable results of his\ninvestigations that affect Saxo.\n\nSCIOLD is the father of Gram in Saxo, and the son of Sceaf in other\nolder authorities. Dr. Rydberg (97-101) forms the following equations\nfor the Sciolding patriarchs:--\n\n     a. Scef--Heimdal--Rig.\n     b. Sciold--Borgar--Jarl.\n     c. Gram--Halfdan--Koming.\n\nChief among the mythic tales that concern Saxo are the various portions\nof the Swipdag-Myth, which Dr. Rydberg has been able to complete with\nmuch success. They may be resumed briefly as follows:--\n\nSwipdag, helped by the incantations of his dead mother, whom he had\nraised from the dead to teach him spells of protection, sets forth on\nhis quests. He is the Odusseus of the Teutonic mythology. He desires to\navenge his father on Halfdan that slew him. To this end he must have a\nweapon of might against Halfdan's club. The Moon-god tells him of the\nblade Thiasse has forged. It has been stolen by Mimer, who has gone out\ninto the cold wilderness on the rim of the world. Swipdag achieves the\nsword, and defeats and slays Halfdan. He now buys a wife, Menglad, of\nher kinsmen the gods by the gift of the sword, which thus passes into\nFrey's hands.\n\nHow he established a claim upon Frey, and who Menglad was, is explained\nin Saxo's story of Eric, where the characters may be identified thus:--\n\n     Swipdag--Eric\n     Freya--Gunwara\n     Frey--Frode III\n     Niord--Fridlaf\n     Wuldor--Roller\n     Thor--Brac\n     Giants--The Greps\n     Giants--Coller.\n\nFrey and Freya had been carried off by the giants, and Swipdag and his\nfaithful friend resolve to get them back for the Anses, who bewail their\nabsence. They journey to Monster-land, win back the lady, who ultimately\nis to become the hero's wife, and return her to her kindred; but her\nbrother can only be rescued by his father Niord. It is by wit rather\nthan by force that Swipdag is successful here.\n\nThe third journey of Swipdag is undertaken on Frey's behalf; he goes\nunder the name of Scirner to woo giant Gymer's daughter Gerth for his\nbrother-in-law, buying her with the sword that he himself had paid to\nFrey as his sister's bride-price. So the sword gets back to the giants\nagain.\n\nSwipdag's dead foe Halfdan left two young \"avengers\", Hadding and\nGuthorm, whom he seeks to slay. But Thor-Brache gives them in charge\nof two giant brothers. Wainhead took care of Hadding, Hafle of Guthorm.\nSwipdag made peace with Guthorm, in a way not fully explained to us, but\nHadding took up the blood-feud as soon as he was old enough.\n\nHadding was befriended by a woman, who took him to the Underworld--the\nstory is only half told in Saxo, unluckily--and by Woden, who took him\nover-sea wrapt in his mantle as they rode Sleipner over the waves; but\nhere again Saxo either had not the whole story before him, or he wished\nto abridge it for some reason or prejudice, and the only result of this\nastonishing pilgrimage is that Woden gives the young hero some useful\ncounsels. He falls into captivity, entrapped by Loke (for what reason\nagain we are left to guess), and is exposed to wild beasts, but he slays\nthe wolf that attacks him, and eating its heart as Woden had bidden him,\nhe gains wisdom and foresight.\n\nPrepared by these adventures, he gets Guthorm to join him (how or why\nthe peace between him and Swipdag was broken, we know not), and they\nattack their father's slayer, but are defeated, though Woden sunk Asmund\nSwipdag's son's ship, Grio, at Hlessey, and Wainhead and Hardgrip his\ndaughter fought for Hadding.\n\nHadding wanders off to the East with his foster-sister and mistress and\nHardgrip, who is slain protecting him against an angry ghost raised from\nthe Underworld by her spells. However, helped by Heimdal and Woden (who\nat this time was an exile), Hadding's ultimate success is assured.\n\nWhen Woden came back to power, Swipdag, whose violence and pride grew\nhorribly upon him, was exiled, possibly by some device of his foes,\nand took upon him, whether by will or doom, a sea-monster's shape. His\nfaithful wife follows him over land and sea, but is not able to save\nhim. He is met by Hadding and, after a fierce fight, slain. Swipdag's\nwife cursed the conqueror, and he was obliged to institute an annual\nsacrifice to Frey (her brother) at Upsale, who annuls the curse. Loke,\nin seal's guise, tried to steal the necklace of Freya at the Reef of\nTreasures, where Swipdag was slain, but Haimdal, also in sealskin,\nfought him, and recovered it for the gods.\n\nOther myths having reference to the goddesses appear in Saxo. There is\nthe story of \"Heimdall and Sol\", which Dr. Rydberg has recognised in the\ntale of Alf and Alfhild. The same tale of how the god won the sun for\nhis wife appears in the mediaeval German King Ruther (in which title Dr.\nRyuberg sees Hrutr, a name of the ram-headed god).\n\nThe story of \"Othar\" (Od) and \"Syritha\" (Sigrid) is obviously that of\nFreya and her lover. She has been stolen by the giants, owing to the\nwiles of her waiting-maid, Loke's helper, the evil witch Angrbode. Od\nseeks her, finds her, slays the evil giant who keeps her in the cave;\nbut she is still bewitched, her hair knotted into a hard, horny mass,\nher eyes void of brightness. Unable to gain recognition he lets her go,\nand she is made by a giantess to herd her flocks. Again found by Od, and\nagain refusing to recognise him, she is let go again. But this time\nshe flies to the world of men, and takes service with Od's mother and\nfather. Here, after a trial of her love, she and Od are reconciled.\nSywald (Sigwald), her father, weds Od's sister.\n\nThe tale of the vengeance of Balder is more clearly given by the Dane,\nand with a comic force that recalls the Aristophanic fun of Loka-senna.\nIt appears that the story had a sequel which only Saxo gives. Woden\nhad the giantess Angrbode, who stole Freya, punished. Frey, whose\nmother-in-law she was, took up her quarrel, and accusing Woden of\nsorcery and dressing up like a woman to betray Wrind, got him banished.\nWhile in exile Wuldor takes Woden's place and name, and Woden lives on\nearth, part of the time at least, with Scathe Thiasse's daughter, who\nhad parted from Niord.\n\nThe giants now resolved to attack Ansegard; and Woden, under the name of\nYggr, warned the gods, who recall him after ten years' exile.\n\nBut for Saxo this part of the story of the wars of the gods would be\nvery fragmentary.\n\nThe \"Hildiger story\", where a father slays his son unwittingly, and\nthen falls at his brother's hand, a tale combining the Rustam and\nthe Balin-Balan types, is one of the Hilding tragedies, and curiously\npreserved in the late \"Saga of Asmund the Champions' bane\". It is an\nantithesis, as Dr. Rydberg remarks, to the Hildebrand and Hadubrand\nstory, where father and son must fight and are reconciled.\n\nThe \"story of Orwandel\" (the analogue of Orion the Hunter) must be\ngathered chiefly from the prose Edda. He was a huntsman, big enough and\nbrave enough to cope with giants. He was the friend of Thor, the husband\nof Groa, the father of Swipdag, the enemy of giant Coller and the\nmonster Sela. The story of his birth, and of his being blinded, are\nlost apparently in the Teutonic stories, unless we may suppose that the\nbleeding of Robin Hood till he could not see by the traitorous prioress\nis the last remains of the story of the great archer's death.\n\nGreat part of the troubles which befell the gods arose from the\nantagonism of the sons of Iwalde and the brethren Sindre and Brokk\n(Cinder and Brank), rival artist families; and it was owing to the\nretirement of their artist foster-parents that Frey and Freya were left\namong the giants. The Hniflung hoard is also supposed to have consisted\nof the treasures of one band of primaeval artists, the Iwaldings.\n\nWhether we have here the phenomenon of mythological doublets belonging\nto different tribes, or whether we have already among these early names\nthat descent of story which has led to an adventure of Moses being\nattributed to Garibaldi, given to Theodoric the king the adventures\nof Theodoric the god, taken Arthur to Rome, and Charles the Great to\nConstantinople, it is hard to say.\n\nThe skeleton-key of identification, used even as ably as Dr. Rydberg\nuses it, will not pick every mythologic lock, though it undoubtedly has\nopened many hitherto closed. The truth is that man is a finite animal;\nthat he has a limited number of types of legend; that these legends, as\nlong as they live and exist, are excessively prehensile; that, like the\nopossum, they can swing from tree to tree without falling; as one tree\ndies out of memory they pass on to another. When they are scared away\nby what is called exact intelligence from the tall forest of great\npersonalities, they contrive to live humbly clinging to such bare plain\nstocks and poles (Tis and Jack and Cinderella) as enable them to find a\nprecarious perch.\n\nTo drop similitudes, we must be prepared, in unravelling our tangled\nmythology, to go through several processes. We must, of course, note the\nparallelisms and get back to the earliest attribution-names we can find.\nBut all system is of late creation, it does not begin till a certain\npolitical stage, a stage where the myths of coalescing clans come into\ncontact, and an official settlement is attempted by some school of\npoets or priests. Moreover, systematization is never so complete that it\neffaces all the earlier state of things. Behind the official systems of\nHomer and Hesiod lies the actual chaos of local faiths preserved for us\nby Pausanias and other mythographers. The common factors in the various\nlocal faiths are much the majority among the factors they each possess;\nand many of these common factors are exceedingly primitive, and resolve\nthemselves into answers to the questions that children still ask, still\nreceiving no answer but myth--that is, poetic and subjective hypothesis,\ncontaining as much truth as they can receive or their inventors can\ngrasp.\n\nWho were our forbears? How did day and night, sun and moon, earth and\nwater, and fire come? How did the animals come? Why has the bear no\ntail? Why are fishes dumb, the swallow cleft-tail? How did evil come?\nWhy did men begin to quarrel? How did death arise? What will the end be?\nWhy do dead persons come back? What do the dead do? What is the earth\nshaped like? Who invented tools and weapons, and musical instruments,\nand how? When did kings and chiefs first come?\n\nFrom accepted answers to such questions most of the huge mass of\nmythology arises. Man makes his gods in his own image, and the doctrines\nof omen, coincidence, and correspondence helped by incessant and\nimperfect observation and logic, bring about a system of religious\nobservance, of magic and ritual, and all the masses of folly and\ncruelty, hope and faith, and even charity, that group about their\ninventions, and seem to be the necessary steps in the onward path of\nprogressive races.\n\nWhen to these we add the true and exaggerated memories of actual heroes,\nthe material before the student is pretty completely comprised. Though\nhe must be prepared to meet the difficulties caused in the contact of\nraces, of civilisations, by the conversion of persons holding one set of\nmythical ideas to belief in another set of different, more attractive,\nand often more advanced stage.\n\nThe task of arriving at the scientific, speculative ethic, and the\nactual practice of our remote ancestry (for to that end is the student\nof mythology and folk-lore aiming) is not therefore easy. Nor is the\nrecord perfect, though it is not so poor in most cases as was once\nbelieved. The Brothers Grimm, patriarchs alike as mythologists and\nfolk-lorists, the Castor and Pollox of our studies, have proved this as\nregards the Teutonic nations, just as they showed us, by many a striking\nexample, that in great part folk-lore was the mythology of to-day, and\nmythology the folk-lore of yesterday.\n\nIn many cases we are helped by quite modern material to make out some\npuzzle that an old tale presents, and there is little doubt but that the\npresent activity in the field of folklore will not only result in fresh\nmatter but in fresh methods freshly applied.\n\nThe Scandinavian material, at all events, is particularly rich: there is\nthe extensive Icelandic written literature touching the ninth and\ntenth and eleventh centuries; the noble, if fragmentary remains of Old\nNorthern poetry of the Wickingtide; and lastly, the mass of tradition\nwhich, surviving in oral form, and changing in colour from generation to\ngeneration, was first recorded in part in the seventeenth, and again in\npart, in the present century; and all these yield a plentiful field for\nresearch. But their evidence gains immensely by the existence of Saxo's\nnine books of traditional and mythic lore, collected and written down in\nan age when much that was antique and heathen was passing away forever.\nThe gratitude due to the Welshman of the twelfth century, whose garnered\nhoard has enriched so many poets and romances from his day to now, is\nno less due to the twelfth-century Dane, whose faithful and eloquent\nenthusiasm has swept much dust from antique time, and saved us such a\nstory as Shakespeare has not disdained to consecrate to highest use. Not\nonly Celtic and Teutonic lore are the richer for these two men, but\nthe whole Western world of thought and speech. In the history of modern\nliterature, it is but right that by the side of Geoffrey an honourable\nplace should be maintained for Saxo, and\n\n\"awake remembrance of these mighty dead.\"\n\n\n--Oliver Elton\n\n\n\n     ENDNOTES:\n     (1)  A horn and a tusk of great size are described as things of\n     price, and great uroch's horns are mentioned in Thorkill's\n     Second Journey.  Horns were used for feast as well as fray.\n     (2)  Such bird-beaked, bird-legged figures occur on the Cross at\n     Papil, Burra Island, Shetland.  Cf. Abbey Morne Cross, and\n     an Onchan Cross, Isle of Man.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DANISH HISTORY OF SAXO GRAMMATICUS.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\nForasmuch as all other nations are wont to vaunt the glory of their\nachievements, and reap joy from the remembrance of their forefathers:\nAbsalon, Chief Pontiff of the Danes, whose zeal ever burned high for the\nglorification of our land, and who would not suffer it to be\ndefrauded of like renown and record, cast upon me, the least of his\nfollowers--since all the rest refused the task--the work of compiling\ninto a chronicle the history of Denmark, and by the authority of his\nconstant admonition spurred my weak faculty to enter on a labour too\nheavy for its strength. For who could write a record of the deeds of\nDenmark? It had but lately been admitted to the common faith: it still\nlanguished as strange to Latin as to religion. But now that the holy\nritual brought also the command of the Latin tongue, men were as\nslothful now as they were unskilled before, and their sluggishness\nproved as faultful as that former neediness. Thus it came about that my\nlowliness, though perceiving itself too feeble for the aforesaid burden,\nyet chose rather to strain beyond its strength than to resist his\nbidding; fearing that while our neighbours rejoiced and transmitted\nrecords of their deeds, the repute of our own people might appear not\nto possess any written chronicle, but rather to be sunk in oblivion and\nantiquity. Thus I, forced to put my shoulder, which was unused to the\ntask, to a burden unfamiliar to all authors of preceding time,\nand dreading to slight his command, have obeyed more boldly than\neffectually, borrowing from the greatness of my admonisher that good\nheart which the weakness of my own wit denied me.\n\nAnd since, ere my enterprise reached its goal, his death outran it; I\nentreat thee chiefly, Andrew, who wast chosen by a most wholesome and\naccordant vote to be successor in the same office and to headship of\nspiritual things, to direct and inspire my theme; that I may baulk by\nthe defence of so great an advocate that spiteful detraction which\never reviles what is most conspicuous. For thy breast, very fruitful in\nknowledge, and covered with great store of worshipful doctrines, is to\nbe deemed a kind of shrine of heavenly treasures. Thou who hast searched\nthrough Gaul and Italy and Britain also in order to gather knowledge of\nletters and amass them abundantly, didst after thy long wandering obtain\na most illustrious post in a foreign school, and proved such a pillar\nthereof, that thou seemedst to confer more grace on thy degree than it\ndid on thee. Then being made, on account of the height of thy honours\nand the desert of thy virtues, Secretary to the King, thou didst adorn\nthat employment, in itself bounded and insignificant, with such works of\nwisdom as to leave it a piece of promotion for men of greatest rank to\ncovet afterwards, when thou wert transferred to that office which now\nthou holdest. Wherefore Skaane has been found to leap for joy that she\nhas borrowed a Pontiff from her neighbours rather than chosen one from\nher own people; inasmuch as she both elected nobly and deserved joy of\nher election. Being a shining light, therefore, in lineage, in letters,\nand in parts, and guiding the people with the most fruitful labours of\nthy teaching, thou hast won the deepest love of thy flock, and by thy\nboldness in thy famous administration hast conducted the service thou\nhast undertaken unto the summit of renown. And lest thou shouldst seem\nto acquire ownership on the strength of prescription, thou hast, by\na pious and bountiful will, made over a very rich inheritance to Holy\nChurch; choosing rather honourably to reject riches (which are covered\nwith the rust of cares) than to be shackled with the greed of them and\nwith their burden. Likewise thou hast set about an amazing work upon\nthe reverend tenets of the faith; and in thy zeal to set the service of\npublic religion before thy private concerns, hast, by the lesson of thy\nwholesome admonitions, driven those men who refused payment of the dues\nbelonging to religion to do to holy things the homage that they ought;\nand by thy pious gift of treasure hast atoned for the ancient neglect of\nsacred buildings. Further, those who pursued a wanton life, and yielded\nto the stress of incontinence above measure, thou hast redeemed from\nnerveless sloth to a more upright state of mind, partly by continuing\ninstant in wholesome reproof, and partly by the noble example of simple\nliving; leaving it in doubt whether thou hast edified them more by word\nor deed. Thus thou, by mere counsels of wisdom, hast achieved what it\nwas not granted to any of thy forerunners to obtain.\n\nAnd I would not have it forgotten that the more ancient of the Danes,\nwhen any notable deeds of mettle had been done, were filled with\nemulation of glory, and imitated the Roman style; not only by relating\nin a choice kind of composition, which might be called a poetical work,\nthe roll of their lordly deeds; but also by having graven upon rocks\nand cliffs, in the characters of their own language, the works of their\nforefathers, which were commonly known in poems in the mother tongue.\nIn the footsteps of these poems, being as it were classic books of\nantiquity, I have trod; and keeping true step with them as I translated,\nin the endeavour to preserve their drift, I have taken care to render\nverses by verses; so that the chronicle of what I shall have to\nwrite, being founded upon these, may thus be known, not for a modern\nfabrication, but for the utterance of antiquity; since this present work\npromises not a trumpery dazzle of language, but faithful information\nconcerning times past.\n\nMoreover, how many histories must we suppose that men of such genius\nwould have written, could they have had skill in Latin and so slaked\ntheir thirst for writing! Men who though they lacked acquaintance with,\nthe speech of Rome, were yet seized with such a passion for bequeathing\nsome record of their history, that they encompassed huge boulders\ninstead of scrolls, borrowing rocks for the usage of books.\n\nNor may the pains of the men of Thule be blotted in oblivion; for though\nthey lack all that can foster luxury (so naturally barren is the\nsoil), yet they make up for their neediness by their wit, by keeping\ncontinually every observance of soberness, and devoting every instant\nof their lives to perfecting our knowledge of the deeds of foreigners.\nIndeed, they account it a delight to learn and to consign to remembrance\nthe history of all nations, deeming it as great a glory to set forth the\nexcellences of others as to display their own. Their stores, which are\nstocked with attestations of historical events, I have examined somewhat\nclosely, and have woven together no small portion of the present work by\nfollowing their narrative, not despising the judgment of men whom I know\nto be so well versed in the knowledge of antiquity. And I have taken\nequal care to follow the statements of Absalon, and with obedient mind\nand pen to include both his own doings and other men's doings of which\nhe learnt; treasuring the witness of his August narrative as though it\nwere some teaching from the skies.\n\nWherefore, Waldemar, (1) healthful Prince and Father of us all, shining\nlight of thy land, whose lineage, most glorious from times of old, I am\nto relate, I beseech thee let thy grace attend the faltering course of\nthis work; for I am fettered under the weight of my purpose, and dread\nthat I may rather expose my unskillfulness and the feebleness of my\nparts, than portray thy descent as I duly should. For, not to speak of\nthy rich inheritance from thy fathers, thou hast nobly increased thy\nrealm by conquering thy neighbours, and in the toil of spreading thy\nsovereignty hast encompassed the ebbing and flowing waves of Elbe, thus\nadding to thy crowded roll of honours no mean portion of fame. And after\noutstripping the renown and repute of thy forerunners by the greatness\nof thy deeds, thou didst not forbear to make armed, assault even upon\npart of the Roman empire. And though thou art deemed to be well endowed\nwith courage and generosity, thou hast left it in doubt whether thou\ndost more terrify to thy foes in warfare or melt thy people by thy\nmildness. Also thy most illustrious grandsire, who was sanctioned with\nthe honours of public worship, and earned the glory of immortality by\nan unmerited death, now dazzles by the refulgence of his holiness those\nwhom living he annexed in his conquests. And from his most holy wounds\nmore virtue than blood hath flowed.\n\nMoreover I, bound by an old and inherited duty of obedience, have set\nmy heart on fighting for thee, if it be only with all the forces of\nmy mind; my father and grandfather being known to have served thy\nillustrious sire in camp with loyal endurance of the toils of war.\nRelying therefore on thy guidance and regard, I have resolved to begin\nwith the position and configuration of our own country; for I shall\nrelate all things as they come more vividly, if the course of this\nhistory first traverse the places to which the events belong, and take\ntheir situation as the starting-point for its narrative.\n\nThe extremes, then, of this country are partly bounded by a frontier of\nanother land, and partly enclosed by the waters of the adjacent sea. The\ninterior is washed and encompassed by the ocean; and this, through the\ncircuitous winds of the interstices, now straitens into the narrows of a\nfirth, now advances into ampler bays, forming a number of islands. Hence\nDenmark is cut in pieces by the intervening waves of ocean, and has but\nfew portions of firm and continuous territory; these being divided\nby the mass of waters that break them up, in ways varying with the\ndifferent angle of the bend of the sea. Of all these, Jutland, being the\nlargest and first settled, holds the chief place in the Danish kingdom.\nIt both lies fore-most and stretches furthest, reaching to the frontiers\nof Teutonland, from contact with which it is severed by the bed of the\nriver Eyder. Northwards it swells somewhat in breadth, and runs out to\nthe shore of the Noric Channel (Skagerrak). In this part is to be found\nthe fjord called Liim, which is so full of fish that it seems to yield\nthe natives as much food as the whole soil.\n\nClose by this fjord also lies Lesser (North) Friesland, which curves in\nfrom the promontory of Jutland in a cove of sinking plains and shelving\nlap, and by the favour of the flooding ocean yields immense crops of\ngrain. But whether this violent inundation bring the inhabitants more\nprofit or peril, remains a vexed question. For when the (dykes of the)\nestuaries, whereby the waves of the sea are commonly checked among that\npeople, are broken through by the greatness of the storm, such a mass\nof waters is wont to overrun the fields that it sometimes overwhelms not\nonly the tilled lands, but people and their dwellings likewise.\n\nEastwards, after Jutland, comes the Isle of Funen, cut off from the\nmainland by a very narrow sound of sea. This faces Jutland on the west,\nand on the east Zealand, which is famed for its remarkable richness\nin the necessaries of life. This latter island, being by far the most\ndelightful of all the provinces of our country, is held to occupy the\nheart of Denmark, being divided by equal distances from the extreme\nfrontier; on its eastern side the sea breaks through and cuts off\nthe western side of Skaane; and this sea commonly yields each year an\nabundant haul to the nets of the fishers. Indeed, the whole sound is apt\nto be so thronged with fish that any craft which strikes on them is with\ndifficulty got off by hard rowing, and the prize is captured no longer\nby tackle, but by simple use of the hands.\n\nMoreover, Halland and Bleking, shooting forth from the mass of the\nSkaane like two branches from a parent trunk, are linked to Gothland and\nto Norway, though with wide deviations of course, and with various\ngaps consisting of fjords. Now in Bleking is to be seen a rock which\ntravellers can visit, dotted with letters in a strange character. For\nthere stretches from the southern sea into the desert of Vaarnsland a\nroad of rock, contained between two lines a little way apart and very\nprolonged, between which is visible in the midst a level space, graven\nall over with characters made to be read. And though this lies so\nunevenly as sometimes to break through the tops of the hills, sometimes\nto pass along the valley bottoms, yet it can be discerned to preserve\ncontinuous traces of the characters. Now Waldemar, well-starred son of\nholy Canute, marvelled at these, and desired to know their purport, and\nsent men to go along the rock and gather with close search the series of\nthe characters that were to be seen there; they were then to denote them\nwith certain marks, using letters of similar shape. These men could not\ngather any sort of interpretation of them, because owing to the hollow\nspace of the graving being partly smeared up with mud and partly worn by\nthe feet of travellers in the trampling of the road, the long line that\nhad been drawn became blurred. Hence it is plain that crevices, even in\nthe solid rock, if long drenched with wet, become choked either by the\nsolid washings of dirt or the moistening drip of showers.\n\nBut since this country, by its closeness of language as much as of\nposition, includes Sweden and Norway, I will record their divisions and\ntheir climates also as I have those of Denmark. These territories, lying\nunder the northern pole, and facing Bootes and the Great Bear, reach\nwith their utmost outlying parts the latitude of the freezing zone; and\nbeyond these the extraordinary sharpness of the cold suffers not human\nhabitation. Of these two, Norway has been allotted by the choice of\nnature a forbidding rocky site. Craggy and barren, it is beset all\naround by cliffs, and the huge desolate boulders give it the aspect of\na rugged and a gloomy land; in its furthest part the day-star is not\nhidden even by night; so that the sun, scorning the vicissitudes of day\nand night, ministers in unbroken presence an equal share of his radiance\nto either season.\n\nOn the west of Norway comes the island called Iceland, with the mighty\nocean washing round it: a land very squalid to dwell in, but noteworthy\nfor marvels, both strange occurrences and objects that pass belief. A\nspring is there which, by the malignant reek of its water, destroys the\noriginal nature of anything whatsoever. Indeed, all that is sprinkled\nwith the breath of its vapour is changed into the hardness of stone.\nIt remains a doubt whether it be more marvellous or more perilous, that\nsoft and flowing water should be invested with such a stiffness, as by a\nsudden change to transmute into the nature of stone whatsoever is put to\nit and drenched with its reeking fume, nought but the shape surviving.\nHere also are said to be other springs, which now are fed with floods\nof rising water, and, overflowing in full channels, cast a mass of spray\nupwards; and now again their bubbling flags, and they can scarce be\nseen below at the bottom, and are swallowed into deep hiding far under\nground. Hence, when they are gushing over, they bespatter everything\nabout them with the white spume, but when they are spent the sharpest\neye cannot discern them. In this island there is likewise a mountain,\nwhose floods of incessant fire make it look like a glowing rock, and\nwhich, by belching out flames, keeps its crest in an everlasting blaze.\nThis thing awakens our wonder as much as those aforesaid; namely, when\na land lying close to the extreme of cold can have such abundance of\nmatter to keep up the heat, as to furnish eternal fires with unseen\nfuel, and supply an endless provocative to feed the burning. To this\nisle also, at fixed and appointed seasons, there drifts a boundless mass\nof ice, and when it approaches and begins to dash upon the rugged reefs,\nthen, just as if the cliffs rang reply, there is heard from the deep a\nroar of voices and a changing din of extraordinary clamour. Whence it\nis supposed that spirits, doomed to torture for the iniquity of their\nguilty life, do here pay, by that bitter cold, the penalty of their\nsins. And so any portion of this mass that is cut off when the aforesaid\nice breaks away from the land, soon slips its bonds and bars, though it\nbe made fast with ever so great joins and knots. The mind stands dazed\nin wonder, that a thing which is covered with bolts past picking, and\nshut in by manifold and intricate barriers, should so depart after that\nmass whereof it was a portion, as by its enforced and inevitable flight\nto baffle the wariest watching. There also, set among the ridges\nand crags of the mountains, is another kind of ice which is known\nperiodically to change and in a way reverse its position, the upper\nparts sinking to the bottom, and the lower again returning to the top.\nFor proof of this story it is told that certain men, while they chanced\nto be running over the level of ice, rolled into the abyss before them,\nand into the depths of the yawning crevasses, and were a little later\npicked up dead without the smallest chink of ice above them. Hence it\nis common for many to imagine that the urn of the sling of ice first\nswallows them, and then a little after turns upside down and restores\nthem. Here also, is reported to bubble up the water of a pestilent\nflood, which if a man taste, he falls struck as though by poison. Also\nthere are other springs, whose gushing waters are said to resemble the\nquality of the bowl of Ceres. There are also fires, which, though they\ncannot consume linen, yet devour so fluent a thing as water. Also\nthere is a rock, which flies over mountain-steeps, not from any outward\nimpulse, but of its innate and proper motion.\n\nAnd now to unfold somewhat more thoroughly our delineation of Norway.\nIt should be known that on the east it is conterminous with Sweden and\nGothland, and is bounded on both sides by the waters of the neighbouring\nocean. Also on the north it faces a region whose position and name are\nunknown, and which lacks all civilisation, but teems with peoples of\nmonstrous strangeness; and a vast interspace of flowing sea severs it\nfrom the portion of Norway opposite. This sea is found hazardous for\nnavigation, and suffers few that venture thereon to return in peace.\n\nMoreover, the upper bend of the ocean, which cuts through Denmark and\nflows past it, washes the southern side of Gothland with a gulf of some\nwidth; while its lower channel, passing the northern sides of Gothland\nand Norway, turns eastwards, widening much in breadth, and is bounded\nby a curve of firm land. This limit of the sea the elders of our race\ncalled Grandvik. Thus between Grandvik and the Southern Sea there lies\na short span of mainland, facing the seas that wash on either shore;\nand but that nature had set this as a boundary where the billows almost\nmeet, the tides of the two seas would have flowed into one, and cut off\nSweden and Norway into an island. The regions on the east of these\nlands are inhabited by the Skric-Finns. This people is used to an\nextraordinary kind of carriage, and in its passion for the chase strives\nto climb untrodden mountains, and attains the coveted ground at the cost\nof a slippery circuit. For no crag juts out so high, but they can reach\nits crest by fetching a cunning compass. For when they first leave the\ndeep valleys, they glide twisting and circling among the bases of the\nrocks, thus making the route very roundabout by dint of continually\nswerving aside, until, passing along the winding curves of the tracks,\nthey conquer the appointed summit. This same people is wont to use the\nskins of certain beasts for merchandise with its neighbours.\n\nNow Sweden faces Denmark and Norway on the west, but on the south and on\nmuch of its eastern side it is skirted by the ocean. Past this eastward\nis to be found a vast accumulation of motley barbarism.\n\nThat the country of Denmark was once cultivated and worked by giants, is\nattested by the enormous stones attached to the barrows and caves of\nthe ancients. Should any man question that this is accomplished by\nsuperhuman force, let him look up at the tops of certain mountains and\nsay, if he knows how, what man hath carried such immense boulders up to\ntheir crests. For anyone considering this marvel will mark that it is\ninconceivable how a mass, hardly at all or but with difficulty movable\nupon a level, could have been raised to so mighty a peak of so lofty\na mountain by mere human effort, or by the ordinary exertion of human\nstrength. But as to whether, after the Deluge went forth, there existed\ngiants who could do such deeds, or men endowed beyond others with bodily\nforce, there is scant tradition to tell us.\n\nBut, as our countrymen aver, those who even to-day are said to dwell\nin that rugged and inaccessible desert aforesaid, are, by the mutable\nnature of their bodies, vouchsafed the power of being now near, now far,\nand of appearing and vanishing in turn. The approach to this desert is\nbeset with perils of a fearful kind, and has seldom granted to those\nwho attempted it an unscathed return. Now I will let my pen pass to my\ntheme.\n\n\n\n     ENDNOTES:\n     (1)  Waldemar the Second (1203-42); Saxo does not reach his\n     history.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK ONE.\n\nNow Dan and Angul, with whom the stock of the Danes begins, were\nbegotten of Humble, their father, and were the governors and not\nonly the founders of our race. (Yet Dudo, the historian of Normandy,\nconsiders that the Danes are sprung and named from the Danai.) And these\ntwo men, though by the wish and favour of their country they gained\nthe lordship of the realm, and, owing to the wondrous deserts of\ntheir bravery, got the supreme power by the consenting voice of their\ncountrymen, yet lived without the name of king: the usage whereof was\nnot then commonly resorted to by any authority among our people.\n\nOf these two, Angul, the fountain, so runs the tradition, of the\nbeginnings of the Anglian race, caused his name to be applied to the\ndistrict which he ruled. This was an easy kind of memorial wherewith\nto immortalise his fame: for his successors a little later, when they\ngained possession of Britain, changed the original name of the island\nfor a fresh title, that of their own land. This action was much thought\nof by the ancients: witness Bede, no mean figure among the writers of\nthe Church, who was a native of England, and made it his care to embody\nthe doings of his country in the most hallowed treasury of his pages;\ndeeming it equally a religious duty to glorify in writing the deeds of\nhis land, and to chronicle the history of the Church.\n\nFrom Dan, however, so saith antiquity; the pedigrees of our kings\nhave flowed in glorious series, like channels from some parent spring.\nGrytha, a matron most highly revered among the Teutons, bore him two\nsons, HUMBLE and LOTHER.\n\nThe ancients, when they were to choose a king, were wont to stand on\nstones planted in the ground, and to proclaim their votes, in order to\nforeshadow from the steadfastness of the stones that the deed would be\nlasting. By this ceremony Humble was elected king at his father's death,\nthus winning a novel favour from his country; but by the malice of\nensuing fate he fell from a king into a common man. For he was taken by\nLother in war, and bought his life by yielding up his crown; such, in\ntruth, were the only terms of escape offered him in his defeat. Forced,\ntherefore, by the injustice of a brother to lay down his sovereignty, he\nfurnished the lesson to mankind, that there is less safety, though more\npomp, in the palace than in the cottage. Also, he bore his wrong so\nmeekly that he seemed to rejoice at his loss of title as though it were\na blessing; and I think he had a shrewd sense of the quality of a king's\nestate. But Lother played the king as insupportably as he had played the\nsoldier, inaugurating his reign straightway with arrogance and crime;\nfor he counted it uprightness to strip all the most eminent of life or\ngoods, and to clear his country of its loyal citizens, thinking all his\nequals in birth his rivals for the crown. He was soon chastised for his\nwickedness; for he met his end in an insurrection of his country; which\nhad once bestowed on him his kingdom, and now bereft him of his life.\n\nSKIOLD, his son, inherited his natural bent, but not his behaviour;\navoiding his inborn perversity by great discretion in his tender years,\nand thus escaping all traces of his father's taint. So he appropriated\nwhat was alike the more excellent and the earlier share of the family\ncharacter; for he wisely departed from his father's sins, and became a\nhappy counterpart of his grandsire's virtues. This man was famous in his\nyouth among the huntsmen of his father for his conquest of a monstrous\nbeast: a marvellous incident, which augured his future prowess. For he\nchanced to obtain leave from his guardians, who were rearing him very\ncarefully, to go and see the hunting. A bear of extraordinary size\nmet him; he had no spear, but with the girdle that he commonly wore he\ncontrived to bind it, and gave it to his escort to kill. More than\nthis, many champions of tried prowess were at the same time of his life\nvanquished by him singly; of these Attal and Skat were renowned and\nfamous. While but fifteen years of age he was of unusual bodily size\nand displayed mortal strength in its perfection, and so mighty were the\nproofs of his powers that the rest of the kings of the Danes were called\nafter him by a common title, the SKIOLDUNG'S. Those who were wont to\nlive an abandoned and flaccid life, and to sap their self-control by\nwantonness, this man vigilantly spurred to the practice of virtue in\nan active career. Thus the ripeness of Skiold's spirit outstripped\nthe fulness of his strength, and he fought battles at which one of his\ntender years could scarce look on. And as he thus waxed in years and\nvalour he beheld the perfect beauty of Alfhild, daughter of the King of\nthe Saxons, sued for her hand, and, for her sake, in the sight of the\narmies of the Teutons and the Danes, challenged and fought with Skat,\ngovernor of Allemannia, and a suitor for the same maiden; whom he slew,\nafterwards crushing the whole nation of the Allemannians, and forcing\nthem to pay tribute, they being subjugated by the death of their\ncaptain. Skiold was eminent for patriotism as well as arms. For he\nannulled unrighteous laws, and most heedfully executed whatsoever made\nfor the amendment of his country's condition. Further, he regained by\nhis virtue the realm that his father's wickedness had lost. He was the\nfirst to proclaim the law abolishing manumissions. A slave, to whom he\nhad chanced to grant his freedom, had attempted his life by stealthy\ntreachery, and he exacted a bitter penalty; as though it were just that\nthe guilt of one freedman should be visited upon all. He paid off all\nmen's debts from his own treasury, and contended, so to say, with all\nother monarchs in courage, bounty, and generous dealing. The sick he\nused to foster, and charitably gave medicines to those sore stricken;\nbearing witness that he had taken on him the care of his country and not\nof himself. He used to enrich his nobles not only with home taxes, but\nalso with plunder taken in war; being wont to aver that the prize-money\nshould flow to the soldiers, and the glory to the general.\n\nThus delivered of his bitterest rival in wooing, he took as the prize of\ncombat the maiden, for the love of whom he had fought, and wedded her\nin marriage. Soon after, he had by her a son, GRAM, whose wondrous parts\nsavoured so strongly of his father's virtues that he was deemed to tread\nin their very footsteps. The days of Gram's youth were enriched with\nsurpassing gifts of mind and body, and he raised them to the crest of\nrenown. Posterity did such homage to his greatness that in the most\nancient poems of the Danes royal dignity is implied in his very name.\nHe practiced with the most zealous training whatsoever serves to sharpen\nand strengthen the bodily powers. Taught by the fencers, he trained\nhimself by sedulous practice to parrying and dealing blows. He took to\nwife the daughter of his upbringer, Roar, she being his foster-sister\nand of his own years, in order the better to show his gratefulness for\nhis nursing. A little while after he gave her in marriage to a certain\nBess, since he had ofttimes used his strenuous service. In this partner\nof his warlike deeds he put his trust; and he has left it a question\nwhether he has won more renown by Bess's valour or his own.\n\nGram, chancing to hear that Groa, daughter of Sigtryg, King of the\nSwedes, was plighted to a certain giant, and holding accursed an union\nso unworthy of the blood royal, entered on a Swedish war; being\ndestined to emulate the prowess of Hercules in resisting the attempts of\nmonsters. He went into Gothland, and, in order to frighten people out of\nhis path, strode on clad in goats' skins, swathed in the motley hides of\nbeasts, and grasping in his right hand a dreadful weapon, thus feigning\nthe attire of a giant; when he met Groa herself riding with a very\nsmall escort of women on foot, and making her way, as it chanced, to the\nforest-pools to bathe, she thought it was her betrothed who had hastened\nto meet her, and was scared with feminine alarm at so strange a garb:\nso, flinging up the reins, and shaking terribly all over, she began in\nthe song of her country, thus:\n\n\"I see that a giant, hated of the king, has come, and darkens the\nhighways with his stride. Or my eyes play me false; for it has oft\nbefallen bold warriors to skulk behind the skin of a beast.\"\n\nThen began Bess: \"Maiden, seated on the shoulders of the steed, tell me,\npouring forth in thy turn words of answer, what is thy name, and of what\nline art thou born?\"\n\nGroa replied: \"Groa is my name; my sire is a king, glorious in blood,\ngleaming in armour. Disclose to us, thou also, who thou art, or whence\nsprung!\"\n\nTo whom Bess: \"I am Bess, brave in battle, ruthless to foes, a terror to\nnations, and oft drenching my right hand in the blood of foes.\"\n\nThen said Groa: \"Who, prithee, commands your lines? Under what captain\nraise ye the war-standards? What prince controls the battle? Under whose\nguidance is the war made ready?\"\n\nBess in answer: \"Gram, the blest in battle, rules the array: force nor\nfear can swerve him; flaming pyre and cruel sword and ocean billow have\nnever made him afraid. Led by him, maiden, we raise the golden standards\nof war.\"\n\nGroa once more: \"Turn your feet and go back hence, lest Sigtryg vanquish\nyou all with his own array, and fasten you to a cruel stake, your\nthroats haltered with the cord, and doom your carcases to the stiff\nnoose, and, glaring evilly, thrust out your corpses to the hungry\nraven.\"\n\nBess again: \"Gram, ere he shall shut his own eyes in death, shall first\nmake him a ghost, and, smiting him on the crest, shall send him to\nTartarus. We fear no camp of the Swedes. Why threaten us with ghastly\ndooms, maiden?\"\n\nGroa answered him: \"Behold, I will ride thence to see again the roof of\nmy father which I know, that I may not rashly set eyes on the array of\nmy brother who is coming. And I pray that your death-doom may tarry for\nyou who abide.\"\n\nBess replied: \"Daughter, to thy father go back with good cheer; nor\nimprecate swift death upon us, nor let choler shake thy bosom. For often\nhas a woman, harsh at first and hard to a wooer, yielded the second\ntime.\"\n\nWhereupon Gram could brook no longer to be silent, and pitching his\ntones gruffly, so as to mimic a gruesome and superhuman voice, accosted\nthe maiden thus:\n\n\"Let not the maiden fear the brother of the fleet giant, nor turn pale\nbecause I am nigh her. For I am sent by Grip, and never seek the couch\nand embrace of damsels save when their wish matches mine.\"\n\nGroa answered: \"Who so mad as to wish to be the leman of giants? Or what\nwoman could love the bed that genders monsters? Who could be the wife\nof demons, and know the seed whose fruit is monstrous? Or who would fain\nshare her couch with a barbarous giant? Who caresses thorns with her\nfingers? Who would mingle honest kisses with mire? Who would unite\nshaggy limbs to smooth ones which correspond not? Full ease of love\ncannot be taken when nature cries out against it: nor doth the love\ncustomary in the use of women sort with monsters.\"\n\nGram rejoined: \"Oft with conquering hand I have tamed the necks of\nmighty kings, defeating with stronger arm their insolent pride. Thence\ntake red-glowing gold, that the troth may be made firm by the gift, and\nthat the faith to be brought to our wedlock may stand fast.\"\n\nThus speaking, he cast off his disguises, and revealed his natural\ncomeliness; and by a single sight of him he filled the damsel with\nwell-nigh as much joy as he had struck her with fear before at his\ncounterfeit. She was even incited to his embraces by the splendour of\nhis beauty; nor did he fail to offer her the gifts of love.\n\nHaving won Groa, Bess proceeded and learnt that the road was beset\nby two robbers. These he slew simply by charging them as they rushed\ncovetously forth to despoil him. This done, loth to seem to have done\nany service to the soil of an enemy, he put timbers under the carcases\nof the slain, fastened them thereto, and stretched them so as to\ncounterfeit an upright standing position; so that in their death they\nmight menace in seeming those whom their life had harmed in truth; and\nthat, terrible even after their decease, they might block the road\nin effigy as much as they had once in deed. Whence it appears that in\nslaying the robbers he took thought for himself and not for Sweden: for\nhe betokened by so singular an act how great a hatred of Sweden filled\nhim. Having heard from the diviners that Sigtryg could only be conquered\nby gold, he straightway fixed a knob of gold to a wooden mace, equipped\nhimself therewith in the war wherein he attacked the king, and obtained\nhis desire. This exploit was besung by Bess in a most zealous strain of\neulogy:\n\n\"Gram, the fierce wielder of the prosperous mace, knowing not the steel,\nrained blows on the outstretched sword, and with a stock beat off the\nlances of the mighty.\n\n\"Following the decrees and will of the gods, he brought low the glory\nof the powerless Swedes, doing their king to death and crushing him with\nthe stiff gold.\n\n\"For he pondered on the arts of war: he wielded in his clasp the\nruddy-flashing wood, and victoriously with noble stroke made their\nfallen captain writhe.\n\n\"Shrewdly he conquered with the hardness of gold him whom fate forbade\nshould be slain by steel; unsworded, waging war with the worthier metal.\n\n\"This treasure, for which its deviser claims glory and the height of\nhonour, shall abide yet more illustrious hereafter, known far and wide\nin ampler fame.\"\n\nHaving now slain Sigtryg, the King of Sweden, Gram desired to confirm\nhis possession of the empire which he had won in war; and therefore,\nsuspecting Swarin the governor of Gothland of aspiring to the crown, he\nchallenged him to combat, and slew him. This man's brethren, of whom\nhe had seven lawfully born, and nine the sons of a concubine, sought to\navenge their brother's death, but Gram, in an unequal contest, cut them\noff.\n\nGram, for his marvellous prowess, was granted a share in the sovereignty\nby his father, who was now in extreme age, and thought it better\nand likewise more convenient to give his own blood a portion of\nthe supremacy of the realm, than now in the setting of his life to\nadminister it without a partner. Therefore Ring, a nobly-born Zealander,\nstirred the greater part of the Danes with desire for insurrection;\nfancying that one of these men was unripe for his rank, and that the\nother had run the course of his powers, alleging the weakness in years\nof both, and declaring that the wandering wit of an old man made the\none, and that of a boy the other, unfit for royal power. But they fought\nand crushed him, making him an example to all men, that no season of\nlife is to be deemed incompatible with valour.\n\nMany other deeds also King Gram did. He declared war against Sumble,\nKing of the Finns; but when he set eyes upon the King's daughter, Signe,\nhe laid down his arms, the foeman turned into the suitor, and, promising\nto put away his own wife, he plighted troth with her. But, while much\nbusied with a war against Norway, which he had taken up against King\nSwipdag for debauching his sister and his daughter, he heard from\na messenger that Signe had, by Sumble's treachery, been promised in\nmarriage to Henry, King of Saxony. Then, inclining to love the maiden\nmore than his soldiers, he left his army, privily made his way to\nFinland, and came in upon the wedding, which was already begun. Putting\non a garb of the utmost meanness, he lay down at the table in a seat of\nno honour. When asked what he brought, he professed skill in leechcraft.\nAt last, when all were drenched in drunkenness, he gazed at the maiden,\nand amid the revels of the riotous banquet, cursing deep the fickleness\nof women, and vaunting loud his own deeds of valour, he poured out the\ngreatness of his wrath in a song like this:\n\n\"Singly against eight at once I drove the darts of death, and smote nine\nwith a back-swung sword, when I slew Swarin, who wrongfully assumed his\nhonours and tried to win fame unmerited; wherefore I have oft dyed in\nforeign blood my blade red with death and reeking with slaughter, and\nhave never blenched at the clash of dagger or the sheen of helmet. Now\nSigne, the daughter of Sumble, vilely spurns me, and endures vows not\nmine, cursing her ancient troth; and, conceiving an ill-ordered love,\ncommits a notable act of female lightness; for she entangles, lures, and\nbestains princes, rebuffing beyond all others the lordly of birth;\nyet remaining firm to none, but ever wavering, and bringing to birth\nimpulses doubtful and divided.\"\n\nAnd as he spoke he leapt up from where he lay, and there he cut Henry\ndown while at the sacred board and the embraces of his friends, carried\noff his bride from amongst the bridesmaids, felled most of the guests,\nand bore her off with him in his ship. Thus the bridal was turned into a\nfuneral; and the Finns might learn the lesson, that hands should not be\nlaid upon the loves of other men.\n\nAfter this SWIPDAG, King of Norway, destroyed Gram, who was attempting\nto avenge the outrage on his sister and the attempt on his daughter's\nchastity. This battle was notable for the presence of the Saxon forces,\nwho were incited to help Swipdag, not so much by love of him, as by\ndesire to avenge Henry.\n\nGUTHORM and HADDING, the son of Gram (Groa being the mother of the first\nand Signe of the second), were sent over to Sweden in a ship by their\nfoster-father, Brage (Swipdag being now master of Denmark), and put in\ncharge of the giants Wagnhofde and Hafle, for guard as well as rearing.\n\nAs I shall have briefly to relate doings of these folk, and would fain\nnot seem to fabricate what conflicts with common belief or outsteps the\nfaithful truth, it is worth the knowing that there were in old times\nthree kinds of magicians who by diverse sleights practiced extraordinary\nmarvels. The first of these were men of monstrous stock, termed\nby antiquity giants; these by their exceeding great bodily stature\nsurpassed the size natural to mankind. Those who came after these were\nthe first who gained skill in divination from entrails, and attained the\nPythonic art. These surpassed the former in briskness of mental parts as\nmuch as they fell behind them in bodily condition. Constant wars for\nthe supremacy were waged between these and the giants; till at last the\nsorcerers prevailed, subdued the tribe of giants by arms, and acquired\nnot merely the privilege of ruling, but also the repute of being divine.\nBoth of these kinds had extreme skill in deluding the eyesight,\nknowing how to obscure their own faces and those of others with divers\nsemblances, and to darken the true aspects of things with beguiling\nshapes. But the third kind of men, springing from the natural union of\nthe first two, did not answer to the nature of their parents either in\nbodily size or in practice of magic arts; yet these gained credit for\ndivinity with minds that were befooled by their jugglings.\n\nNor must we marvel if, tempted by the prodigious miracles of these folk,\nthe barbaric world fell to worshipping a false religion, when others\nlike unto these, who were mere mortals, but were reverenced with divine\nhonours, beguiled even the shrewdness of the Latins. I have touched on\nthese things lest, when I relate of sleights and marvels, I be checked\nby the disbelief of the reader. Now I will leave these matters and\nreturn to my theme.\n\nSwipdag, now that he had slain Gram, was enriched with the realms of\nDenmark and Sweden; and because of the frequent importunities of his\nwife he brought back from banishment her brother Guthorm, upon his\npromising tribute, and made him ruler of the Danes. But Hadding\npreferred to avenge his father rather than take a boon from his foe.\n\nThis man's nature so waxed and throve that in the early season of\nhis youth he was granted the prime of manhood. Leaving the pursuit of\npleasure, he was constantly zealous in warlike exercises; remembering\nthat he was the son of a fighting father, and was bound to spend his\nwhole span of life in approved deeds of warfare. Hardgrep, daughter of\nWagnhofde, tried to enfeeble his firm spirit with her lures of love,\ncontending and constantly averring that he ought to offer the first\ndues of the marriage bed in wedlock with her, who had proffered to his\nchildhood most zealous and careful fostering, and had furnished him with\nhis first rattle.\n\nNor was she content with admonishing in plain words, but began a strain\nof song as follows:\n\n\"Why doth thy life thus waste and wander? Why dost thou pass thy years\nunwed, following arms, thirsting for throats? Nor does my beauty draw\nthy vows. Carried away by excess of frenzy, thou art little prone to\nlove. Steeped in blood and slaughter, thou judgest wars better than the\nbed, nor refreshest thy soul with incitements. Thy fierceness finds no\nleisure; dalliance is far from thee, and savagery fostered. Nor is thy\nhand free from blasphemy while thou loathest the rites of love. Let\nthis hateful strictness pass away, let that loving warmth approach, and\nplight the troth of love to me, who gave thee the first breasts of milk\nin childhood, and helped thee, playing a mother's part, duteous to thy\nneeds.\"\n\nWhen he answered that the size of her body was unwieldy for the embraces\nof a mortal, since doubtless her nature was framed in conformity to her\ngiant stock, she said:\n\n\"Be not moved by my unwonted look of size. For my substance is sometimes\nthinner, sometimes ampler; now meagre, now abundant; and I alter and\nchange at my pleasure the condition of my body, which is at one time\nshrivelled up and at another time expanded: now my tallness rises to the\nheavens, and now I settle down into a human being, under a more bounded\nshape.\"\n\nAs he still faltered, and was slow to believe her words, she added the\nfollowing song:\n\n\"Youth, fear not the converse of my bed. I change my bodily outline in\ntwofold wise, and am wont to enjoin a double law upon my sinews. For I\nconform to shapes of different figure in turn, and am altered at my\nown sweet will: now my neck is star-high, and soars nigh to the lofty\nThunderer; then it falls and declines to human strength, and plants\nagain on earth that head which was near the firmament. Thus I lightly\nshift my body into diverse phases, and am beheld in varying wise; for\nchangefully now cramped stiffness draws in my limbs, now the virtue of\nmy tall body unfolds them, and suffers them to touch the cloud-tops.\nNow I am short and straitened, now stretch out with loosened knee; and I\nhave mutably changed myself like wax into strange aspects. He who knows\nof Proteus should not marvel at me. My shape never stays the same, and\nmy aspect is twofold: at one time it contrasts its outstretched limbs,\nat another shoots them out when closed; now disentangling the members\nand now rolling them back into a coil. I dart out my ingathered limbs,\nand presently, while they are strained, I wrinkle them up, dividing\nmy countenance between shapes twain, and adopting two forms; with the\ngreater of these I daunt the fierce, while with the shorter I seek the\nembraces of men.\"\n\nBy thus averring she obtained the embraces of Hadding; and her love for\nthe youth burned so high that when she found him desirous of revisiting\nhis own land, she did not hesitate to follow him in man's attire, and\ncounted it as joy to share his hardships and perils. While upon the\njourney she had undertaken, she chanced to enter in his company, in\norder to pass the night, a dwelling, the funeral of whose dead master\nwas being conducted with melancholy rites. Here, desiring to pry into\nthe purposes of heaven by the help of a magical espial, she graved on\nwood some very dreadful spells, and caused Hadding to put them under the\ndead man's tongue; thus forcing him to utter, with the voice so given, a\nstrain terrible to hear:\n\n\"Perish accursed he who hath dragged me back from those below, let him\nbe punished for calling a spirit out of bale!\n\n\"Whoso hath called me, who am lifeless and dead, back from the abode\nbelow, and hath brought me again into upper air, let him pay full\npenalty with his own death in the dreary shades beneath livid Styx.\nBehold, counter to my will and purpose, I must declare some bitter\ntidings. For as ye go away from this house ye will come to the narrow\npath of a grove, and will be a prey to demons all about. Then she who\nhath brought our death back from out of void, and has given us a sight\nof this light once more, by her prayers wondrously drawing forth the\nghost and casting it into the bonds of the body, shall bitterly bewail\nher rash enterprise.\n\n\"Perish accursed he who hath dragged me back from those below, let him\nbe punished for calling a spirit out of bale!\n\n\"For when the black pestilence of the blast that engenders monsters has\ncrushed out the inmost entrails with stern effort, and when their hand\nhas swept away the living with cruel nail, tearing off limbs and rending\nravished bodies; then Hadding, thy life shall survive, nor shall the\nnether realms bear off thy ghost, nor thy spirit pass heavily to the\nwaters of Styx; but the woman who hath made the wretched ghost come back\nhither, crushed by her own guilt, shall appease our dust; she shall be\ndust herself.\n\n\"Perish accursed he who hath dragged me back from those below, let him\nbe punished for calling a spirit out of bale!\"\n\nSo, while they were passing the night in the forest foretold them, in a\nshelter framed of twigs, a hand of extraordinary size was seen to wander\nover the inside of the dwelling. Terrified at this portent, Hadding\nentreated the aid of his nurse. Then Hardgrep, expanding her limbs and\nswelling to a mighty bigness, gripped the hand fast and held it to her\nfoster-child to hew off. What flowed from the noisesome wounds he dealt\nwas not so much blood as corrupt matter. But she paid the penalty of\nthis act, presently being torn in pieces by her kindred of the same\nstock; nor did her constitution or her bodily size help her against\nfeeling the attacks of her foes' claws.\n\nHadding, thus bereft of his foster-mother, chanced to be made an ally in\na solemn covenant to a rover, Lysir, by a certain man of great age that\nhad lost an eye, who took pity on his loneliness. Now the ancients, when\nabout to make a league, were wont to besprinkle their footsteps with\nblood of one another, so to ratify their pledge of friendship by\nreciprocal barter of blood. Lysir and Hadding, being bound thus in\nthe strictest league, declared war against Loker, the tyrant of the\nKurlanders. They were defeated; and the old man aforementioned took\nHadding, as he fled on horseback, to his own house, and there refreshed\nhim with a certain pleasant draught, telling him that he would find\nhimself quite brisk and sound in body. This prophetic advice he\nconfirmed by a song as follows:\n\n\"As thou farest hence, a foe, thinking thee a deserter, will assail\nthee, that he may keep thee bound and cast thee to be devoured by the\nmangling jaws of beasts. But fill thou the ears of the warders with\ndivers tales, and when they have done the feast and deep sleep holds\nthem, snap off the fetters upon thee and the loathly chains. Turn thy\nfeet thence, and when a little space has fled, with all thy might\nrise up against a swift lion who is wont to toss the carcases of the\nprisoners, and strive with thy stout arms against his savage shoulders,\nand with naked sword search his heart-strings. Straightway put thy\nthroat to him and drink the steaming blood, and devour with ravenous\njaws the banquet of his body. Then renewed strength will come to\nthy limbs, then shall undreamed-of might enter thy sinews, and\nan accumulation of stout force shall bespread and nerve thy frame\nthrough-out. I myself will pave the path to thy prayers, and will subdue\nthe henchmen in sleep, and keep them snoring throughout the lingering\nnight.\"\n\nAnd as he spoke, he took back the young man on his horse, and set him\nwhere he had found him. Hadding cowered trembling under his mantle; but\nso extreme was his wonder at the event, that with keen vision he peered\nthrough its holes. And he saw that before the steps of the horse lay\nthe sea; but was told not to steal a glimpse of the forbidden thing, and\ntherefore turned aside his amazed eyes from the dread spectacle of the\nroads that he journeyed. Then he was taken by Loker, and found by very\nsure experience that every point of the prophecy was fulfilled upon\nhim. So he assailed Handwan, king of the Hellespont, who was entrenched\nbehind an impregnable defence of wall in his city Duna, and withstood\nhim not in the field, but with battlements. Its summit defying all\napproach by a besieger, he ordered that the divers kinds of birds who\nwere wont to nest in that spot should be caught by skilled fowlers, and\nhe caused wicks which had been set on fire to be fastened beneath their\nwings. The birds sought the shelter of their own nests, and filled the\ncity with a blaze; all the townsmen flocked to quench it, and left the\ngates defenceless. He attacked and captured Handwan, but suffered him to\nredeem his life with gold for ransom. Thus, when he might have cut off\nhis foe, he preferred to grant him the breath of life; so far did his\nmercy qualify his rage.\n\nAfter this he prevailed over a great force of men of the East, and came\nback to Sweden. Swipdag met him with a great fleet off Gottland; but\nHadding attacked and destroyed him. And thus he advanced to a lofty\npitch of renown, not only by the fruits of foreign spoil, but by\nthe trophies of his vengeance for his brother and his father. And he\nexchanged exile for royalty, for he became king of his own land as soon\nas he regained it.\n\nAt this time there was one Odin, who was credited over all Europe with\nthe honour, which was false, of godhead, but used more continually\nto sojourn at Upsala; and in this spot, either from the sloth of the\ninhabitants or from its own pleasantness, he vouchsafed to dwell with\nsomewhat especial constancy. The kings of the North, desiring more\nzealously to worship his deity, embounded his likeness in a golden\nimage; and this statue, which betokened their homage, they transmitted\nwith much show of worship to Byzantium, fettering even the effigied arms\nwith a serried mass of bracelets. Odin was overjoyed at such notoriety,\nand greeted warmly the devotion of the senders. But his queen Frigga,\ndesiring to go forth more beautified, called smiths, and had the gold\nstripped from the statue. Odin hanged them, and mounted the statue upon\na pedestal, which by the marvellous skill of his art he made to speak\nwhen a mortal touched it. But still Frigga preferred the splendour of\nher own apparel to the divine honours of her husband, and submitted\nherself to the embraces of one of her servants; and it was by this\nman's device she broke down the image, and turned to the service of her\nprivate wantonness that gold which had been devoted to public idolatry.\nLittle thought she of practicing unchastity, that she might the easier\nsatisfy her greed, this woman so unworthy to be the consort of a god;\nbut what should I here add, save that such a godhead was worthy of such\na wife? So great was the error that of old befooled the minds of men.\nThus Odin, wounded by the double trespass of his wife, resented the\noutrage to his image as keenly as that to his bed; and, ruffled by these\ntwo stinging dishonours, took to an exile overflowing with noble shame,\nimagining so to wipe off the slur of his ignominy.\n\nWhen he had retired, one Mit-othin, who was famous for his juggling\ntricks, was likewise quickened, as though by inspiration from on high,\nto seize the opportunity of feigning to be a god; and, wrapping the\nminds of the barbarians in fresh darkness, he led them by the renown of\nhis jugglings to pay holy observance to his name. He said that the\nwrath of the gods could never be appeased nor the outrage to their deity\nexpiated by mixed and indiscriminate sacrifices, and therefore forbade\nthat prayers for this end should be put up without distinction,\nappointing to each of those above his especial drink-offering. But when\nOdin was returning, he cast away all help of jugglings, went to Finland\nto hide himself, and was there attacked and slain by the inhabitants.\nEven in his death his abominations were made manifest, for those who\ncame nigh his barrow were cut off by a kind of sudden death; and after\nhis end, he spread such pestilence that he seemed almost to leave a\nfilthier record in his death than in his life: it was as though he would\nextort from the guilty a punishment for his slaughter. The inhabitants,\nbeing in this trouble, took the body out of the mound, beheaded it, and\nimpaled it through the breast with a sharp stake; and herein that people\nfound relief.\n\nThe death of Odin's wife revived the ancient splendour of his name,\nand seemed to wipe out the disgrace upon his deity; so, returning from\nexile, he forced all those, who had used his absence to assume the\nhonours of divine rank, to resign them as usurped; and the gangs of\nsorcerers that had arisen he scattered like a darkness before the\nadvancing glory of his godhead. And he forced them by his power not only\nto lay down their divinity, but further to quit the country, deeming\nthat they, who tried to foist themselves so iniquitously into the skies,\nought to be outcasts from the earth.\n\nMeanwhile Asmund, the son of Swipdag, fought with Hadding to avenge his\nfather. And when he heard that Henry his son, his love for whom he set\neven before his own life, had fallen fighting valiantly, his soul longed\nfor death, and loathed the light of day, and made a song in a strain\nlike this:\n\n\"What brave hath dared put on my armour? The sheen of the helmet serves\nnot him who tottereth, nor doth the breastplate fitly shelter him that\nis sore spent. Our son is slain, let us riot in battle; my eager love\nfor him driveth me to my death, that I may not be left outliving my dear\nchild. In each hand I am fain to grasp the sword; now without shield let\nus ply our warfare bare-breasted, with flashing blades. Let the rumour\nof our rage beacon forth: boldly let us grind to powder the column of\nthe foe; nor let the battle be long and chafe us; nor let our onset be\nshattered in rout and be still.\"\n\nWhen he had said this, he gripped his hilt with both hands, and,\nfearless of peril, swung his shield upon his back and slew many. Hadding\ntherefore called on the powers with which he was allied to protect him,\nand on a sudden Wagnhofde rode up to fight on his side. And when Asmund\nsaw his crooked sword, he cried out, and broke into the following\nstrain:\n\n\"Why fightest thou with curved sword? The short sword shall prove thy\ndoom, the javelin shall be flung and bring forth death. Thou shouldst\nconquer thy foe by thy hand, but thou trustest that he can be rent\nby spells; thou trustest more in words than rigour, and puttest thy\nstrength in thy great resource. Why dost thus beat me back with thy\nshield, threatening with thy bold lance, when thou art so covered with\nwretched crimes and spotted all over? Thus hath the brand of shame\nbestained thee, rotting in sin, lubber-lipped.\"\n\nWhile he thus clamoured, Hadding, flinging his spear by the thong,\npierced him through. But Asmund lacked not comfort even for his death;\nfor while his life flickered in the socket he wounded the foot of his\nslayer, and by this short instant of revenge he memorized his fall,\npunishing the other with an incurable limp. Thus crippling of a limb\nbefell one of them and loss of life the other. Asmund's body was buried\nin solemn state at Upsala and attended with royal obsequies. His wife\nGunnhild, loth to outlive him, cut off her own life with the sword,\nchoosing rather to follow her lord in death than to forsake him by\nliving. Her friends, in consigning her body to burial, laid her with her\nhusband's dust, thinking her worthy to share the mound of the man, her\nlove for whom she had set above life. So there lies Gunnhild, clasping\nher lord somewhat more beautifully in the tomb than she had ever done in\nthe bed.\n\nAfter this Hadding, now triumphant, wasted Sweden. But Asmund's son,\nnamed Uffe, shrinking from a conflict, transported his army into\nDenmark, thinking it better to assail the house of his enemy than to\nguard his own, and deeming it a timely method of repelling his wrongs\nto retaliate upon his foe what he was suffering at his hands. Thus the\nDanes had to return and defend their own, preferring the safety of\ntheir land to lordship of a foreign realm; and Uffe went back to his own\ncountry, now rid of an enemy's arms.\n\nHadding, on returning from the Swedish war, perceived that his treasury,\nwherein he was wont to store the wealth he had gotten by the spoils\nof war, had been forced and robbed, and straightway hanged its keeper\nGlumer, proclaiming by a crafty device, that, if any of the culprits\nbrought about the recovery of the stolen goods, he should have the\nsame post of honour as Glumer had filled. Upon this promise, one of\nthe guilty men became more zealous to reap the bounty than to hide his\ncrime, and had the money brought back to the king. His confederates\nfancied he had been received into the king's closest friendship, and\nbelieved that the honours paid him were as real as they were lavish; and\ntherefore they also, hoping to be as well rewarded, brought back their\nmoneys and avowed their guilt. Their confession was received at first\nwith promotion and favours, and soon visited with punishment, thus\nbequeathing a signal lesson against being too confiding. I should judge\nthat men, whose foolish blabbing brought them to destruction, when\nwholesome silence could have ensured their safety, well deserved to\natone upon the gallows for their breach of reticence.\n\nAfter this Hadding passed the whole winter season in the utmost\npreparation for the renewal of the war. When the frosts had been melted\nby the springtime sun, he went back to Sweden and there spent five years\nin warfare. By dint of this prolonged expedition, his soldiers, having\nconsumed all their provision, were reduced almost to the extremity of\nemaciation, and began to assuage their hunger with mushrooms from the\nwood. At last, under stress of extreme necessity, they devoured their\nhorses, and finally satisfied themselves with the carcases of dogs.\nWorse still, they did not scruple to feed upon human limbs. So, when the\nDanes were brought unto the most desperate straits, there sounded in\nthe camp, in the first sleep of the night, and no man uttering it, the\nfollowing song:\n\n\"With foul augury have ye left the abode of your country, thinking to\nharry these fields in War. What idle notion mocks your minds? What blind\nself-confidence has seized your senses, that ye think this soil can thus\nbe won. The might of Sweden cannot yield or quail before the War of the\nstranger; but the whole of your column shall melt away when it begins\nto assault our people in War. For when flight has broken up the furious\nonset, and the straggling part of the fighters wavers, then to those\nwho prevail in the War is given free scope to slay those who turn their\nbacks, and they have earned power to smite the harder when fate drives\nthe renewer of the war headlong. Nor let him whom cowardice deters aim\nthe spears.\"\n\nThis prophecy was accomplished on the morrow's dawn by a great slaughter\nof the Danes. On the next night the warriors of Sweden heard an\nutterance like this, none knowing who spake it:\n\n\"Why doth Uffe thus defy me with grievous rebellion? He shall pay the\nutmost penalty. For he shall be buried and transpierced under showers of\nlances, and shall fall lifeless in atonement for his insolent attempt.\nNor shall the guilt of his wanton rancour be unpunished; and, as I\nforebode, as soon as he joins battle and fights, the points shall fasten\nin his limbs and strike his body everywhere, and his raw gaping wounds\nno bandage shall bind up; nor shall any remedy heal over thy wide\ngashes.\"\n\nOn that same night the armies fought; when two hairless old men, of\nappearance fouler than human, and displaying their horrid baldness in\nthe twinkling starlight, divided their monstrous efforts with opposing\nardour, one of them being zealous on the Danish side, and the other as\nfervent for the Swedes. Hadding was conquered and fled to Helsingland,\nwhere, while washing in the cold sea-water his body which was scorched\nwith heat, he attacked and cut down with many blows a beast of unknown\nkind, and having killed it had it carried into camp. As he was exulting\nin this deed a woman met him and addressed him in these words:\n\n\"Whether thou tread the fields afoot, or spread canvas overseas, thou\nshalt suffer the hate of the gods, and through all the world shalt\nbehold the elements oppose thy purposes. Afield thou shalt fall, on sea\nthou shalt be tossed, an eternal tempest shall attend the steps of\nthy wandering, nor shall frost-bind ever quit thy sails; nor shall thy\nroof-tree roof thee, but if thou seekest it, it shall fall smitten by\nthe hurricane; thy herd shall perish of bitter chill. All things shall\nbe tainted, and shall lament that thy lot is there. Thou shalt be\nshunned like a pestilent tetter, nor shall any plague be fouler than\nthou. Such chastisement doth the power of heaven mete out to thee, for\ntruly thy sacrilegious hands have slain one of the dweller's above,\ndisguised in a shape that was not his: thus here art thou, the slayer of\na benignant god! But when the sea receives thee, the wrath of the prison\nof Eolus shall be loosed upon thy head. The West and the furious North,\nthe South wind shall beat thee down, shall league and send forth their\nblasts in rivalry; until with better prayers thou hast melted the\nsternness of heaven, and hast lifted with appeasement the punishment\nthou hast earned.\"\n\nSo, when Hadding went back, he suffered all things after this one\nfashion, and his coming brought disquiet upon all peaceful places. For\nwhen he was at sea a mighty storm arose and destroyed his fleet in a\ngreat tempest: and when, a shipwrecked man, he sought entertainment, he\nfound a sudden downfall of that house. Nor was there any cure for his\ntrouble, ere he atoned by sacrifice for his crime, and was able to\nreturn into favour with heaven. For, in order to appease the deities, he\nsacrificed dusky victims to the god Frey. This manner of propitiation by\nsacrifice he repeated as an annual feast, and left posterity to follow.\nThis rite the Swedes call Froblod (the sacrifice or feast of Frey).\n\nHadding chanced to hear that a certain giant had taken in troth\nRagnhild, daughter of Hakon, King of the Nitherians; and, loathing so\nignominious a state of affairs, and utterly abominating the destined\nunion, he forestalled the marriage by noble daring. For he went\nto Norway and overcame by arms him that was so foul, a lover for a\nprincess. For he thought so much more of valour than of ease, that,\nthough he was free to enjoy all the pleasures of a king, he accounted it\nsweeter than any delight to repel the wrongs done, not only to himself,\nbut to others. The maiden, not knowing him, ministered with healing\ntendance to the man that had done her kindness and was bruised with many\nwounds. And in order that lapse of time might not make her forget\nhim, she shut up a ring in his wound, and thus left a mark on his leg.\nAfterwards her father granted her freedom to choose her own husband; so\nwhen the young men were assembled at banquet, she went along them and\nfelt their bodies carefully, searching for the tokens she had stored up\nlong ago. All the rest she rejected, but Hadding she discovered by the\nsign of the secret ring; then she embraced him, and gave herself to be\nthe wife of him who had not suffered a giant to win her in marriage.\n\nWhile Hadding was sojourning with her a marvellous portent befell him.\nWhile he was at supper, a woman bearing hemlocks was seen to raise her\nhead beside the brazier, and, stretching out the lap of her robe,\nseemed to ask, \"in what part of the world such fresh herbs had grown in\nwinter?\" The king desired to know; and, wrapping him in her mantle, she\ndrew him with her underground, and vanished. I take it that the nether\ngods purposed that he should pay a visit in the flesh to the regions\nwhither he must go when he died. So they first pierced through a certain\ndark misty cloud, and then advancing along a path that was worn away\nwith long thoroughfaring, they beheld certain men wearing rich robes,\nand nobles clad in purple; these passed, they at last approached sunny\nregions which produced the herbs the woman had brought away. Going\nfurther, they came on a swift and tumbling river of leaden waters,\nwhirling down on its rapid current divers sorts of missiles, and\nlikewise made passable by a bridge. When they had crossed this, they\nbeheld two armies encountering one another with might and main. And when\nHadding inquired of the woman about their estate: \"These,\" she said,\n\"are they who, having been slain by the sword, declare the manner of\ntheir death by a continual rehearsal, and enact the deeds of their past\nlife in a living spectacle.\" Then a wall hard to approach and to climb\nblocked their further advance. The woman tried to leap it, but in vain,\nbeing unable to do so even with her slender wrinkled body; then she\nwrung off the head of a cock which she chanced to be taking down with\nher, and flung it beyond the barrier of the walls; and forthwith the\nbird came to life again, and testified by a loud crow to recovery of its\nbreathing. Then Hadding turned back and began to make homewards with\nhis wife; some rovers bore down on him, but by swift sailing he baffled\ntheir snares; for though it was almost the same wind that helped both,\nthey were behind him as he clove the billows, and, as they had only just\nas much sail, could not overtake him.\n\nMeantime Uffe, who had a marvellously fair daughter, decreed that the\nman who slew Hadding should have her. This sorely tempted one Thuning,\nwho got together a band of men of Perm (Byarmenses), being fain so to\nwin the desired advancement. Hadding was going to fall upon him, but\nwhile he was passing Norway in his fleet he saw upon the beach an old\nman signing to him, with many wavings of his mantle, to put into shore.\nHis companions opposed it, and declared that it would be a ruinous\ndiversion from their journey; but he took the man on board, and was\ninstructed by him how to order his army. For this man, in arranging\nthe system of the columns, used to take special care that the front row\nconsisted of two, the second of four, while the third increased and was\nmade up to eight, and likewise each row was double that in front of it.\nAlso the old man bade the wings of the slingers go back to the extremity\nof the line, and put with them the ranks of the archers. So when the\nsquadrons were arranged in the wedge, he stood himself behind the\nwarriors, and from the wallet which was slung round his neck drew an\narbalist. This seemed small at first, but soon projected with more\nprolonged tip, and accommodated ten arrows to its string at once, which\nwere shot all at once at the enemy in a brisk volley, and inflicted as\nmany wounds. Then the men of Perm, quitting arms for cunning, by their\nspells loosed the sky in clouds of rain, and melted the joyous visage of\nthe air in dismal drenching showers. But the old man, on the other hand,\ndrove back with a cloud the heavy mass of storm which had arisen,\nand checked the dripping rain by this barrier of mist. Thus Hadding\nprevailed. But the old man, when he parted from him, foretold that the\ndeath whereby he would perish would be inflicted, not by the might of an\nenemy, but by his own hand. Also he forbade him to prefer obscure wars\nto such as were glorious, and border wars to those remote.\n\nHadding, after leaving him, was bidden by Uffe to Upsala on pretence of\na interview; but lost all his escort by treachery, and made his escape\nsheltered by the night. For when the Danes sought to leave the house\ninto which they had been gathered on pretext of a banquet, they found\none awaiting them, who mowed off the head of each of them with his\nsword as it was thrust out of the door. For this wrongful act Hadding\nretaliated and slew Uffe; but put away his hatred and consigned his body\nto a sepulchre of notable handiwork, thus avowing the greatness of his\nfoe by his pains to beautify his tomb, and decking in death with costly\ndistinctions the man whom he used to pursue in his life with hot enmity.\nThen, to win the hearts of the people he had subdued, he appointed\nHunding, the brother of Uffe, over the realm, that the sovereignty might\nseem to be maintained in the house of Asmund, and not to have passed\ninto the hand of a stranger.\n\nThus his enemy was now removed, and he passed several years without any\nstirring events and in utter disuse of arms; but at last he pleaded the\nlong while he had been tilling the earth, and the immoderate time he had\nforborne from exploits on the seas; and seeming to think war a merrier\nthing than peace, he began to upbraid himself with slothfulness in a\nstrain like this:\n\n\"Why loiter I thus in darksome hiding, in the folds of rugged hills, nor\nfollow seafaring as of old? The continual howling of the band of wolves,\nand the plaintive cry of harmful beasts that rises to heaven, and the\nfierce impatient lions, all rob my eyes of sleep. Dreary are the ridges\nand the desolation to hearts that trusted to do wilder work. The stark\nrocks and the rugged lie of the ground bar the way to spirits who are\nwont to love the sea. It were better service to sound the firths with\nthe oars, to revel in plundered wares, to pursue the gold of others for\nmy coffer, to gloat over sea-gotten gains, than to dwell in rough lands\nand winding woodlands and barren glades.\"\n\nThen his wife, loving a life in the country, and weary of the\nmarin harmony of the sea-birds, declared how great joy she found in\nfrequenting the woodlands, in the following strain:\n\n\"The shrill bird vexes me as I tarry by the shore, and with its\nchattering rouses me when I cannot sleep. Wherefore the noisy sweep of\nits boisterous rush takes gentle rest from my sleeping eye, nor doth\nthe loud-chattering sea-mew suffer me to rest in the night, forcing its\nwearisome tale into my dainty ears; nor when I would lie down doth it\nsuffer me to be refreshed, clamouring with doleful modulation of its\nill-boding voice. Safer and sweeter do I deem the enjoyment of the\nwoods. How are the fruits of rest plucked less by day or night than by\ntarrying tossed on the shifting sea?\"\n\nAt this time one Toste emerged, from the obscure spot of Jutland where\nhe was born, into bloody notoriety. For by all manner of wanton attacks\nupon the common people he spread wide the fame of his cruelty, and\ngained so universal a repute for rancour, that he was branded with\nthe name of the Wicked. Nor did he even refrain from wrongdoing to\nforeigners, but, after foully harrying his own land, went on to assault\nSaxony. The Saxon general Syfrid, when his men were hard put to it in\nthe battle, entreated peace. Toste declared that he should have what he\nasked, but only if he would promise to become his ally in a war against\nHadding. Syfrid demurred, dreading to fulfill the condition, but by\nsharp menaces Toste induced him to promise what he asked. For threats\ncan sometimes gain a request which soft-dealing cannot compass. Hadding\nwas conquered by this man in an affair by land; but in the midst of his\nflight he came on his enemy's fleet, and made it unseaworthy by boring\nthe sides; then he got a skiff and steered it out to sea. Toste thought\nhe was slain, but though he sought long among the indiscriminate heaps\nof dead, could not find him, and came back to his fleet; when he saw\nfrom afar off a light boat tossing on the ocean billows. Putting out\nsome vessels, he resolved to give it chase, but was brought back by\nperil of shipwreck, and only just reached the shore. Then he quickly\ntook some sound craft, and accomplished the journey which he had before\nbegun. Hadding, seeing he was caught, proceeded to ask his companion\nwhether he was a skilled and practised swimmer; and when the other said\nhe was not, Hadding despairing of flight, deliberately turned the vessel\nover and held on inside to its hollow, thus making his pursuers think\nhim dead. Then he attacked Toste, who, careless and unaware, was\ngreedily watching over the remnants of his spoil; cut down his army,\nforced him to quit his plunder, and avenged his own rout by that of\nToste.\n\nBut Toste lacked not heart to avenge himself. For, not having store\nenough in his own land to recruit his forces--so heavy was the blow he\nhad received--he went to Britain, calling himself an ambassador. Upon\nhis outward voyage, for sheer wantonness, he got his crew together to\nplay dice, and when a wrangle arose from the throwing of the cubes, he\ntaught them to wind it up with a fatal affray. And so, by means of this\npeaceful sport, he spread the spirit of strife through the whole ship,\nand the jest gave place to quarrelling, which engendered bloody combat.\nAlso, fain to get some gain out of the misfortunes of others, he seized\nthe moneys of the slain, and attached to him a certain rover then\nfamous, named Koll; and a little after returned in his company to his\nown land, where he was challenged and slain by Hadding, who preferred to\nhazard his own fortune rather than that of his soldiers. For generals of\nantique valour were loth to accomplish by general massacre what could be\ndecided by the lot of a few.\n\nAfter these deeds the figure of Hadding's dead wife appeared before him\nin his sleep, and sang thus:\n\n\"A monster is born to thee that shall tame the rage of wild beasts, and\ncrush with fierce mouth the fleet wolves.\"\n\nThen she added a little: \"Take thou heed; from thee hath issued a bird\nof harm, in choler a wild screech-owl, in tongue a tuneful swan.\"\n\nOn the morrow the king, when he had shaken off slumber, told the vision\nto a man skilled in interpretations, who explained the wolf to denote a\nson that would be truculent and the word swan as signifying a daughter;\nand foretold that the son would be deadly to enemies and the daughter\ntreacherous to her father. The result answered to the prophecy.\nHadding's daughter, Ulfhild, who was wife to a certain private person\ncalled Guthorm, was moved either by anger at her match, or with\naspirations to glory, and throwing aside all heed of daughterly love,\ntempted her husband to slay her father; declaring that she preferred\nthe name of queen to that of princess. I have resolved to set forth the\nmanner of her exhortation almost in the words in which she uttered it;\nthey were nearly these:\n\n\"Miserable am I, whose nobleness is shadowed by an unequal yoke! Hapless\nam I, to whose pedigree is bound the lowliness of a peasant! Luckless\nissue of a king, to whom a common man is equal by law of marriage!\nPitiable daughter of a prince, whose comeliness her spiritless father\nhath made over to base and contemptible embraces! Unhappy child of\nthy mother, with thy happiness marred by consorting with this bed! thy\npurity is handled by the impurity of a peasant, thy nobility is bowed\ndown by ignoble commonness, thy high birth is impaired by the estate of\nthy husband! But thou, if any pith be in thee, if valour reign in thy\nsoul at all, if thou deem thyself fit husband for a king's daughter,\nwrest the sceptre from her father, retrieve thy lineage by thy valour,\nbalance with courage thy lack of ancestry, requite by bravery thy\ndetriment of blood. Power won by daring is more prosperous than that won\nby inheritance. Boldness climbs to the top better than inheritance,\nand worth wins power better than birth. Moreover, it is no shame to\noverthrow old age, which of its own weight sinks and totters to its\nfall. It shall be enough for my father to have borne the sceptre for\nso long; let the dotard's power fall to thee; if it elude thee, it will\npass to another. Whatsoever rests on old age is near its fall. Think\nthat his reign has been long enough, and be it thine, though late in the\nday, to be first. Further, I would rather have my husband than my father\nking--would rather be ranked a king's wife than daughter. It is better\nto embrace a monarch in one's home, than to give him homage from afar;\nit is nobler to be a king's bride than his courtier. Thou, too, must\nsurely prefer thyself to thy wife's father for bearing the sceptre; for\nnature has made each one nearest to himself. If there be a will for the\ndeed, a way will open; there is nothing but yields to the wit of man.\nThe feast must be kept, the banquet decked, the preparations looked\nto, and my father bidden. The path to treachery shall be smoothed by a\npretence of friendship, for nothing cloaks a snare better than the name\nof kindred. Also his soddenness shall open a short way to his slaughter;\nfor when the king shall be intent upon the dressing of his hair, and his\nhand is upon his beard and his mind upon stories; when he has parted his\nknotted locks, either with hairpin or disentangling comb, then let\nhim feel the touch of the steel in his flesh. Busy men commonly devise\nlittle precaution. Let thy hand draw near to punish all his sins. It is\na righteous deed to put forth thy hand to avenge the wretched!\"\n\nThus Ulfhild importuned, and her husband was overcome by her promptings,\nand promised his help to the treachery. But meantime Hadding was warned\nin a dream to beware of his son-in-law's guile. He went to the feast,\nwhich his daughter had made ready for him with a show of love, and\nposted an armed guard hard by to use against the treachery when need\nwas. As he ate, the henchman who was employed to do the deed of guile\nsilently awaited a fitting moment for his crime, his dagger hid under\nhis robe. The king, remarking him, blew on the trumpet a signal to the\nsoldiers who were stationed near; they straightway brought aid, and he\nmade the guile recoil on its deviser.\n\nMeanwhile Hunding, King of the Swedes, heard false tidings that Hadding\nwas dead, and resolved to greet them with obsequies. So he gathered his\nnobles together, and filled a jar of extraordinary size with ale, and\nhad this set in the midst of the feasters for their delight, and,\nto omit no mark of solemnity, himself assumed a servant's part, not\nhesitating to play the cupbearer. And while he was passing through the\npalace in fulfilment of his office, he stumbled and fell into the jar,\nand, being choked by the liquor, gave up the ghost; thus atoning either\nto Orcus, whom he was appeasing by a baseless performance of the rites,\nor to Hadding, about whose death he had spoken falsely. Hadding, when\nhe heard this, wished to pay like thanks to his worshipper, and, not\nenduring to survive his death, hanged himself in sight of the whole\npeople.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK TWO\n\nHADDING was succeeded by FRODE, his son, whose fortunes were many and\nchangeful. When he had passed the years of a stripling, he displayed\nthe fulness of a warrior's prowess; and being loth that this should\nbe spoilt by slothfulness, he sequestered his mind from delights\nand perseveringly constrained it to arms. Warfare having drained his\nfather's treasury, he lacked a stock of pay to maintain his troops, and\ncast about diligently for the supplies that he required; and while\nthus employed, a man of the country met him and roused his hopes by the\nfollowing strain:\n\n\"Not far off is an island rising in delicate slopes, hiding treasure in\nits hills and ware of its rich booty. Here a noble pile is kept by the\noccupant of the mount, who is a snake wreathed in coils, doubled in many\na fold, and with tail drawn out in winding whorls, shaking his manifold\nspirals and shedding venom. If thou wouldst conquer him, thou must use\nthy shield and stretch thereon bulls' hides, and cover thy body with\nthe skins of kine, nor let thy limbs lie bare to the sharp poison;\nhis slaver burns up what it bespatters. Though the three-forked tongue\nflicker and leap out of the gaping mouth, and with awful yawn menace\nghastly wounds remember to keep the dauntless temper of thy mind; nor\nlet the point of the jagged tooth trouble thee, nor the starkness of the\nbeast, nor the venom spat from the swift throat. Though the force of\nhis scales spurn thy spears, yet know there is a place under his lowest\nbelly whither thou mayst plunge the blade; aim at this with thy sword,\nand thou shalt probe the snake to his centre. Thence go fearless up to\nthe hill, drive the mattock, dig and ransack the holes; soon fill thy\npouch with treasure, and bring back to the shore thy craft laden.\"\n\nFrode believed, and crossed alone to the island, loth to attack the\nbeast with any stronger escort than that wherewith it was the custom for\nchampions to attack. When it had drunk water and was repairing to its\ncave, its rough and sharp hide spurned the blow of Frode's steel. Also\nthe darts that he flung against it rebounded idly, foiling the effort\nof the thrower. But when the hard back yielded not a whit, he noted the\nbelly heedfully, and its softness gave entrance to the steel. The beast\ntried to retaliate by biting, but only struck the sharp point of its\nmouth upon the shield. Then it shot out its flickering tongue again and\nagain, and gasped away life and venom together.\n\nThe money which the King found made him rich; and with this supply he\napproached in his fleet the region of the Kurlanders, whose king Dorn,\ndreading a perilous war, is said to have made a speech of the following\nkind to his soldiers:\n\n\"Nobles! Our enemy is a foreigner, begirt with the arms and the wealth\nof almost all the West; let us, by endeavouring to defer the battle for\nour profit, make him a prey to famine, which is all inward malady; and\nhe will find it very hard to conquer a peril among his own people. It is\neasy to oppose the starving. Hunger will be a better weapon against our\nfoe than arms; famine will be the sharpest lance we shall hurl at him.\nFor lack of food nourishes the pestilence that eats away men's strength,\nand lack of victual undermines store of weapons. Let this whirl the\nspears while we sit still; let this take up the prerogative and the duty\nof fighting. Unimperilled, we shall be able to imperil others; we can\ndrain their blood and lose no drop of ours. One may defeat an enemy by\ninaction. Who would not rather fight safely than at a loss? Who would\nstrive to suffer chastisement when he may contend unhurt? Our success\nin arms will be more prosperous if hunger joins battle first. Let hunger\ncaptain us, and so let us take the first chance of conflict. Let it\ndecide the day in our stead, and let our camp remain free from the stir\nof war; if hunger retreat beaten, we must break off idleness. He who is\nfresh easily overpowers him who is shaken with languor. The hand that\nis flaccid and withered will come fainter to the battle. He whom any\nhardship has first wearied, will bring slacker hands to the steel. When\nhe that is wasted with sickness engages with the sturdy, the victory\nhastens. Thus, undamaged ourselves, we shall be able to deal damage to\nothers.\"\n\nHaving said this, he wasted all the places which he saw would be hard to\nprotect, distrusting his power to guard them, and he so far forestalled\nthe ruthlessness of the foe in ravaging his own land, that he left\nnothing untouched which could be seized by those who came after. Then he\nshut up the greater part of his forces in a town of undoubted strength,\nand suffered the enemy to blockade him. Frode, distrusting his power of\nattacking this town, commanded several trenches of unwonted depth to\nbe made within the camp, and the earth to be secretly carried out in\nbaskets and cast quietly into the river bordering the walls. Then he had\na mass of turf put over the trenches to hide the trap: wishing to cut\noff the unwary enemy by tumbling them down headlong, and thinking that\nthey would be overwhelmed unawares by the slip of the subsiding earth.\nThen he feigned a panic, and proceeded to forsake the camp for a short\nwhile. The townsmen fell upon it, missed their footing everywhere,\nrolled forward into the pits, and were massacred by him under a shower\nof spears.\n\nThence he travelled and fell in with Trannon, the monarch of the\nRuthenians. Desiring to spy out the strength of his navy, he made a\nnumber of pegs out of sticks, and loaded a skiff with them; and in this\nhe approached the enemy's fleet by night, and bored the hulls of the\nvessels with an auger. And to save them from a sudden influx of\nthe waves, he plugged up the open holes with the pegs he had before\nprovided, and by these pieces of wood he made good the damage done by\nthe auger. But when he thought there were enough holes to drown the\nfleet, he took out the plugs, thus giving instant access to the waters,\nand then made haste to surround the enemy's fleet with his own. The\nRuthenians were beset with a double peril, and wavered whether they\nshould first withstand waves or weapons. Fighting to save their ships\nfrom the foe, they were shipwrecked. Within, the peril was more terrible\nthan without: within, they fell back before the waves, while drawing\nthe sword on those without. For the unhappy men were assaulted by two\ndangers at once; it was doubtful whether the swiftest way of safety\nwas to swim or to battle to the end; and the fray was broken off at\nits hottest by a fresh cause of doom. Two forms of death advanced in a\nsingle onset; two paths of destruction offered united peril: it was hard\nto say whether the sword or the sea hurt them more. While one man was\nbeating off the swords, the waters stole up silently and took him.\nContrariwise, another was struggling with the waves, when the steel came\nup and encompassed him. The flowing waters were befouled with the gory\nspray. Thus the Ruthenians were conquered, and Frode made his way back\nhome.\n\nFinding that some envoys, whom he had sent into Russia to levy tribute,\nhad been horribly murdered through the treachery of the inhabitants,\nFrode was stung by the double wrong and besieged closely their town\nRotel. Loth that the intervening river should delay his capture of\nthe town, he divided the entire mass of the waters by making new and\ndifferent streams, thus changing what had been a channel of unknown\ndepth into passable fords; not ceasing till the speed of the eddy,\nslackened by the division of its outlet, rolled its waves onward in\nfainter current, and winding along its slender reaches, slowly thinned\nand dwindled into a shallow. Thus he prevailed over the river; and the\ntown, which lacked natural defences, he overthrew, his soldiers breaking\nin without resistance. This done, he took his army to the city of\nPaltisca. Thinking no force could overcome it, he exchanged war for\nguile. He went into a dark and unknown hiding-place, only a very few\nbeing in the secret, and ordered a report of his death to be spread\nabroad, so as to inspire the enemy with less fear; his obsequies being\nalso held, and a barrow raised, to give the tale credit. Even the\nsoldiers bewailed his supposed death with a mourning which was in the\nsecret of the trick. This rumour led Vespasins, the king of the city,\nto show so faint and feeble a defence, as though the victory was already\nhis, that the enemy got a chance of breaking in, and slew him as he\nsported at his ease.\n\nFrode, when he had taken this town, aspired to the Empire of the East,\nand attacked the city of Handwan. This king, warned by Hadding's having\nonce fired his town, accordingly cleared the tame birds out of all his\nhouses, to save himself from the peril of like punishment. But Frode\nwas not at a loss for new trickery. He exchanged garments with a\nserving-maid, and feigned himself to be a maiden skilled in fighting;\nand having thus laid aside the garb of man and imitated that of woman,\nhe went to the town, calling himself a deserter. Here he reconnoitred\neverything narrowly, and on the next day sent out an attendant with\norders that the army should be up at the walls, promising that he would\nsee to it that the gates were opened. Thus the sentries were eluded and\nthe city despoiled while it was buried in sleep; so that it paid for its\nheedlessness with destruction, and was more pitiable for its own sloth\nthan by reason of the valour of the foe. For in warfare nought is found\nto be more ruinous than that a man, made foolhardy by ease, should\nneglect and slacken his affairs and doze in arrogant self-confidence.\n\nHandwan, seeing that the fortunes of his country were lost and\noverthrown, put all his royal wealth on shipboard and drowned it in the\nsea, so as to enrich the waves rather than his enemy. Yet it had been\nbetter to forestall the goodwill of his adversaries with gifts of money\nthan to begrudge the profit of it to the service of mankind. After this,\nwhen Frode sent ambassadors to ask for the hand of his daughter, he\nanswered, that he must take heed not to be spoiled by his thriving\nfortunes, or to turn his triumph into haughtiness; but let him rather\nbethink him to spare the conquered, and in this their abject estate to\nrespect their former bright condition; let him learn to honour their\npast fortune in their present pitiable lot. Therefore, said Handwan, he\nmust mind that he did not rob of his empire the man with whom he sought\nalliance, nor bespatter her with the filth of ignobleness whom he\ndesired to honour with marriage: else he would tarnish the honour of the\nunion with covetousness. The courtliness of this saying not only won him\nhis conqueror for son-in-law, but saved the freedom of his realm.\n\nMeantime Thorhild, wife of Hunding, King of the Swedes, possessed with\na boundless hatred for her stepsons Ragnar and Thorwald, and fain to\nentangle them in divers perils, at last made them the king's shepherds.\nBut Swanhwid, daughter of Hadding, wished to arrest by woman's wit the\nruin of natures so noble; and taking her sisters to serve as retinue,\njourneyed to Sweden. Seeing the said youths beset with sundry prodigies\nwhile busy watching at night over their flocks, she forbade her sisters,\nwho desired to dismount, in a poem of the following strain:\n\n\"Monsters I behold taking swift leaps and flinging themselves over the\nnight places. The demon is at war, and the unholy throng, devoted to the\nmischievous fray, battles in the mid-thoroughfare. Prodigies of aspect\ngrim to behold pass by, and suffer no mortal to enter this country.\nThe ranks galloping in headlong career through the void bid us stay our\nadvance in this spot; they warn us to turn our rein and hold off from\nthe accursed fields, they forbid us to approach the country beyond. A\nscowling horde of ghosts draws near, and scurries furiously through the\nwind, bellowing drearily to the stars. Fauns join Satyrs, and the throng\nof Pans mingles with the Spectres and battles with fierce visage. The\nSwart ones meet the Woodland Spirits, and the pestilent phantoms strive\nto share the path with the Witches. Furies poise themselves on the leap,\nand on them huddle the Phantoms, whom Foreboder (Fantua) joined to the\nFlatnoses (Satyrs), jostles. The path that the footfarer must tread\nbrims with horror. It were safer to burden the back of the tall horse.\"\n\nThereon Ragnar declared that he was a slave of the king, and gave as\nreason of his departure so far from home that, when he had been banished\nto the country on his shepherd's business, he had lost the flock of\nwhich he had charge, and despairing to recover it, had chosen rather\nto forbear from returning than to incur punishment. Also, loth to say\nnothing about the estate of his brother, he further spoke the following\npoem:\n\n\"Think us men, not monsters; we are slaves who drove our lingering\nflocks for pasture through the country. But while we took our pastime in\ngentle sports, our flock chanced to stray and went into far-off fields.\nAnd when our hope of finding them, our long quest failed, trouble came\nupon the mind of the wretched culprits. And when sure tracks of our kine\nwere nowhere to be seen, dismal panic filled our guilty hearts. That\nis why, dreading the penal stripe of the rod, we thought it doleful\nto return to our own roof. We supposed it safer to hold aloof from the\nfamiliar hearth than to bear the hand of punishment. Thus we are fain to\nput off the punishment; we loathe going back and our wish is to lie hid\nhere and escape our master's eye. This will aid us to elude the avenger\nof his neglected flock; and this is the one way of escape that remains\nsafe for us.\"\n\nThen Swanhwid gazed intently, and surveying his features, which were\nvery comely, admired them ardently, and said:\n\n\"The radiant flashing of thine eyes is eloquent that thou art of kingly\nand not of servile stock. Beauty announces blood, and loveliness of soul\nglitters in the flash of the eyes. A keen glance betokens lordly birth,\nand it is plain that he whom fairness, that sure sign of nobleness,\ncommends, is of no mean station. The outward alertness of thine eyes\nsignifies a spirit of radiance within. Face vouches for race; and the\nlustre of forefathers is beheld in the brightness of the countenance.\nFor an aspect so benign and noble could never have issued from base\nparentage. The grace of thy blood makes thy brow mantle with a kindred\ngrace, and the estate of thy birth is reflected in the mirror of thy\ncountenance. It is no obscure craftsman, therefore, that has finished\nthe portrait of so choice a chasing. Now therefore turn aside with all\nspeed, seek constantly to depart out of the road, shun encounters with\nmonsters, lest ye yield your most gracious bodies to be the prey and\npasture of the vilest hordes.\"\n\nBut Ragnar was seized with great shame for his unsightly attire, which\nhe thought was the only possible device to disguise his birth. So he\nrejoined, \"That slaves were not always found to lack manhood; that a\nstrong hand was often hidden under squalid raiment, and sometimes a\nstout arm was muffled trader a dusky cloak; thus the fault of nature\nwas retrieved by valour, and deficiency in race requited by nobleness of\nspirit. He therefore feared the might of no supernatural prowess, save\nof the god Thor only, to the greatness of whose force nothing human\nor divine could fitly be compared. The hearts of men ought not to\nbe terrified at phantoms, which were only awful from their ghastly\nfoulness, and whose semblances, marked by counterfeit ghostliness, were\nwont for a moment to borrow materiality from the fluent air. Swanhwid\ntherefore erred in trying, womanlike, to sap the firm strength of men,\nand to melt in unmanly panic that might which knew not defeat.\"\n\nSwanhwid marvelled at the young man's steadfastness, and cast off the\ncloud of mist which overshadowed her, dispelling the darkness which\nshrouded her face, till it was clear and cloudless. Then, promising\nthat she would give him a sword fitted for diver's kinds of battle, she\nrevealed the marvellous maiden beauty of her lustrous limbs. Thus was\nthe youth kindled, and she plighted her troth with him, and proffering\nthe sword, she thus began:\n\n\"King, in this sword, which shall expose the monsters to thy blows, take\nthe first gift of thy betrothed. Show thyself duly deserving hereof; let\nhand rival sword, and aspire to add lustre to its weapon. Let the might\nof steel strengthen the defenceless point of thy wit, and let spirit\nknow how to work with hand. Let the bearer match the burden: and that\nthy deed may sort with thy blade, let equal weight in each be thine.\nWhat avails the javelin when the breast is weak and faint, and the\nquivering hands have dropped the lance? Let steel join soul, and be\nboth the body's armour! Let the right hand be linked with its hilt in\nalliance. These fight famous battles, because they always keep more\nforce when together; but less when parted. Therefore if it be joy to\nthee to win fame by the palm of war, pursue with daring whatsoever is\nhard pressed by thy hand.\"\n\nAfter thus discoursing long in harmoniously-adjusted strains, she sent\naway her retinue, and passed all the night in combat against the foulest\nthrongs of monsters; and at return of daybreak she perceived fallen all\nover the fields diverse shapes of phantoms, and figures extraordinary\nto look on; and among them was seen the semblance of Thorhild herself\ncovered with wounds. All these she piled in a heap and burnt, kindling\na huge pyre, lest the foul stench of the filthy carcases might spread\nin pestilent vapour and hurt those who came nigh with its taint of\ncorruption. This done, she won the throne of Sweden for Ragnar, and\nRagnar for her husband. And though he deemed it uncomely to inaugurate\nhis first campaign with a wedding, yet, moved by gratitude for the\npreservation of his safety, he kept his promise.\n\nMeantime one Ubbe, who had long since wedded Ulfhild the sister of\nFrode, trusting in the high birth of his wife, seized the kingdom of\nDenmark, which he was managing carelessly as deputy. Frode was thus\nforced to quit the wars of the East and fought a great battle in Sweden\nwith his sister Swanhwid, in which he was beaten. So he got on board a\nskiff, and sailed stealthily in a circuit, seeking some way of boring\nthrough the enemy's fleet. When surprised by his sister and asked why\nhe was rowing silently and following divers meandering courses, he cut\nshort her inquiry by a similar question; for Swanhwid had also, at the\nsame time of the night, taken to sailing about alone, and was stealthily\nsearching out all the ways of approach and retreat through devious and\ndangerous windings. So she reminded her brother of the freedom he had\ngiven her long since, and went on to ask him that he should allow her\nfull enjoyment of the husband she had taken; since, before he started on\nthe Russian war, he had given her the boon of marrying as she would; and\nthat he should hold valid after the event what he had himself allowed to\nhappen. These reasonable entreaties touched Frode, and he made a peace\nwith Ragnar, and forgave, at his sister's request, the wrongdoing which\nRagnar, seemed to have begun because of her wantonness. They presented\nhim with a force equal to that which they had caused him to lose:\na handsome gift in which he rejoiced as compensation for so ugly a\nreverse.\n\nRagnar, entering Denmark, captured Ubbe, had him brought before him, and\npardoned him, preferring to visit his ill deserts with grace rather than\nchastisement; because the man seemed to have aimed at the crown rather\nat his wife's instance than of his own ambition, and to have been the\nimitator and not the cause of the wrong. But he took Ulfhild away from\nhim and forced her to wed his friend Scot, the same man that founded the\nScottish name; esteeming change of wedlock a punishment for her. As she\nwent away he even escorted her in the royal chariot, requiting evil\nwith good; for he regarded the kinship of his sister rather than her\ndisposition, and took more thought for his own good name than of her\niniquity. But the fair deeds of her brother did not make her obstinate\nand wonted hatred slacken a whit; she wore the spirit of her new husband\nwith her design of slaying Frode and mastering the sovereignty of the\nDanes. For whatsoever design the mind has resolutely conceived, it is\nslow to quit; nor is a sin that is long schemed swept away by the stream\nof years. For the temper of later life follows the mind of childhood;\nnor do the traces easily fade of vices which have been stamped upon the\ncharacter in the impressible age. Finding the ears of her husband deaf,\nshe diverted her treachery from her brother against her lord, hiring\nbravoes to cut his throat while he slept. Scot was told about this by a\nwaiting-woman, and retired to bed in his cuirass on the night on which\nhe had heard the deed of murder was to be wrought upon him. Ulfhild\nasked him why he had exchanged his wonted ways to wear the garb of\nsteel; he rejoined that such was just then his fancy. The agents of\nthe treachery, when they imagined him in a deep sleep, burst in; but\nhe slipped from his bed and cut them down. The result was, that he\nprevented Ulfhild from weaving plots against her brother, and also left\na warning to others to beware of treachery from their wives.\n\nMeantime the design occurred to Frode of a campaign against Friesland;\nhe was desirous to dazzle the eyes of the West with the glory he had won\nin conquering the East. He put out to ocean, and his first contest was\nwith Witthe, a rover of the Frisians; and in this battle he bade his\ncrews patiently bear the first brunt of the enemy's charge by merely\nopposing their shields, ordering that they should not use their missiles\nbefore they perceived that the shower of the enemy's spears was utterly\nsilent. This the Frisians hurled as vehemently as the Danes received it\nimpassively; for Witthe supposed that the long-suffering of Frode was\ndue to a wish for peace. High rose the blast of the trumpet, and loud\nwhizzed the javelins everywhere, till at last the heedless Frisians had\nnot a single lance remaining, and they were conquered, overwhelmed by\nthe missiles of the Danes. They fled hugging the shore, and were cut to\npieces amid the circuitous windings of the canals. Then Frode explored\nthe Rhine in his fleet, and laid hands on the farthest parts of Germany.\nThen he went back to the ocean, and attacked the Frisian fleet, which\nhad struck on shoals; and thus he crowned shipwreck with slaughter. Nor\nwas he content with the destruction of so great an army of his foes, but\nassailed Britain, defeated its king, and attacked Melbrik, the Governor\nof the Scottish district. Just as he was preparing to fight him, he\nheard from a scout that the King of the Britons was at hand, and could\nnot look to his front and his rear both at once. So he assembled the\nsoldiers, and ordered that they should abandon their chariots, fling\naway all their goods, and scatter everywhere over the fields the gold\nwhich they had about them; for he declared that their one chance was to\nsquander their treasure; and that, now they were hemmed in, their only\nremaining help was to tempt the enemy from combat to covetousness. They\nought cheerfully to spend on so extreme a need the spoil they had gotten\namong foreigners; for the enemy would drop it as eagerly, when it was\nonce gathered, as they would snatch it when they first found it; for it\nwould be to them more burden than profit.\n\nThen Thorkill, who was a more notable miser and a better orator than\nthem all, dishelming and leaning on his shield, said:\n\n\"O King! Most of us who rate high what we have bought with our\nlife-blood find thy bidding hard. We take it ill that we should fling\naway what we have won with utmost hazard; and men are loth to forsake\nwhat they have purchased at peril of their lives. For it is utter\nmadness to spurn away like women what our manly hearts and hands have\nearned, and enrich the enemy beyond their hopes. What is more odious\nthan to anticipate the fortune of war by despising the booty which is\nours, and, in terror of an evil that may never come, to quit a good\nwhich is present and assured? Shall we scatter our gold upon the earth,\nere we have set eyes upon the Scots? Those who faint at the thought of\nwarring when they are out for war, what manner of men are they to be\nthought in the battle? Shall we be a derision to our foes, we who were\ntheir terror? Shall we take scorn instead of glory? The Briton will\nmarvel that he was conquered by men whom he sees fear is enough to\nconquer. We struck them before with panic; shall we be panic-stricken by\nthem? We scorned them when before us; shall we dread them when they are\nnot here? When will our bravery win the treasure which our cowardice\nrejects? Shall we shirk the fight, in scorn of the money which we fought\nto win, and enrich those whom we should rightly have impoverished? What\ndeed more despicable can we do than to squander gold on those whom\nwe should smite with steel? Panic must never rob us of the spoils of\nvalour; and only war must make us quit what in warfare we have won.\nLet us sell our plunder at the price at which we bought it; let the\npurchase-money be weighed out in steel. It is better to die a noble\ndeath, than to molder away too much in love with the light life. In a\nfleeting instant of time life forsakes us, but shame pursues us past the\ngrave. Further, if we cast away this gold, the greater the enemy thinks\nour fear, the hotter will be his chase. Besides, whichever the issue of\nthe day, the gold is not hateful to us. Conquerors, we shall triumph in\nthe treasure which now we bear; conquered, we shall leave it to pay our\nburying.\"\n\nSo spoke the old man; but the soldiers regarded the advice of their king\nrather than of their comrade, and thought more of the former than of\nthe latter counsel. So each of them eagerly drew his wealth, whatever\nhe had, from his pouch; they unloaded their ponies of the various goods\nthey were carrying; and having thus cleared their money-bags, girded on\ntheir arms more deftly. They went on, and the Britons came up, but broke\naway after the plunder which lay spread out before them. Their king,\nwhen he beheld them too greedily busied with scrambling for the\ntreasure, bade them \"take heed not to weary with a load of riches those\nhands which were meant for battle, since they ought to know that a\nvictory must be culled ere it is counted. Therefore let them scorn the\ngold and give chase to the possessors of the gold; let them admire the\nlustre, not of lucre, but of conquest; remembering, that a trophy\ngave more reward than gain. Courage was worth more than dross, if they\nmeasured aright the quality of both; for the one furnished outward\nadorning, but the other enhanced both outward and inward grace.\nTherefore they must keep their eyes far from the sight of money, and\ntheir soul from covetousness, and devote it to the pursuits of war.\nFurther, they should know that the plunder had been abandoned by the\nenemy of set purpose, and that the gold had been scattered rather to\nbetray them than to profit them. Moreover, the honest lustre of the\nsilver was only a bait on the barb of secret guile. It was not thought\nto be that they, who had first forced the Britons to fly, would lightly\nfly themselves. Besides, nothing was more shameful than riches which\nbetrayed into captivity the plunderer whom they were supposed to enrich.\nFor the Danes thought that the men to whom they pretended to have\noffered riches ought to be punished with sword and slaughter. Let them\ntherefore feel that they were only giving the enemy a weapon if they\nseized what he had scattered. For if they were caught by the look of the\ntreasure that had been exposed, they must lose, not only that, but\nany of their own money that might remain. What could it profit them to\ngather what they must straightway disgorge? But if they refuse to abase\nthemselves before money, they would doubtless abase the foe. Thus it was\nbetter for them to stand erect in valour than be grovelling in greed;\nwith their souls not sinking into covetousness, but up and doing for\nrenown. In the battle they would have to use not gold but swords.\"\n\nAs the king ended, a British knight, shewing them all his lapful of\ngold, said:\n\n\"O King! From thy speech can be gathered two feelings; and one of them\nwitnesses to thy cowardice and the other to thy ill will: inasmuch as\nthou forbiddest us the use of the wealth because of the enemy, and also\nthinkest it better that we should serve thee needy than rich. What is\nmore odious than such a wish? What more senseless than such a counsel?\nWe recognise these as the treasures of our own homes, and having done\nso, shall we falter to pick them up? We were on our way to regain them\nby fighting, we were zealous to win them back by our blood: shall we\nshun them when they are restored unasked? Shall we hesitate to claim our\nown? Which is the greater coward, he who squanders his winnings, or\nhe who is fearful to pick up what is squandered? Look how chance has\nrestored what compulsion took! These are, not spoils from the enemy, but\nfrom ourselves; the Dane took gold from Britain, he brought none. Beaten\nand loth we lost it; it comes back for nothing, and shall we run away\nfrom it? Such a gift of fortune it were a shame to take in an unworthy\nspirit. For what were madder than to spurn wealth that is set openly\nbefore us, and to desire it when it is shut up and kept from us? Shall\nwe squeamishly yield what is set under our eyes, and clutch at it when\nit vanishes? Shall we seek distant and foreign treasure, refraining from\nwhat is made public property? If we disown what is ours, when shall we\ndespoil the goods of others? No anger of heaven can I experience which\ncan force me to unload of its lawful burden the lap which is filled with\nmy father's and my grandsire's gold. I know the wantonness of the Danes:\nnever would they have left jars full of wine had not fear forced them\nto flee. They would rather have sacrificed their life than their liquor.\nThis passion we share with them, and herein we are like them. Grant that\ntheir flight is feigned; yet they will light upon the Scots ere they\ncan come back. This gold shall never rust in the country, to be trodden\nunderfoot of swine or brutes: it will better serve the use of men.\nBesides, if we plunder the spoil of the army that prevailed over us, we\ntransfer the luck of the conqueror to ourselves. For what surer omen of\ntriumph could be got, than to bear off the booty before the battle, and\nto capture ere the fray the camp which the enemy have forsaken? Better\nconquer by fear than by steel.\"\n\nThe knight had scarce ended, when behold; the hands of all were loosed\nupon the booty and everywhere plucked up the shining treasure. There you\nmight have marvelled at their disposition of filthy greed, and watched\na portentous spectacle of avarice. You could have seen gold and grass\nclutched up together; the birth of domestic discord; fellow-countrymen\nin deadly combat, heedless of the foe; neglect of the bonds of\ncomradeship and of reverence for ties; greed the object of all minds,\nand friendship of none.\n\nMeantime Frode traversed in a great march the forest which separates\nScotland and Britain, and bade his soldiers arm. When the Scots beheld\nhis line, and saw that they had only a supply of light javelins, while\nthe Danes were furnished with a more excellent style of armour, they\nforestalled the battle by flight. Frode pursued them but a little way,\nfearing a sally of the British, and on returning met Scot, the husband\nof Ulfhild, with a great army; he had been brought from the utmost ends\nof Scotland by the desire of aiding the Danes. Scot entreated him to\nabandon the pursuit of the Scottish and turn back into Britain. So he\neagerly regained the plunder which he had cunningly sacrificed; and got\nback his wealth with the greater ease, that he had so tranquilly let\nit go. Then did the British repent of their burden and pay for their\ncovetousness with their blood. They were sorry to have clutched at greed\nwith insatiate arms, and ashamed to have hearkened to their own avarice\nrather than to the counsel of their king.\n\nThen Frode attacked London, the most populous city of Britain; but the\nstrength of its walls gave him no chance of capturing it. Therefore he\nreigned to be dead, and his guile strengthened him. For Daleman, the\ngovernor of London, on hearing the false news of his death, accepted the\nsurrender of the Danes, offered them a native general, and suffered them\nto enter the town, that they might choose him out of a great throng.\nThey feigned to be making a careful choice, but beset Daleman in a night\nsurprise and slew him.\n\nWhen he had done these things, and gone back to his own land, one Skat\nentertained him at a banquet, desirous to mingle his toilsome warfare\nwith joyous licence. Frode was lying in his house, in royal fashion,\nupon cushions of cloth of gold, and a certain Hunding challenged him to\nfight. Then, though he had bent his mind to the joys of wassail, he had\nmore delight in the prospect of a fray than in the presence of a feast,\nand wound up the supper with a duel and the duel with a triumph. In the\ncombat he received a dangerous wound; but a taunt of Hakon the champion\nagain roused him, and, slaying his challenger, he took vengeance for\nthe disturbance of his rest. Two of his chamber-servants were openly\nconvicted of treachery, and he had them tied to vast stones and\ndrowned in the sea; thus chastising the weighty guilt of their souls by\nfastening boulders to their bodies. Some relate that Ulfhild gave him a\ncoat which no steel could pierce, so that when he wore it no missile's\npoint could hurt him. Nor must I omit how Frode was wont to sprinkle his\nfood with brayed and pounded atoms of gold, as a resource against the\nusual snares of poisoners. While he was attacking Ragnar, the King of\nSweden, who had been falsely accused of treachery, he perished, not by\nthe spears, but stifled in the weight of his arms and by the heat of his\nown body.\n\nFrode left three sons, Halfdan, Ro, and Skat, who were equal in valour,\nand were seized with an equal desire for the throne. All thought of\nsway, none was constrained by brotherly regard: for love of others\nforsaketh him who is eaten up with love of self, nor can any man take\nthought at once for his own advancement and for his friendship with\nothers. Halfdan, the eldest son, disgraced his birth with the sin of\nslaying his brethren, winning his kingdom by the murder of his kin;\nand, to complete his display of cruelty, arrested their adherents, first\nconfining them in bonds, and presently hanging them. The most notable\nthing in the fortunes of Halfdan was this, that though he devoted every\ninstant of his life to the practice of cruel deeds, yet he died of old\nage, and not by the steel.\n\nHalfdan's sons were Ro and Helge. Ro is said to have been the founder of\nRoskild, which was later increased in population and enhanced in power\nby Sweyn, who was famous for the surname Forkbeard. Ro was short and\nspare, while Helge was rather tall of stature. Dividing the realm with\nhis brother, Helge was allotted the domain of the sea; and attacking\nSkalk, the King of Sklavia, with his naval force, he slew him. Having\nreduced Sklavia into a province, he scoured the various arms of the sea\nin a wandering voyage. Savage of temper as Helge was, his cruelty was\nnot greater than his lust. For he was so immoderately prone to\nlove, that it was doubtful whether the heat of his tyranny or of his\nconcupiscence was the greater. In Thorey he ravished the maiden Thora,\nwho bore a daughter, to whom she afterwards gave the name of Urse. Then\nhe conquered in battle, before the town of Stad, the son of Syrik, King\nof Saxony, Hunding, whom he challenged, attacked, and slew in duel. For\nthis he was called Hunding's-Bane, and by that name gained glory of his\nvictory. He took Jutland out of the power of the Saxons, and entrusted\nits management to his generals, Heske, Eyr, and Ler. In Saxony he\nenacted that the slaughter of a freedman and of a noble should be\nvisited with the same punishment; as though he wished it to be clearly\nknown that all the households of the Teutons were held in equal\nslavery, and that the freedom of all was tainted and savoured equally of\ndishonour.\n\nThen Helge went freebooting to Thorey. But Thora had not ceased to\nbewail her lost virginity, and planned a shameful device in abominable\nvengeance for her rape. For she deliberately sent down to the beach\nher daughter, who was of marriageable age, and prompted her father to\ndeflower her. And though she yielded her body to the treacherous lures\nof delight, yet she must not be thought to have abjured her integrity\nof soul, inasmuch as her fault had a ready excuse by virtue of her\nignorance. Insensate mother, who allowed the forfeiture of her child's\nchastity in order to avenge her own; caring nought for the purity of her\nown blood, so she might stain with incest the man who had cost her her\nown maidenhood at first! Infamous-hearted woman, who, to punish her\ndefiler, measured out as it were a second defilement to herself,\nwhereas she clearly by the selfsame act rather swelled than lessened the\ntransgression! Surely, by the very act wherewith she thought to reach\nher revenge, she accumulated guilt; she added a sin in trying to remove\na crime: she played the stepdame to her own offspring, not sparing her\ndaughter abomination in order to atone for her own disgrace. Doubtless\nher soul was brimming over with shamelessness, since she swerved so far\nfrom shamefastness, as without a blush to seek solace for her wrong in\nher daughter's infamy. A great crime, with but one atonement; namely,\nthat the guilt of this intercourse was wiped away by a fortunate\nprogeny, its fruits being as delightful as its repute was evil.\n\nROLF, the son of Urse, retrieved the shame of his birth by signal deeds\nof valour; and their exceeding lustre is honoured with bright laudation\nby the memory of all succeeding time. For lamentation sometimes ends in\nlaughter, and foul beginnings pass to fair issues. So that the father's\nfault, though criminal, was fortunate, being afterwards atoned for by a\nson of such marvellous splendour.\n\nMeantime Ragnar died in Sweden; and Swanhwid his wife passed away soon\nafter of a malady which she had taken from her sorrow, following in\ndeath the husband from whom she had not endured severance in life. For\nit often happens that some people desire to follow out of life those\nwhom they loved exceedingly when alive. Their son Hothbrodd succeeded\nthem. Fain to extend his empire, he warred upon the East, and after a\nhuge massacre of many peoples begat two sons, Athisl and Hother, and\nappointed as their tutor a certain Gewar, who was bound to him by great\nservices. Not content with conquering the East, he assailed Denmark,\nchallenged its king, Ro, in three battles, and slew him. Helge, when\nhe heard this, shut up his son Rolf in Leire, wishing, however he might\nhave managed his own fortunes, to see to the safety of his heir. When\nHothbrodd sent in governors, wanting to free his country from alien\nrule, he posted his people about the city and prevailed and slew them.\nAlso he annihilated Hothbrodd himself and all his forces in a naval\nbattle; so avenging fully the wrongs of his country as well as of his\nbrother. Hence he who had before won a nickname for slaying Hunding, now\nbore a surname for the slaughter of Hothbrodd. Besides, as if the\nSwedes had not been enough stricken in the battles, he punished them by\nstipulating for most humiliating terms; providing by law that no wrong\ndone to any of them should receive amends according to the form of legal\ncovenants. After these deeds, ashamed of his former infamy, he hated his\ncountry and his home, went back to the East, and there died. Some think\nthat he was affected by the disgrace which was cast in his teeth, and\ndid himself to death by falling upon his drawn sword.\n\nHe was succeeded by his son Rolf, who was comely with every gift of mind\nand body, and graced his mighty stature with as high a courage. In his\ntime Sweden was subject to the sway of the Danes; wherefore Athisl, the\nson of Hothbrodd, in pursuit of a crafty design to set his country free,\ncontrived to marry Rolf's mother, Urse, thinking that his kinship by\nmarriage would plead for him, and enable him to prompt his stepson more\neffectually to relax the tribute; and fortune prospered his wishes. But\nAthisl had from his boyhood been imbued with a hatred of liberality, and\nwas so grasping of money, that he accounted it a disgrace to be called\nopenhanded. Urse, seeing him so steeped in filthy covetousness, desired\nto be rid of him; but, thinking that she must act by cunning, veiled the\nshape of her guile with a marvellous skill. Feigning to be unmotherly,\nshe spurred on her husband to grasp his freedom, and urged and tempted\nhim to insurrection; causing her son to be summoned to Sweden with a\npromise of vast gifts. For she thought that she would best gain her\ndesire if, as soon as her son had got his stepfather's gold, she could\nsnatch up the royal treasures and flee, robbing her husband of bed\nand money to hoot. For she fancied that the best way to chastise his\ncovetousness would be to steal away his wealth. This deep guilefulness\nwas hard to detect, from such recesses of cunning did it spring; because\nshe dissembled her longing for a change of wedlock under a show of\naspiration for freedom. Blind-witted husband, fancying the mother\nkindled against the life of the son, never seeing that it was rather his\nown ruin being compassed! Doltish lord, blind to the obstinate\nscheming of his wife, who, out of pretended hatred of her son, devised\nopportunity for change of wedlock! Though the heart of woman should\nnever be trusted, he believed in a woman all the more insensately,\nbecause he supposed her faithful to himself and treacherous to her son.\n\nAccordingly, Rolf, tempted by the greatness of the gifts, chanced to\nenter the house of Athisl. He was not recognised by his mother owing to\nhis long absence and the cessation of their common life; so in jest he\nfirst asked for some victual to appease his hunger. She advised him\nto ask the king for a luncheon. Then he thrust out a torn piece of\nhis coat, and begged of her the service of sewing it up. Finding his\nmother's ears shut to him, he observed, \"That it was hard to discover a\nfriendship that was firm and true, when a mother refused her son a meal,\nand a sister refused a brother the help of her needle.\" Thus he punished\nhis mother's error, and made her blush deep for her refusal of kindness.\nAthisl, when he saw him reclining close to his mother at the banquet,\ntaunted them both with wantonness, declaring that it was an impure\nintercourse of brother and sister. Rolf repelled the charge against his\nhonour by an appeal to the closest of natural bonds, and answered, that\nit was honourable for a son to embrace a beloved mother. Also, when\nthe feasters asked him what kind of courage he set above all others, he\nnamed Endurance. When they also asked Athisl, what was the virtue which\nabove all he desired most devotedly, he declared, Generosity. Proofs\nwere therefore demanded of bravery on the one hand and munificence on\nthe other, and Rolf was asked to give an evidence of courage first. He\nwas placed to the fire, and defending with his target the side that was\nmost hotly assailed, had only the firmness of his endurance to fortify\nthe other, which had no defence. How dexterous, to borrow from his\nshield protection to assuage the heat, and to guard his body, which was\nexposed to the flames, with that which sometime sheltered it amid the\nhurtling spears! But the glow was hotter than the fire of spears; as\nthough it could not storm the side that was entrenched by the\nshield, yet it assaulted the flank that lacked its protection. But a\nwaiting-maid who happened to be standing near the hearth, saw that he\nwas being roasted by the unbearable heat upon his ribs; so taking the\nstopper out of a cask, she spilt the liquid and quenched the flame, and\nby the timely kindness of the shower checked in its career the torturing\nblaze. Rolf was lauded for supreme endurance, and then came the request\nfor Athisl's gifts. And they say that he showered treasures on his\nstepson, and at last, in order to crown the gift, bestowed on him an\nenormously heavy necklace.\n\nNow Urse, who had watched her chance for the deed of guile, on the third\nday of the banquet, without her husband ever dreaming of such a thing,\nput all the king's wealth into carriages, and going out stealthily,\nstole away from her own dwelling and fled in the glimmering twilight,\ndeparting with her son. Thrilled with fear of her husband's pursuit, and\nutterly despairing of escape beyond, she begged and bade her companions\nto cast away the money, declaring that they must lose either life or\nriches; the short and only path to safety lay in flinging away the\ntreasure, nor could any aid to escape be found save in the loss of their\npossessions. Therefore, said she, they must follow the example of the\nmanner in which Frode was said to have saved himself among the Britons.\nShe added, that it was not paying a great price to lay down the Swedes'\nown goods for them to regain; if only they could themselves gain a start\nin flight, by the very device which would check the others in their\npursuit, and if they seemed not so much to abandon their own possessions\nas to restore those of other men. Not a moment was lost; in order to\nmake the flight swifter, they did the bidding of the queen. The gold is\ncleared from their purses; the riches are left for the enemy to seize.\nSome declare that Urse kept back the money, and strewed the tracks of\nher flight with copper that was gilt over. For it was thought credible\nthat a woman who could scheme such great deeds could also have painted\nwith lying lustre the metal that was meant to be lost, mimicking riches\nof true worth with the sheen of spurious gold. So Athisl, when he saw\nthe necklace that he had given to Rolf left among the other golden\nornaments, gazed fixedly upon the dearest treasure of his avarice,\nand, in order to pick up the plunder, glued his knees to the earth and\ndeigned to stoop his royalty unto greed. Rolf, seeing him lie abjectly\non his face in order to gather up the money, smiled at the sight of a\nman prostrated by his own gifts, just as if he were seeking covetously\nto regain what he had craftily yielded up. The Swedes were content\nwith their booty, and Rolf quickly retired to his ships, and managed to\nescape by rowing violently.\n\nNow they relate that Rolf used with ready generosity to grant at the\nfirst entreaty whatsoever he was begged to bestow, and never put off the\nrequest till the second time of asking. For he preferred to forestall\nrepeated supplication by speedy liberality, rather than mar his kindness\nby delay. This habit brought him a great concourse of champions; valour\nhaving commonly either rewards for its food or glory for its spur.\n\nAt this time, a certain Agnar, son of Ingild, being about to wed Rute,\nthe sister of Rolf, celebrated his bridal with a great banquet. The\nchampions were rioting at this banquet with every sort of wantonness,\nand flinging from all over the room knobbed bones at a certain Hjalte;\nbut it chanced that his messmate, named Bjarke, received a violent blow\non the head through the ill aim of the thrower; at whom, stung both by\nthe pain and the jeering, he sent the bone back, so that he twisted the\nfront of his head to the back, and wrung the back of it to where the\nfront had been; punishing the wryness of the man's temper by turning his\nface sidelong. This deed moderated their wanton and injurious jests, and\ndrove the champions to quit the place. The bridegroom, nettled at this\naffront to the banquet, resolved to fight Bjarke, in order to seek\nvengeance by means of a duel for the interruption of their mirth. At the\noutset of the duel there was a long dispute, which of them ought to have\nthe chance of striking first. For of old, in the ordering of combats,\nmen did not try to exchange their blows thick and fast; but there was\na pause, and at the same time a definite succession in striking: the\ncontest being carried on with few strokes, but those terrible, so that\nhonour was paid more to the mightiness than to the number of the blows.\nAgnar, being of higher rank, was put first; and the blow which he dealt\nis said to have been so furious, that he cut through the front of the\nhelmet, wounded the skin on the scalp, and had to let go his sword,\nwhich became locked in the vizor-holes. Then Bjarke, who was to deal\nthe return-stroke, leaned his foot against a stock, in order to give the\nfreer poise to his steel, and passed his fine-edged blade through the\nmidst of Agnar's body. Some declare that Agnar, in supreme suppression\nof his pain, gave up the ghost with his lips relaxed into a smile. The\nchampions passionately sought to avenge him, but were visited by Bjarke\nwith like destruction; for he used a sword of wonderful sharpness and\nunusual length which he called Lovi. While he was triumphing in these\ndeeds of prowess, a beast of the forest furnished him fresh laurels. For\nhe met a huge bear in a thicket, and slew it with a javelin; and then\nbade his companion Hjalte put his lips to the beast and drink the blood\nthat came out, that he might be the stronger afterwards. For it was\nbelieved that a draught of this sort caused an increase of bodily\nstrength. By these valorous achievements he became intimate with the\nmost illustrious nobles, and even, became a favourite of the king; took\nto wife his sister Rute, and had the bride of the conquered as the prize\nof the conquest. When Rolf was harried by Athisl he avenged himself on\nhim in battle and overthrew Athisl in war. Then Rolf gave his sister\nSkulde in marriage to a youth of keen wit, called Hiartuar, and made him\ngovernor of Sweden, ordaining a yearly tax; wishing to soften the loss\nof freedom to him by the favour of an alliance with himself.\n\nHere let me put into my work a thing that it is mirthful to record. A\nyouth named Wigg, scanning with attentive eye the bodily size of Rolf,\nand smitten with great wonder thereat, proceeded to inquire in jest\nwho was that \"Krage\" whom Nature in her beauty had endowed with such\ntowering stature? Meaning humorously to banter his uncommon tallness.\nFor \"Krage\" in the Danish tongue means a tree-trunk, whose branches are\npollarded, and whose summit is climbed in such wise that the foot\nuses the lopped timbers as supports, as if leaning on a ladder, and,\ngradually advancing to the higher parts, finds the shortest way to the\ntop. Rolf accepted this random word as though it were a name of honour\nfor him, and rewarded the wit of the saying with a heavy bracelet. Then\nWigg, thrusting out his right arm decked with the bracelet, put his left\nbehind his back in affected shame, and walked with a ludicrous gait,\ndeclaring that he, whose lot had so long been poverty-stricken, was glad\nof a scanty gift. When he was asked why he was behaving so, he said\nthat the arm which lacked ornament and had no splendour to boast of\nwas mantling with the modest blush of poverty to behold the other. The\ningenuity of this saying won him a present to match the first. For\nRolf made him bring out to view, like the other, the hand which he was\nhiding. Nor was Wigg heedless to repay the kindness; for he promised,\nuttering a strict vow, that, if it befell Rolf to perish by the sword,\nhe would himself take vengeance on his slayers. Nor should it be omitted\nthat in old time nobles who were entering. The court used to devote to\ntheir rulers the first-fruits of their service by vowing some mighty\nexploit; thus bravely inaugurating their first campaign.\n\nMeantime, Skulde was stung with humiliation at the payment of the\ntribute, and bent her mind to devise deeds of horror. Taunting her\nhusband with his ignominious estate, she urged and egged him to break\noff his servitude, induced him to weave plots against Rolf, and filled\nhis mind with the most abominable plans of disloyalty, declaring that\neveryone owed more to their freedom than to kinship. Accordingly, she\nordered huge piles of arms to be muffled up under divers coverings,\nto be carried by Hiartuar into Denmark, as if they were tribute: these\nwould furnish a store wherewith to slay the king by night. So the\nvessels were loaded with the mass of pretended tribute, and they\nproceeded to Leire, a town which Rolf had built and adorned with the\nrichest treasure of his realm, and which, being a royal foundation and\na royal seat, surpassed in importance all the cities of the neighbouring\ndistricts. The king welcomed the coming of Hiartuar with a splendid\nbanquet, and drank very deep, while his guests, contrary to their\ncustom, shunned immoderate tippling. So, while all the others were\nsleeping soundly, the Swedes, who had been kept from their ordinary rest\nby their eagerness on their guilty purpose, began furtively to slip down\nfrom their sleeping-rooms. Straightway uncovering the hidden heap of\nweapons, each girded on his arms silently and then went to the palace.\nBursting into its recesses, they drew their swords upon the sleeping\nfigures. Many awoke; but, invaded as much by the sudden and dreadful\ncarnage as by the drowsiness of sleep, they faltered in their\nresistance; for the night misled them and made it doubtful whether those\nthey met were friends or foes. Hjalte, who was foremost in tried bravery\namong the nobles of the king, chanced to have gone out in the dead of\nthat same night into the country and given himself to the embraces of a\nharlot. But when his torpid hearing caught from afar the rising din of\nbattle, preferring valour to wantonness, he chose rather to seek the\ndeadly perils of the War-god than to yield to the soft allurements of\nLove. What a love for his king, must we suppose, burned in this warrior!\nFor he might have excused his absence by feigning not to have known; but\nhe thought it better to expose his life to manifest danger than save it\nfor pleasure. As he went away, his mistress asked him how aged a man\nshe ought to marry if she were to lose him? Then Hjalte bade her come\ncloser, as though he would speak to her more privately; and, resenting\nthat she needed a successor to his love, he cut off her nose and made\nher unsightly, punishing the utterance of that wanton question with a\nshameful wound, and thinking that the lecherousness of her soul ought to\nbe cooled by outrage to her face. When he had done this, he said he left\nher choice free in the matter she had asked about. Then he went quickly\nback to the town and plunged into the densest of the fray, mowing down\nthe opposing ranks as he gave blow for blow. Passing the sleeping-room\nof Bjarke, who was still slumbering, he bade him wake up, addressing him\nas follows:\n\n\"Let him awake speedily, whoso showeth himself by service or avoweth\nhimself in mere loyalty, a friend of the king! Let the princes shake off\nslumber, let shameless lethargy begone; let their spirits awake and warm\nto the work; each man's own right hand shall either give him to glory,\nor steep him in sluggard shame; and this night shall be either end or\nvengeance of our woes.\n\n\"I do not now bid ye learn the sports of maidens, nor stroke soft\ncheeks, nor give sweet kisses to the bride and press the slender\nbreasts, nor desire the flowing wine and chafe the soft thigh and cast\neyes upon snowy arms. I call you out to the sterner fray of War. We need\nthe battle, and not light love; nerveless languor has no business here:\nour need calls for battles. Whoso cherishes friendship for the king,\nlet him take up arms. Prowess in war is the readiest appraiser of men's\nspirits. Therefore let warriors have no fearfulness and the brave no\nfickleness: let pleasure quit their soul and yield place to arms. Glory\nis now appointed for wages; each can be the arbiter of his own renown,\nand shine by his own right hand. Let nought here be tricked out with\nwantonness: let all be full of sternness, and learn how to rid them of\nthis calamity. He who covets the honours or prizes of glory must not be\nfaint with craven fear, but go forth to meet the brave, nor whiten at\nthe cold steel.\"\n\nAt this utterance, Bjarke, awakened, roused up his chamber-page Skalk\nspeedily, and addressed him as follows:\n\n\"Up, lad, and fan the fire with constant blowing; sweep the hearth clear\nof wood, and scatter the fine ashes. Strike out sparks from the fire,\nrouse the fallen embers, draw out the smothered blaze. Force the\nslackening hearth to yield light by kindling the coals to a red glow\nwith a burning log. It will do me good to stretch out my fingers when\nthe fire is brought nigh. Surely he that takes heed for his friend\nshould have warm hands, and utterly drive away the blue and hurtful\nchill.\"\n\nHjalte said again: \"Sweet is it to repay the gifts received from our\nlord, to grip the swords, and devote the steel to glory. Behold, each\nman's courage tells him loyally to follow a king of such deserts, and to\nguard our captain with fitting earnestness. Let the Teuton swords, the\nhelmets, the shining armlets, the mail-coats that reach the heel, which\nRolf of old bestowed upon his men, let these sharpen our mindful hearts\nto the fray. The time requires, and it is just, that in time of war we\nshould earn whatsoever we have gotten in the deep idleness of peace,\nthat we should not think more of joyous courses than of sorrowful\nfortunes, or always prefer prosperity to hardship. Being noble, let us\nwith even soul accept either lot, nor let fortune sway our behaviour,\nfor it beseems us to receive equably difficult and delightsome days; let\nus pass the years of sorrow with the same countenance wherewith we took\nthe years of joy. Let us do with brave hearts all the things that in our\ncups we boasted with sodden lips; let us keep the vows which we swore\nby highest Jove and the mighty gods. My master is the greatest of the\nDanes: let each man, as he is valorous, stand by him; far, far hence be\nall cowards! We need a brave and steadfast man, not one that turns his\nback on a dangerous pass, or dreads the grim preparations for battle.\nOften a general's greatest valour depends on his soldiery, for the\nchief enters the fray all the more at ease that a better array of\nnobles throngs him round. Let the thane catch up his arms with fighting\nfingers, setting his right hand on the hilt and holding fast the shield:\nlet him charge upon the foes, nor pale at any strokes. Let none offer\nhimself to be smitten by the enemy behind, let none receive the swords\nin his back: let the battling breast ever front the blow. `Eagles fight\nbrow foremost', and with swift gaping beaks speed onward in the front:\nbe ye like that bird in mien, shrinking from no stroke, but with body\nfacing the foe.\n\n\"See how the enemy, furious and confident overduly, his limbs defended\nby the steel, and his face with a gilded helmet, charges the thick\nof the battle-wedges, as though sure of victory, fearless of rout and\ninvincible by any endeavour. Ah, misery! Swedish assurance spurns the\nDanes. Behold, the Goths with savage eyes and grim aspect advance with\ncrested helms and clanging spears: wreaking heavy slaughter in our\nblood, they wield their swords and their battle-axes hone-sharpened.\n\n\"Why name thee, Hiartuar, whom Skulde hath filled with guilty purpose,\nand hath suffered thus to harden in sin? Why sing of thee, villain, who\nhast caused our peril, betrayer of a noble king? Furious lust of sway\nhath driven thee to attempt an abomination, and, stung with frenzy, to\nscreen thyself behind thy wife's everlasting guilt. What error hath\nmade thee to hurt the Danes and thy lord, and hurled thee into such foul\ncrime as this? Whence entered thy heart the treason framed with such\ncareful guile?\n\n\"Why do I linger? Now we have swallowed our last morsel. Our king\nperishes, and utter doom overtakes our hapless city. Our last dawn has\nrisen, unless perchance there be one here so soft that he fears to offer\nhimself to the blows, or so unwarlike that he dares not avenge his lord,\nand disowns all honours worthy of his valour.\n\n\"Thou, Ruta, rise and put forth thy snow-white head, come forth from\nthy hiding into the battle. The carnage that is being done without calls\nthee. By now the council-chamber is shaken with warfare, and the gates\ncreak with the dreadful fray. Steel rends the mail-coats, the woven mesh\nis torn apart, and the midriff gives under the rain of spears. By now\nthe huge axes have hacked small the shield of the king; by now the long\nswords clash, and the battle-axe clatters its blows upon the shoulders\nof men, and cleaves their breasts. Why are your hearts afraid? Why is\nyour sword faint and blunted? The gate is cleared of our people, and is\nfilled with the press of the strangers.\"\n\nAnd when Hjalte had wrought very great carnage and stained the battle\nwith blood, he stumbled for the third time on Bjarke's berth, and\nthinking he desired to keep quiet because he was afraid, made trial of\nhim with such taunts at his cowardice as these:\n\n\"Bjarke, why art thou absent? Doth deep sleep hold thee? I prithee, what\nmakes thee tarry? Come out, or the fire will overcome thee. Ho! Choose\nthe better way, charge with me! Bears may be kept off with fire; let\nus spread fire in the recesses, and let the blaze attack the door-posts\nfirst. Let the firebrand fall upon the bedchamber, let the falling roof\noffer fuel for the flames and serve to feed the fire. It is right to\nscatter conflagration on the doomed gates. But let us who honour our\nking with better loyalty form the firm battle-wedges, and, having\nmeasured the phalanx in safe rows, go forth in the way the king taught\nus: our king, who laid low Rorik, the son of Bok the covetous, and\nwrapped the coward in death. He was rich in wealth, but in enjoyment\npoor, stronger in gain than bravery; and thinking gold better than\nwarfare, he set lucre above all things, and ingloriously accumulated\npiles of treasure, scorning the service of noble friends. And when he\nwas attacked by the navy of Rolf, he bade his servants take the gold\nfrom the chests and spread it out in front of the city gates, making\nready bribes rather than battle, because he knew not the soldier, and\nthought that the foe should be attempted with gifts and not with arms:\nas though he could fight with wealth alone, and prolong the war by\nusing, not men, but wares! So he undid the heavy coffers and the rich\nchests; he brought forth the polished bracelets and the heavy caskets;\nthey only fed his destruction. Rich in treasure, poor in warriors, he\nleft his foes to take away the prizes which he forebore to give to the\nfriends of his own land. He who once shrank to give little rings of his\nown will, now unwillingly squandered his masses of wealth, rifling his\nhoarded heap. But our king in his wisdom spurned him and the gifts he\nproffered, and took from him life and goods at once; nor was his foe\nprofited by the useless wealth which he had greedily heaped up through\nlong years. But Rolf the righteous assailed him, slew him, and captured\nhis vast wealth, and shared among worthy friends what the hand of\navarice had piled up in all those years; and, bursting into the camp\nwhich was wealthy but not brave, gave his friends a lordly booty without\nbloodshed. Nothing was so fair to him that he would not lavish it, or so\ndear that he would not give it to his friends, for he used treasure like\nashes, and measured his years by glory and not by gain. Whence it is\nplain that the king who hath died nobly lived also most nobly, that the\nhour of his doom is beautiful, and that he graced the years of his life\nwith manliness. For while he lived his glowing valour prevailed over all\nthings, and he was allotted might worthy of his lofty stature. He was\nas swift to war as a torrent tearing down to sea, and as speedy to begin\nbattle as a stag is to fly with cleft foot upon his fleet way.\n\n\"See now, among the pools dripping with human blood, the teeth struck\nout of the slain are carried on by the full torrent of gore, and are\npolished on the rough sands. Dashed on the slime they glitter, and the\ntorrent of blood bears along splintered bones and flows above lopped\nlimbs. The blood of the Danes is wet, and the gory flow stagnates far\naround, and the stream pressed out of the steaming veins rolls back the\nscattered bodies. Tirelessly against the Danes advances Hiartuar, lover\nof battle, and challenges the fighters with outstretched spear. Yet\nhere, amid the dangers and dooms of war, I see Frode's grandson smiling\njoyously, who once sowed the fields of Fyriswald with gold. Let us also\nbe exalted with an honourable show of joy, following in death the doom\nof our noble father. Be we therefore cheery in voice and bold in daring;\nfor it is right to spurn all fear with words of courage, and to meet our\ndeath in deeds of glory. Let fear quit heart and face; in both let us\navow our dauntless endeavours, that no sign anywhere may show us to\nbetray faltering fear. Let our drawn sword measure the weight of our\nservice. Fame follows us in death, and glory shall outlive our crumbling\nashes! And that which perfect valour hath achieved during its span shall\nnot fade for ever and ever. What want we with closed floors? Why doth\nthe locked bolt close the folding-gates? For it is now the third cry,\nBjarke, that calls thee, and bids thee come forth from the barred room.\"\n\nBjarke rejoined: \"Warlike Hjalte, why dost thou call me so loud? I am\nthe son-in-law of Rolf. He who boasts loud and with big words challenges\nother men to battle, is bound to be venturous and act up to his words,\nthat his deed may avouch his vaunt. But stay till I am armed and have\ngirded on the dread attire of war.\n\n\"And now I tie my sword to my side, now first I get my body guarded with\nmail-coat and headpiece, the helm keeping my brows and the stout\niron shrouding my breast. None shrinks more than I from being burnt a\nprisoner inside, and made a pyre together with my own house: though an\nisland brought me forth, and though the land of my birth be bounded, I\nshall hold it a debt to repay to the king the twelve kindreds which he\nadded to my honours. Hearken, warriors! Let none robe in mail his body\nthat shall perish; let him last of all draw tight the woven steel; let\nthe shields go behind the back; let us fight with bared breasts,\nand load all your arms with gold. Let your right hands receive the\nbracelets, that they may swing their blows the more heavily and plant\nthe grievous wound. Let none fall back! Let each zealously strive to\nmeet the swords of the enemy and the threatening spears, that we may\navenge our beloved master. Happy beyond all things is he who can mete\nout revenge for such a crime, and with righteous steel punish the guilt\nof treacheries.\n\n\"Lo, methinks I surely pierced a wild stag with the Teutonic sword which\nis called Snyrtir: from which I won the name of Warrior, when I felled\nAgnar, son of Ingild, and brought the trophy home. He shattered and\nbroke with the bite the sword Hoding which smote upon my head, and would\nhave dealt worse wounds if the edge of his blade had held out better.\nIn return I clove asunder his left arm and part of his left side and\nhis right foot, and the piercing steel ran down his limbs and smote deep\ninto his ribs. By Hercules! No man ever seemed to me stronger than he.\nFor he sank down half-conscious, and, leaning on his elbow, welcomed\ndeath with a smile, and spurned destruction with a laugh, and passed\nrejoicing in the world of Elysium. Mighty was the man's courage, which\nknew how with one laugh to cover his death-hour, and with a joyous face\nto suppress utter anguish of mind and body!\n\n\"Now also with the same blade I searched the heart of one sprung from\nan illustrious line, and plunged the steel deep in his breast. He was a\nking's son, of illustrious ancestry, of a noble nature, and shone with\nthe brightness of youth. The mailed metal could not avail him, nor his\nsword, nor the smooth target-boss; so keen was the force of my steel, it\nknew not how to be stayed by obstacles.\n\n\"Where, then, are the captains of the Goths, and the soldiery of\nHiartuar? Let them come, and pay for their might with their life-blood.\nWho can cast, who whirl the lance, save scions of kings? War springs\nfrom the nobly born: famous pedigrees are the makers of war. For the\nperilous deeds which chiefs attempt are not to be done by the ventures\nof common men. Renowned nobles are passing away. Lo! Greatest Rolf, thy\ngreat ones have fallen, thy holy line is vanishing. No dim and lowly\nrace, no low-born dead, no base souls are Pluto's prey, but he weaves\nthe dooms of the mighty, and fills Phlegethon with noble shapes.\n\n\"I do not remember any combat wherein swords were crossed in turn and\nblow dealt out for blow more speedily. I take three for each I give;\nthus do the Goths requite the wounds I deal them, and thus doth the\nstronger hand of the enemy avenge with heaped interest the punishment\nthat they receive. Yet singly in battle I have given over the bodies of\nso many men to the pyre of destruction, that a mound like a hill could\ngrow up and be raised out of their lopped limbs, and the piles of\ncarcases would look like a burial-barrow. And now what doeth he, who but\nnow bade me come forth, vaunting himself with mighty praise, and chafing\nothers with his arrogant words, and scattering harsh taunts, as though\nin his one body he enclosed twelve lives?\"\n\nHjalte answered: \"Though I have but scant help, I am not far off. Even\nhere, where I stand, there is need of aid, and nowhere is a force or a\nchosen band of warriors ready for battle wanted more. Already the hard\nedges and the spear-points have cleft my shield in splinters, and the\nravening steel has rent and devoured its portions bit by bit in the\nbattle. The first of these things testifies to and avows itself. Seeing\nis better than telling, eyesight faithfuller than hearing. For of the\nbroken shield only the fastenings remain, and the boss, pierced and\nbroken in its circle, is all left me. And now, Bjarke, thou art strong,\nthough thou hast come forth more tardily than was right, and thou\nretrievest by bravery the loss caused by thy loitering.\"\n\nBut Bjarke said: \"Art thou not yet weary of girding at me and goading me\nwith taunts? Many things often cause delay. The reason why I tarried was\nthe sword in my path, which the Swedish foe whirled against my breast\nwith mighty effort. Nor did the guider of the hilt drive home the sword\nwith little might; for though the body was armed he smote it as far as\none may when it is bare or defenceless; he pierced the armour of hard\nsteel like yielding waters; nor could the rough, heavy breastplate give\nme any help.\n\n\"But where now is he that is commonly called Odin, the mighty in battle,\ncontent ever with a single eye? If thou see him anywhere, Rute, tell\nme.\"\n\nRute replied: \"Bring thine eye closer and look under my arm akimbo:\nthou must first hallow thine eyes with the victorious sign, if thou wilt\nsafely know the War-god face to face.\"\n\nThen said Bjarke: \"If I may look on the awful husband of Frigg,\nhowsoever he be covered with his white shield, and guide his tall steed,\nhe shall in no wise go safe out of Leire; it is lawful to lay low in war\nthe war-waging god. Let a noble death come to those that fall before the\neyes of their king. While life lasts, let us strive for the power to die\nhonourably and to reap a noble end by our deeds. I will die overpowered\nnear the head of my slain captain, and at his feet thou also shalt slip\non thy face in death, so that whoso scans the piled corpses may see in\nwhat wise we rate the gold our lord gave us. We shall be the prey of\nravens and a morsel for hungry eagles, and the ravening bird shall feast\non the banquet of our body. Thus should fall princes dauntless in war,\nclasping their famous king in a common death.\"\n\nI have composed this particular series of harangues in metrical shape,\nbecause the gist of the same thoughts is found arranged in a short form\nin a certain ancient Danish song, which is repeated by heart by many\nconversant with antiquity.\n\nNow, it came to pass that the Goths gained the victory and all the array\nof Rolf fell, no man save Wigg remaining out of all those warriors. For\nthe soldiers of the king paid this homage to his noble virtues in that\nbattle, that his slaying inspired in all the longing to meet their end,\nand union with him in death was accounted sweeter than life.\n\nHIARTUAR rejoiced, and had the tables spread for feasting, bidding the\nbanquet come after the battle, and fain to honour his triumph with a\ncarouse. And when he was well filled therewith, he said that it was\nmatter of great marvel to him, that out of all the army of Rolf no man\nhad been found to take thought for his life by flight or fraud. Hence,\nhe said, it had been manifest with what zealous loyalty they had kept\ntheir love for their king, because they had not endured to survive him.\nHe also blamed his ill fortune, because it had not suffered the homage\nof a single one of them to be left for himself: protesting that he would\nvery willingly accept the service of such men. Then Wigg came forth, and\nHiartuar, as though he were congratulating him on the gift, asked him if\nhe were willing to fight for him. Wigg assenting, he drew and proferred\nhim a sword. But Wigg refused the point, and asked for the hilt, saying\nfirst that this had been Rolf's custom when he handed forth a sword to\nhis soldiers. For in old time those who were about to put themselves in\ndependence on the king used to promise fealty by touching the hilt of\nthe sword. And in this wise Wigg clasped the hilt, and then drove the\npoint through Hiartuar; thus gaining the vengeance which he had promised\nRolf to accomplish for him. When he had done this, and the soldiers\nof Hiartuar rushed at him, he exposed his body to them eagerly and\nexultantly, shouting that he felt more joy in the slaughter of the\ntyrant than bitterness at his own. Thus the feast was turned into\na funeral, and the wailing of burial followed the joy of victory.\nGlorious, ever memorable hero, who valiantly kept his vow, and\nvoluntarily courted death, staining with blood by his service the tables\nof the despot! For the lively valour of his spirit feared not the hands\nof the slaughterers, when he had once beheld the place where Rolf had\nbeen wont to live bespattered with the blood of his slayer. Thus the\nroyalty of Hiartuar was won and ended on the same day. For whatsoever\nis gotten with guile melts away in like fashion as it is sought, and no\nfruits are long-lasting that have been won by treachery and crime.\nHence it came to pass that the Swedes, who had a little before been the\npossessors of Denmark, came to lose even their own liberty. For they\nwere straightway cut off by the Zealanders, and paid righteous atonement\nto the injured shades of Rolf. In this way does stern fortune commonly\navenge the works of craft and cunning.\n\n\n\nBOOK THREE.\n\nAfter Hiartuar, HOTHER, whom I mentioned above, the brother of Athisl,\nand also the fosterling of King Gewar, became sovereign of both realms.\nIt will be easier to relate his times if I begin with the beginning\nof his life. For if the earlier years of his career are not doomed to\nsilence, the latter ones can be more fully and fairly narrated.\n\nWhen Helgi had slain Hodbrodd, his son Hother passed the length of his\nboyhood under the tutelage of King Gewar. While a stripling, he excelled\nin strength of body all his foster-brethren and compeers. Moreover, he\nwas gifted with many accomplishments of mind. He was very skilled in\nswimming and archery, and also with the gloves; and further was as\nnimble as such a youth could be, his training being equal to his\nstrength. Though his years were unripe, his richly-dowered spirit\nsurpassed them. None was more skilful on lyre or harp; and he was\ncunning on the timbrel, on the lute, and in every modulation of string\ninstruments. With his changing measures he could sway the feelings of\nmen to what passions he would; he knew how to fill human hearts with joy\nor sadness, with pity or with hatred, and used to enwrap the soul with\nthe delight or terror of the ear. All these accomplishments of the youth\npleased Nanna, the daughter of Gewar, mightily, and she began to seek\nhis embraces. For the valour of a youth will often kindle a maid, and\nthe courage of those whose looks are not so winning is often acceptable.\nFor love hath many avenues; the path of pleasure is opened to some\nby grace, to others by bravery of soul, and to some by skill in\naccomplishments. Courtesy brings to some stores of Love, while most are\ncommended by brightness of beauty. Nor do the brave inflict a shallower\nwound on maidens than the comely.\n\nNow it befell that Balder the son of Odin was troubled at the sight of\nNanna bathing, and was seized with boundless love. He was kindled by her\nfair and lustrous body, and his heart was set on fire by her manifest\nbeauty; for nothing exciteth passion like comeliness. Therefore he\nresolved to slay with the sword Hother, who, he feared, was likeliest to\nbaulk his wishes; so that his love, which brooked no postponement, might\nnot be delayed in the enjoyment of its desire by any obstacle.\n\nAbout this time Hother chanced, while hunting, to be led astray by a\nmist, and he came on a certain lodge in which were wood-maidens; and\nwhen they greeted him by his own name, he asked who they were.\nThey declared that it was their guidance and government that mainly\ndetermined the fortunes of war. For they often invisibly took part\nin battles, and by their secret assistance won for their friends the\ncoveted victories. They averted, indeed, that they could win triumphs\nand inflict defeats as they would; and further told him how Balder had\nseen his foster-sister Nanna while she bathed, and been kindled with\npassion for her; but counselled Hother not to attack him in war, worthy\nas he was of his deadliest hate, for they declared that Balder was a\ndemigod, sprung secretly from celestial seed. When Hother had heard\nthis, the place melted away and left him shelterless, and he found\nhimself standing in the open and out in the midst of the fields, without\na vestige of shade. Most of all he marvelled at the swift flight of the\nmaidens, the shifting of the place, and the delusive semblance of the\nbuilding. For he knew not that all that had passed around him had been a\nmere mockery and an unreal trick of the arts of magic.\n\nReturning thence, he related to Gewar the mystification that had\nfollowed on his straying, and straightway asked him for his daughter.\nGewar answered that he would most gladly favour him, but that he feared\nif he rejected Balder he would incur his wrath; for Balder, he said, had\nproffered him a like request. For he said that the sacred strength of\nBalder's body was proof even against steel; adding, however, that he\nknew of a sword which could deal him his death, which was fastened up in\nthe closest bonds; this was in the keeping of Miming, the Satyr of the\nwoods, who also had a bracelet of a secret and marvellous virtue, that\nused to increase the wealth of the owner. Moreover, the way to these\nregions was impassable and filled with obstacles, and therefore hard for\nmortal men to travel. For the greater part of the road was perpetually\nbeset with extraordinary cold. So he advised him to harness a car with\nreindeer, by means of whose great speed he could cross the hard-frozen\nridges. And when he had got to the place, he should set up his tent away\nfrom the sun in such wise that it should catch the shadow of the cave\nwhere Miming was wont to be; while he should not in return cast a\nshade upon Miming, so that no unaccustomed darkness might be thrown and\nprevent the Satyr from going out. Thus both the bracelet and the sword\nwould be ready to his hand, one being attended by fortune in wealth\nand the other by fortune in war, and each of them thus bringing a great\nprize to the owner. Thus much said Gewar; and Hother was not slow to\ncarry out his instructions. Planting his tent in the manner aforesaid,\nhe passed the nights in anxieties and the days in hunting. But through\neither season he remained very wakeful and sleepless, allotting the\ndivisions of night and day so as to devote the one to reflection on\nevents, and to spend the other in providing food for his body. Once as\nhe watched all night, his spirit was drooping and dazed with anxiety,\nwhen the Satyr cast a shadow on his tent. Aiming a spear at him, he\nbrought him down with the blow, stopped him, and bound him, while he\ncould not make his escape. Then in the most dreadful words he threatened\nhim with the worst, and demanded the sword and bracelets. The Satyr was\nnot slow to tender him the ransom of his life for which he was asked.\nSo surely do all prize life beyond wealth; for nothing is ever cherished\nmore among mortals than the breath of their own life. Hother, exulting\nin the treasure he had gained, went home enriched with trophies which,\nthough few, were noble.\n\nWhen Gelder, the King of Saxony, heard that Hother had gained these\nthings, he kept constantly urging his soldiers to go and carry off such\nglorious booty; and the warriors speedily equipped a fleet in obedience\nto their king. Gewar, being very learned in divining and an expert in\nthe knowledge of omens, foresaw this; and summoning Hother, told him,\nwhen Gelder should join battle with him, to receive his spears with\npatience, and not let his own fly until he saw the enemy's missiles\nexhausted; and further, to bring up the curved scythes wherewith the\nvessels could be rent and the helmets and shields plucked from the\nsoldiers. Hother followed his advice and found its result fortunate. For\nhe bade his men, when Gelder began to charge, to stand their ground and\ndefend their bodies with their shields, affirming that the victory in\nthat battle must be won by patience. But the enemy nowhere kept back\ntheir missiles, spending them all in their extreme eagerness to fight;\nand the more patiently they found Hother bear himself in his reception\nof their spears and lances, the more furiously they began to hurl them.\nSome of these stuck in the shields and some in the ships, and few were\nthe wounds they inflicted; many of them were seen to be shaken off idly\nand to do no hurt. For the soldiers of Hother performed the bidding\nof their king, and kept off the attack of the spears by a penthouse of\ninterlocked shields; while not a few of the spears smote lightly on\nthe bosses and fell into the waves. When Gelder was emptied of all his\nstore, and saw the enemy picking it up, and swiftly hurling it back\nat him, he covered the summit of the mast with a crimson shield, as a\nsignal of peace, and surrendered to save his life. Hother received him\nwith the friendliest face and the kindliest words, and conquered him as\nmuch by his gentleness as he had by his skill.\n\nAt this time Helgi, King of Halogaland, was sending frequent embassies\nto press his suit for Thora, daughter of Kuse, sovereign of the Finns\nand Perms. Thus is weakness ever known by its wanting help from others.\nFor while all other young men of that time used to sue in marriage with\ntheir own lips, this man was afflicted with so faulty an utterance that\nhe was ashamed to be heard not only by strangers, but by those of his\nown house. So much doth calamity shun all witnesses; for natural defects\nare the more vexing the more manifest they are. Kuse despised his\nembassy, answering that that man did not deserve a wife who trusted too\nlittle to his own manhood, and borrowed by entreaty the aid of others in\norder to gain his suit. When Helgi heard this, he besought Hother, whom\nhe knew to be an accomplished pleader, to favour his desires, promising\nthat he would promptly perform whatsoever he should command him. The\nearnest entreaties of the youth prevailed on Hother, and he went to\nNorway with an armed fleet, intending to achieve by arms the end which\nhe could not by words. And when he had pleaded for Helgi with the\nmost dulcet eloquence, Kuse rejoined that his daughter's wish must be\nconsulted, in order that no paternal strictness might forestall anything\nagainst her will. He called her in and asked her whether she felt a\nliking for her wooer; and when she assented he promised Helgi her hand.\nIn this way Hother, by the sweet sounds of his fluent and well-turned\noratory, opened the ears of Kuse, which were before deaf to the suit he\nurged.\n\nWhile this was passing in Halogaland, Balder entered the country of\nGewar armed, in order to sue for Nanna. Gewar bade him learn Nanna's\nown mind; so he approached the maiden with the most choice and cajoling\nwords; and when he could win no hearing for his prayers, he persisted in\nasking the reason of his refusal. She replied, that a god could not wed\nwith a mortal, because the vast difference of their natures prevented\nany bond of intercourse. Also the gods sometimes used to break their\npledges; and the bond contracted between unequals was apt to snap\nsuddenly. There was no firm tie between those of differing estate; for\nbeside the great, the fortunes of the lowly were always dimmed. Also\nlack and plenty dwelt in diverse tents, nor was there any fast bond of\nintercourse between gorgeous wealth and obscure poverty. In fine, the\nthings of earth would not mate with those of heaven, being sundered by\na great original gulf through a difference in nature; inasmuch as mortal\nman was infinitely far from the glory of the divine majesty. With\nthis shuffling answer she eluded the suit of Balder, and shrewdly wove\nexcuses to refuse his hand.\n\nWhen Hother heard this from Gewar, he complained long to Helgi of\nBalder's insolence. Both were in doubt as to what should be done, and\nbeat their brains over divers plans; for converse with a friend in the\nday of trouble, though it removeth not the peril, yet maketh the heart\nless sick. Amid all the desires of their souls the passion of valour\nprevailed, and a naval battle was fought with Balder. One would have\nthought it a contest of men against gods, for Odin and Thor and the holy\narray of the gods fought for Balder. There one could have beheld a war\nin which divine and human might were mingled. But Hother was clad in\nhis steel-defying tunic, and charged the closest bands of the gods,\nassailing them as vehemently as a son of earth could assail the powers\nabove. However, Thor was swinging his club with marvellous might, and\nshattered all interposing shields, calling as loudly on his foes\nto attack him as upon his friends to back him up. No kind of armour\nwithstood his onset, no man could receive his stroke and live.\nWhatsoever his blow fended off it crushed; neither shield nor helm\nendured the weight of its dint; no greatness of body or of strength\ncould serve. Thus the victory would have passed to the gods, but that\nHother, though his line had already fallen back, darted up, hewed off\nthe club at the haft, and made it useless. And the gods, when they had\nlost this weapon, fled incontinently. But that antiquity vouches for it,\nit were quite against common belief to think that men prevailed against\ngods. (We call them gods in a supposititious rather than in a real\nsense; for to such we give the title of deity by the custom of nations,\nnot because of their nature.)\n\nAs for Balder, he took to flight and was saved. The conquerors either\nhacked his ships with their swords or sunk them in the sea; not content\nto have defeated gods, they pursued the wrecks of the fleet with such\nrage, as if they would destroy them to satiate their deadly passion for\nwar. Thus doth prosperity commonly whet the edge of licence. The haven,\nrecalling by its name Balder's flight, bears witness to the war. Gelder,\nthe King of Saxony, who met his end in the same war, was set by Hother\nupon the corpses of his oarsmen, and then laid on a pyre built of\nvessels, and magnificently honoured in his funeral by Hother, who not\nonly put his ashes in a noble barrow, treating them as the remains of\na king, but also graced them with most reverent obsequies. Then, to\nprevent any more troublesome business delaying his hopes of marriage,\nhe went back to Gewar and enjoyed the coveted embraces of Nanna. Next,\nhaving treated Helgi and Thora very generously, he brought his new queen\nback to Sweden, being as much honoured by all for his victory as Balder\nwas laughed at for his flight.\n\nAt this time the nobles of the Swedes repaired to Demnark to pay their\ntribute; but Hother, who had been honoured as a king by his countrymen\nfor the splendid deeds of his father, experienced what a lying pander\nFortune is. For he was conquered in the field by Balder, whom a little\nbefore he had crushed, and was forced to flee to Gewar, thus losing\nwhile a king that victory which he had won as a common man. The\nconquering Balder, in order to slake his soldiers, who were parched with\nthirst, with the blessing of a timely draught, pierced the earth deep\nand disclosed a fresh spring. The thirsty ranks made with gaping lips\nfor the water that gushed forth everywhere. The traces of these springs,\neternised by the name, are thought not quite to have dried up yet,\nthough they have ceased to well so freely as of old. Balder was\ncontinually harassed by night phantoms feigning the likeness of Nanna,\nand fell into such ill health that he could not so much as walk,\nand began the habit of going his journeys in a two horse car or a\nfour-wheeled carriage. So great was the love that had steeped his heart\nand now had brought him down almost to the extremity of decline. For he\nthought that his victory had brought him nothing if Nanna was not his\nprize. Also Frey, the regent of the gods, took his abode not far from\nUpsala, where he exchanged for a ghastly and infamous sin-offering the\nold custom of prayer by sacrifice, which had been used by so many\nages and generations. For he paid to the gods abominable offerings, by\nbeginning to slaughter human victims.\n\nMeantime Hother (1) learned that Denmark lacked leaders, and that\nHiartuar had swiftly expiated the death of Rolf; and he used to say\nthat chance had thrown into his hands that to which he could scarce\nhave aspired. For first, Rolf, whom he ought to have killed, since he\nremembered that Rolf's father had slain his own, had been punished by\nthe help of another; and also, by the unexpected bounty of events,\na chance had been opened to him of winning Denmark. In truth, if the\npedigree of his forefathers were rightly traced, that realm was his by\nancestral right! Thereupon he took possession, with a very great fleet,\nof Isefjord, a haven of Zealand, so as to make use of his impending\nfortune. There the people of the Danes met him and appointed him king;\nand a little after, on hearing of the death of his brother Athisl, whom\nhe had bidden rule the Swedes, he joined the Swedish empire to that of\nDenmark. But Athisl was cut off by an ignominious death. For whilst, in\ngreat jubilation of spirit, he was honouring the funeral rites of\nRolf with a feast, he drank too greedily, and paid for his filthy\nintemperance by his sudden end. And so, while he was celebrating the\ndeath of another with immoderate joviality, he forced on his own apace.\n\nWhile Hother was in Sweden, Balder also came to Zealand with a fleet;\nand since he was thought to be rich in arms and of singular majesty,\nthe Danes accorded him with the readiest of voices whatever he asked\nconcerning the supreme power. With such wavering judgment was the\nopinion of our forefathers divided. Hother returned from Sweden and\nattacked him. They both coveted sway, and the keenest contest for the\nsovereignty began between them; but it was cut short by the flight of\nHother. He retired to Jutland, and caused to be named after him the\nvillage in which he was wont to stay. Here he passed the winter season,\nand then went back to Sweden alone and unattended. There he summoned the\ngrandees, and told them that he was weary of the light of life because\nof the misfortunes wherewith Balder had twice victoriously stricken him.\nThen he took farewell of all, and went by a circuitous path to a place\nthat was hard of access, traversing forests uncivilised. For it oft\nhappens that those upon whom has come some inconsolable trouble of\nspirit seek, as though it were a medicine to drive away their sadness,\nfar and sequestered retreats, and cannot bear the greatness of their\ngrief amid the fellowship of men; so dear, for the most part, is\nsolitude to sickness. For filthiness and grime are chiefly pleasing to\nthose who have been stricken with ailments of the soul. Now he had been\nwont to give out from the top of a hill decrees to the people when they\ncame to consult him; and hence when they came they upbraided the sloth\nof the king for hiding himself, and his absence was railed at by all\nwith the bitterest complaints.\n\nBut Hother, when he had wandered through remotest byways and crossed an\nuninhabited forest, chanced to come upon a cave where dwelt some maidens\nwhom he knew not; but they proved to be the same who had once given him\nthe invulnerable coat. Asked by them wherefore he had come thither, he\nrelated the disastrous issue of the war. So he began to bewail the ill\nluck of his failures and his dismal misfortunes, condemning their breach\nof faith, and lamenting that it had not turned out for him as they had\npromised him. But the maidens said that though he had seldom come off\nvictorious, he had nevertheless inflicted as much defeat on the enemy\nas they on him, and had dealt as much carnage as he had shared in.\nMoreover, the favour of victory would be speedily his, if he could first\nlay hands upon a food of extraordinary delightsomeness which had\nbeen devised to increase the strength of Balder. For nothing would be\ndifficult if he could only get hold of the dainty which was meant to\nenhance the rigour of his foe.\n\nHard as it sounded for earthborn endeavours to make armed assault upon\nthe gods, the words of the maidens inspired Hother's mind with instant\nconfidence to fight with Balder. Also some of his own people said that\nhe could not safely contend with those above; but all regard for their\nmajesty was expelled by the boundless fire of his spirit. For in brave\nsouls vehemence is not always sapped by reason, nor doth counsel defeat\nrashness. Or perchance it was that Hother remembered how the might of\nthe lordliest oft proveth unstable, and how a little clod can batter\ndown great chariots.\n\nOn the other side, Balder mustered the Danes to arms and met Hother\nin the field. Both sides made a great slaughter; the carnage of the\nopposing parties was nearly equal, and night stayed the battle. About\nthe third watch, Hother, unknown to any man, went out to spy upon the\nenemy, anxiety about the impending peril having banished sleep. This\nstrong excitement favours not bodily rest, and inward disquiet suffers\nnot outward repose. So, when he came to the camp of the enemy he heard\nthat three maidens had gone out carrying the secret feast of Balder. He\nran after them (for their footsteps in the dew betrayed their flight),\nand at last entered their accustomed dwelling. When they asked him who\nhe was, he answered, a lutanist, nor did the trial belie his profession.\nFor when the lyre was offered him, he tuned its strings, ordered and\ngoverned the chords with his quill, and with ready modulation poured\nforth a melody pleasant to the ear. Now they had three snakes, of whose\nvenom they were wont to mix a strengthening compound for the food of\nBalder, and even now a flood of slaver was dripping on the food from the\nopen mouths of the serpents. And some of the maidens would, for kindness\nsake, have given Hother a share of the dish, had not eldest of the three\nforbidden them, declaring that Balder would be cheated if they increased\nthe bodily powers of his enemy. He had said, not that he was Hother, but\nthat he was one of his company. Now the same nymphs, in their gracious\nkindliness, bestowed on him a belt of perfect sheen and a girdle which\nassured victory.\n\nRetracing the path by which he had come, he went back on the same road,\nand meeting Balder plunged his sword into his side, and laid him low\nhalf dead. When the news was told to the soldiers, a cheery shout of\ntriumph rose from all the camp of Hother, while the Danes held a public\nmourning for the fate of Balder. He, feeling no doubt of his impending\ndeath, and stung by the anguish of his wound, renewed the battle on\nthe morrow; and, when it raged hotly, bade that he should be borne on a\nlitter into the fray, that he might not seem to die ignobly within his\ntent. On the night following, Proserpine was seen to stand by him in a\nvision, and to promise that on the morrow he should have her embrace.\nThe boding of the dream was not idle; for when three days had passed,\nBalder perished from the excessive torture of his wound; and his body\ngiven a royal funeral, the army causing it to be buried in a barrow\nwhich they had made.\n\nCertain men of our day, Chief among whom was Harald, (2) since the story\nof the ancient burial-place still survived, made a raid on it by night\nin the hope of finding money, but abandoned their attempt in sudden\npanic. For the hill split, and from its crest a sudden and mighty\ntorrent of loud-roaring waters seemed to burst; so that its flying mass,\nshooting furiously down, poured over the fields below, and enveloped\nwhatsoever it struck upon, and at its onset the delvers were dislodged,\nflung down their mattocks, and fled divers ways; thinking that if they\nstrove any longer to carry through their enterprise they would be caught\nin the eddies of the water that was rushing down. Thus the guardian gods\nof that spot smote fear suddenly into the minds of the youths, taking\nthem away from covetousness, and turning them to see to their safety;\nteaching them to neglect their greedy purpose and be careful of their\nlives. Now it is certain that this apparent flood was not real but\nphantasmal; not born in the bowels of the earth (since Nature suffereth\nnot liquid springs to gush forth in a dry place), but produced by some\nmagic agency. All men afterwards, to whom the story of that breaking in\nhad come down, left this hill undisturbed. Wherefore it has never been\nmade sure whether it really contains any wealth; for the dread of peril\nhas daunted anyone since Harald from probing its dark foundations.\n\nBut Odin, though he was accounted the chief of the gods, began to\ninquire of the prophets and diviners concerning the way to accomplish\nvengeance for his son, as well as all others whom he had beard were\nskilled in the most recondite arts of soothsaying. For godhead that is\nincomplete is oft in want of the help of man. Rostioph (Hrossthiof),\nthe Finn, foretold to him that another son must be born to him by Rinda\n(Wrinda), daughter of the King of the Ruthenians; this son was destined\nto exact punishment for the slaying of his brother. For the gods had\nappointed to the brother that was yet to be born the task of avenging\nhis kinsman. Odin, when he heard this, muffled his face with a cap, that\nhis garb might not betray him, and entered the service of the said king\nas a soldier; and being made by him captain of the soldiers, and given\nan army, won a splendid victory over the enemy. And for his stout\nachievement in this battle the king admitted him into the chief place\nin his friendship, distinguishing him as generously with gifts as\nwith honours. A very little while afterwards Odin routed the enemy\nsingle-handed, and returned, at once the messenger and the doer of\nthe deed. All marvelled that the strength of one man could deal such\nslaughter upon a countless host. Trusting in these services, he privily\nlet the king into the secret of his love, and was refreshed by his most\ngracious favour; but when he sought a kiss from the maiden, he received\na cuff. But he was not driven from his purpose either by anger at the\nslight or by the odiousness of the insult.\n\nNext year, loth to quit ignobly the quest he had taken up so eagerly, he\nput on the dress of a foreigner and went back to dwell with the king. It\nwas hard for those who met him to recognise him; for his assumed filth\nobliterated his true features, and new grime hid his ancient aspect. He\nsaid that his name was Roster (Hrosstheow), and that he was skilled\nin smithcraft. And his handiwork did honour to his professions: for he\nportrayed in bronze many and many a shape most beautifully, so that he\nreceived a great mass of gold from the king, and was ordered to\nhammer out the ornaments of the matrons. So, after having wrought many\nadornments for women's wearing, he at last offered to the maiden a\nbracelet which he had polished more laboriously than the rest and\nseveral rings which were adorned with equal care. But no services could\nassuage the wrath of Rinda; when he was fain to kiss her she cuffed him;\nfor gifts offered by one we hate are unacceptable, while those tendered\nby a friend are far more grateful: so much doth the value of the\noffering oft turn on the offerer. For this stubborn-hearted maiden never\ndoubted that the crafty old man was feigning generosity in order to\nseize an opening to work his lust. His temper, moreover, was keen and\nindomitable; for she knew that his homage covered guile, and that under\nthe devotion of his gifts there lay a desire for crime. Her father fell\nto upbraiding her heavily for refusing the match; but she loathed to wed\nan old man, and the plea of her tender years lent her some support in\nher scorning of his hand; for she said that a young girl ought not to\nmarry prematurely.\n\nBut Odin, who had found that nothing served the wishes of lovers more\nthan tough persistency, though he was stung with the shame of his double\nrebuff, nevertheless, effacing the form he had worn before, went to the\nking for the third time, professing the completest skill in soldiership.\nHe was led to take this pains not only by pleasure but by the wish to\nwipe out his disgrace. For of old those who were skilled in magic gained\nthis power of instantly changing their aspect and exhibiting the most\ndifferent shapes. Indeed, they were clever at imitating any age, not\nonly in its natural bodily appearance, but also in its stature; and so\nthe old man, in order to exhibit his calling agreeably, used to ride\nproudly up and down among the briskest of them. But not even such a\ntribute could move the rigour of the maiden; for it is hard for the mind\nto come back to a genuine liking for one against whom it has once borne\nheavy dislike. When he tried to kiss her at his departure, she repulsed\nhim so that he tottered and smote his chin upon the ground. Straightway\nhe touched her with a piece of bark whereon spells were written, and\nmade her like unto one in frenzy: which was a gentle revenge to take for\nall the insults he had received.\n\nBut still he did not falter in the fulfilment of his purpose; for trust\nin his divine majesty buoyed him up with confidence; so, assuming the\ngarb of a maiden, this indefatigable journeyer repaired for the\nfourth time to the king, and, on being received by him, showed himself\nassiduous and even forward. Most people believed him to be a woman, as\nhe was dressed almost in female attire. Also he declared that his name\nwas Wecha, and his calling that of a physician: and this assertion\nhe confirmed by the readiest services. At last he was taken into the\nhousehold of the queen, and played the part of a waiting-woman to the\nprincess, and even used to wash the soil off her feet at eventide; and\nas he was applying the water he was suffered to touch her calves and the\nupper part of the thighs. But fortune goes with mutable steps, and thus\nchance put into his hand what his address had never won. For it happened\nthat the girl fell sick, and looked around for a cure; and she summoned\nto protect her health those very hands which aforetime she had rejected,\nand appealed for preservation to him whom she had ever held in loathing.\nHe examined narrowly all the symptoms of the trouble, and declared that,\nin order to check the disease as soon as possible, it was needful to use\na certain drugged draught; but that it was so bitterly compounded, that\nthe girl could never endure so violent a cure unless she submitted to\nbe bound; since the stuff of the malady must be ejected from the very\ninnermost tissues. When her father heard this he did not hesitate\nto bind his daughter; and laying her on the bed, he bade her endure\npatiently all the applications of the doctor. For the king was tricked\nby the sight of the female dress, which the old man was using to\ndisguise his persistent guile; and thus the seeming remedy became an\nopportunity of outrage. For the physician seized the chance of love,\nand, abandoning his business of healing, sped to the work, not of\nexpelling the fever, but of working his lust; making use of the sickness\nof the princess, whom in sound health he had found adverse to him. It\nwill not be wearisome if I subjoin another version of this affair.\nFor there are certain who say that the king, when he saw the physician\ngroaning with love, but despite all his expense of mind and body\naccomplishing nothing, did not wish to rob of his due reward one who had\nso well earned it, and allowed him to lie privily with his daughter.\nSo doth the wickedness of the father sometimes assail the child, when\nvehement passion perverts natural mildness. But his fault was soon\nfollowed by a remorse that was full of shame, when his daughter bore a\nchild.\n\nBut the gods, whose chief seat was then at Byzantium, (Asgard), seeing\nthat Odin had tarnished the fair name of godhead by divers injuries to\nits majesty, thought that he ought to be removed from their society.\nAnd they had him not only ousted from the headship, but outlawed and\nstripped of all worship and honour at home; thinking it better that the\npower of their infamous president should be overthrown than that public\nreligion should be profaned; and fearing that they might themselves be\ninvolved in the sin of another, and though guiltless be punished for the\ncrime of the guilty. For they saw that, now the derision of their great\ngod was brought to light, those whom they had lured to proffer them\ndivine honours were exchanging obeisance for scorn and worship for\nshame; that holy rites were being accounted sacrilege, and fixed and\nregular ceremonies deemed so much childish raving. Fear was in their\nsouls, death before their eyes, and one would have supposed that the\nfault of one was visited upon the heads of all. So, not wishing Odin\nto drive public religion into exile, they exiled him and put one Oller\n(Wulder?) in his place, to bear the symbols not only Of royalty but also\nof godhead, as though it had been as easy a task to create a god as a\nking. And though they had appointed him priest for form's sake, they\nendowed him actually with full distinction, that he might be seen to be\nthe lawful heir to the dignity, and no mere deputy doing another's work.\nAlso, to omit no circumstance of greatness, they further gave his the\nname of Odin, trying by the prestige of that title to be rid of the\nobloquy of innovation. For nearly ten years Oller held the presidency\nof the divine senate; but at last the gods pitied the horrible exile of\nOdin, and thought that he had now been punished heavily enough; so he\nexchanged his foul and unsightly estate for his ancient splendour; for\nthe lapse of time had now wiped out the brand of his earlier disgrace.\nYet some were to be found who judged that he was not worthy to approach\nand resume his rank, because by his stage-tricks and his assumption of a\nwoman's work he had brought the foulest scandal on the name of the gods.\nSome declare that he bought back the fortune of his lost divinity with\nmoney; flattering some of the gods and mollifying some with bribes;\nand that at the cost of a vast sum he contrived to get back to the\ndistinction which he had long quitted. If you ask how much he paid\nfor them, inquire of those who have found out what is the price of a\ngodhead. I own that to me it is but little worth.\n\nThus Oller was driven out from Byzantium by Odin and retired into\nSweden. Here, while he was trying, as if in a new world, to repair the\nrecords of his glory, the Danes slew him. The story goes that he was\nsuch a cunning wizard that he used a certain bone, which he had marked\nwith awful spells, wherewith to cross the seas, instead of a vessel;\nand that by this bone he passed over the waters that barred his way as\nquickly as by rowing.\n\nBut Odin, now that he had regained the emblems of godhead, shone over\nall parts of the world with such a lustre of renown that all nations\nwelcomed him as though he were light restored to the universe; nor was\nany spot to be found on the earth which did not hornage to his might.\nThen finding that Boe, his son by Rhlda, was enamoured of the hardships\nof war, he called him, and bade him bear in mind the slaying of his\nbrother: saying that it would be better for him to take vengeande on the\nmurderers of Balder than to overcome them in battle; for warfare was\nmost fitting and wholesome when a holy occasion for waging it was\nfurnished by a righteous opening for vengeande.\n\nNews came meantime that Gewar had been slain by the guile of his own\nsatrap (jarl), Gunne. Hother determined to visit his murder with the\nstrongest and sharpest revenge. So he surprised Gunne, cast him on a\nblazing pyre, and burnt him; for Gunne had himself treacherously waylaid\nGewar, and burnt him alive in the night. This was his offering of\nvengeance to the shade of his foster-father; and then he made his sons,\nHerlek and Gerit, rulers of Norway.\n\nThen he summoned the elders to assembly, and told them that he would\nperish in the war wherein he was bound to meet Boe, and said that he\nknew this by no doubtful guesswork, but by sure prophecies of seers.\nSo he besought them to make his son RORIK king, so that the judgment\nof wicked men should not transfer the royalty to strange and unknown\nhouses; averring that he would reap more joy from the succession of\nhis son than bitterness from his own impending death. This request was\nspeedily granted. Then he met Boe in battle and was killed; but small\njoy the victory gave Boe. Indeed, he left the battle so sore stricken\nthat he was lifted on his shield and carried home by his foot-soldiers\nsupporting him in turn, to perish next day of the pain of his wounds.\nThe Ruthenian army gave his body a gorgeous funeral and buried it in\na splendid howe, which it piled in his name, to save the record of so\nmighty a warrior from slipping out of the recollection of after ages.\n\nSo the Kurlanders and the Swedes, as though the death of Hother set them\nfree from the burden of their subjection, resolved to attack Denmark, to\nwhich they were accustomed to do homage with a yearly tax. By this the\nSlavs also were emboldened to revolt, and a number of others were turned\nfrom subjects into foes. Rorik, in order to check this wrongdoing,\nsummoned his country to arms, recounted the deeds of his forefathers,\nand urged them in a passionate harangue unto valorous deeds. But the\nbarbarians, loth to engage without a general, and seeing that they\nneeded a head, appointed a king over them; and, displaying all the rest\nof their military force, hid two companies of armed men in a dark spot.\nBut Rorik saw the trap; and perceiving that his fleet was wedged in a\ncertain narrow creek among the shoal water, took it out from the sands\nwhere it was lying, and brought it forth to sea; lest it should strike\non the oozy swamps, and be attacked by the foe on different sides. Also,\nhe resolved that his men should go into hiding during the day, where\nthey could stay and suddenly fall on the invaders of his ships. He said\nthat perchance the guile might in the end recoil on the heads of its\ndevisors. And in fact the barbarians who had been appointed to the\nambuscade knew nothing of the wariness of the Danes, and sallying\nagainst them rashly, were all destroyed. The remaining force of the\nSlavs, knowing nothing of the slaughter of their friends, hung in doubt\nwondering over the reason of Rorik's tarrying. And after waiting long\nfor him as the months wearily rolled by, and finding delay every day\nmore burdensome, they at last thought they should attack him with their\nfleet.\n\nNow among them there was a man of remarkable stature, a wizard by\ncalling. He, when he beheld the squadrons of the Danes, said: \"Suffer\na private combat to forestall a public slaughter, so that the danger\nof many may be bought off at the cost of a few. And if any of you shall\ntake heart to fight it out with me, I will not flinch from these terms\nof conflict. But first of all I demand that you accept the terms I\nprescribe, the form whereof I have devised as follows: If I conquer, let\nfreedom be granted us from taxes; if I am conquered, let the tribute be\npaid you as of old: For to-day I will either free my country from the\nyoke of slavery by my victory or bind her under it by my defeat. Accept\nme as the surety and the pledge for either issue.\" One of the Danes,\nwhose spirit was stouter than his strength, heard this, and proceeded to\nask Rorik, what would be the reward for the man who met the challenger\nin combat? Rorik chanced to have six bracelets, which were so\nintertwined that they could not be parted from one another, the chain of\nknots being inextricaly laced; and he promised them as a reward for\nthe man who would venture on the combat. But the youth, who doubted his\nfortune, said: \"Rorik, if I prove successful, let thy generosity award\nthe prize of the conqueror, do thou decide and allot the palm; but if\nmy enterprise go little to my liking, what prize canst thou owe to the\nbeaten, who will be wrapped either in cruel death or in bitter shame?\nThese things commonly go with feebleness, these are the wages of the\ndefeated, for whom naught remains but utter infamy. What guerdon must\nbe paid, what thanks offered, to him who lacks the prize of courage? Who\nhas ever garlanded with ivy the weakling in War, or decked him with a\nconqueror's wage? Valour wins the prize, not sloth, and failure lacks\nrenown. For one is followed by triumph and honour, the other by an\nunsightly life or by a stagnant end. I, who know not which way the issue\nof this duel inclines, dare not boldly anticipate that as a reward, of\nwhich I know not whether it be rightly mine. For one whose victory is\ndoubtful may not seize the assured reward of the victor. I forbear,\nwhile I am not sure of the day, to claim firmly the title to the wreath.\nI refuse the gain, which may be the wages of my death as much as of my\nlife. It is folly to lay hands on the fruit before it is ripe, and to be\nfain to pluck that which one is not yet sure is one's title. This hand\nshall win me the prize, or death.\" Having thus spoken, he smote the\nbarbarian with his sword; but his fortune was tardier than his spirit;\nfor the other smote him back, and he fell dead under the force of the\nfirst blow. Thus he was a sorry sight unto the Danes, but the Slavs\ngranted their triumphant comrade a great procession, and received him\nwith splendid dances. On the morrow the same man, whether he was elated\nwith the good fortune of his late victory, or was fired with the wish to\nwin another, came close to the enemy, and set to girding at them in the\nwords of his former challenge. For, supposing that he had laid low the\nbravest of the Danes, he did not think that any of them would have any\nheart left to fight further with him upon his challenge. Also, trusting\nthat, now one champion had fallen, he had shattered the strength of the\nwhole army, he thought that naught would be hard to achieve upon which\nhis later endeavours were bent. For nothing pampers arrogance more than\nsuccess, or prompts to pride more surely than prosperity.\n\nSo Rorik was vexed that the general courage should be sapped by the\nimpudence of one man; and that the Danes, with their roll of victories,\nshould be met presumptuously by those whom they had beaten of old; nay,\nshould be ignominiously spurned; further, that in all that host not one\nman should be found so quick of spirit or so vigorous of arm, that he\nlonged to sacrifice his life for his country. It was the high-hearted\nUbbe who first wiped off this infamous reproach upon the hesitating\nDanes. For he was of great bodily strength and powerful in incantations.\nHe also purposely asked the prize of the combat, and the king promised\nhim the bracelets. Then said he: \"How can I trust the promise when thou\nkeepest the pledge in thine own hands, and dost not deposit the gift in\nthe charge of another? Let there be some one to whom thou canst entrust\nthe pledge, that thou mayst not be able to take thy promise back. For\nthe courage of the champion is kindled by the irrevocable certainty of\nthe prize.\" Of course it was plain that he had said this in jest; sheer\ncourage had armed him to repel the insult to his country. But Rorik\nthought he was tempted by avarice, and was loth to seem as if, contrary\nto royal fashion, he meant to take back the gift or revoke his promise;\nso, being stationed on his vessel, he resolved to shake off the\nbracelets, and with a mighty swing send them to the asker. But his\nattempt was baulked by the width of the gap between them; for the\nbracelets fell short of the intended spot, the impulse being too faint\nand slack, and were reft away by the waters. For this nickname of\nSlyngebond, (swing-bracelet) clung to Rorik. But this event testified\nmuch to the valour of Ubbe. For the loss of his drowned prize never\nturned his mind from his bold venture; he would not seem to let his\ncourage be tempted by the wages of covetousness. So he eagerly went\nto fight, showing that he was a seeker of honour and not the slave of\nlucre, and that he set bravery before lust of pelf; and intent to prove\nthat his confidence was based not on hire, but on his own great soul.\nNot a moment is lost; a ring is made; the course is thronged with\nsoldiers; the champions engage; a din arises; the crowd of onlookers\nshouts in discord, each backing his own. And so the valour of the\nchampions blazes to white-heat; falling dead under the wounds dealt by\none another, they end together the combat and their lives. I think that\nit was a provision of fortune that neither of them should reap joy and\nhonour by the other's death. This event won back to Rorik the hearts of\nthe insurgents and regained him the tribute.\n\nAt this time Horwendil and Feng, whose father Gerwendil had been\ngovernor of the Jutes, were appointed in his place by Rorik to defend\nJutland. But Horwendil held the monarchy for three years, and then, to\nwill the height of glory, devoted himself to roving. Then Koller, King\nof Norway, in rivalry of his great deeds and renown, deemed it would be\na handsome deed if by his greater strength in arms he could bedim the\nfar-famed glory of the rover; and cruising about the sea, he watched for\nHorwendil's fleet and came up with it. There was an island lying in the\nmiddle of the sea, which each of the rovers, bringing his ships up on\neither side, was holding. The captains were tempted by the pleasant look\nof the beach, and the comeliness of the shores led them to look through\nthe interior of the springtide woods, to go through the glades, and roam\nover the sequestered forests. It was here that the advance of Koller and\nHorwendil brought them face to face without any witness. Then Horwendil\nendeavoured to address the king first, asking him in what way it was his\npleasure to fight, and declaring that one best which needed the courage\nof as few as possible. For, said he, the duel was the surest of all\nmodes of combat for winning the meed of bravery, because it relied only\nupon native courage, and excluded all help from the hand of another.\nKoller marvelled at so brave a judgment in a youth, and said: \"Since\nthou hast granted me the choice of battle, I think it is best to employ\nthat kind which needs only the endeavours of two, and is free from all\nthe tumult. Certainly it is more venturesome, and allows of a speedier\naward of the victory. This thought we share, in this opinion we agree of\nour own accord. But since the issue remains doubtful, we must pay\nsome regard to gentle dealing, and must not give way so far to our\ninclinations as to leave the last offices undone. Hatred is in our\nhearts; yet let piety be there also, which in its due time may take the\nplace of rigour. For the rights of nature reconcile us, though we are\nparted by differences of purpose; they link us together, howsoever\nrancour estrange our spirit. Let us, therefore, have this pious\nstipulation, that the conqueror shall give funeral rites to the\nconquered. For all allow that these are the last duties of human\nkind, from which no righteous man shrinks. Let each army lay aside its\nsternness and perform this function in harmony. Let jealousy depart\nat death, let the feud be buried in the tomb. Let us not show such an\nexample of cruelty as to persecute one another's dust, though hatred has\ncome between us in our lives. It will be a boast for the victor if he\nhas borne his beaten foe in a lordly funeral. For the man who pays the\nrightful dues over his dead enemy wins the goodwill of the survivor; and\nwhoso devotes gentle dealing to him who is no more, conquers the living\nby his kindness. Also there is another disaster, not less lamentable,\nwhich sometimes befalls the living--the loss of some part of their body;\nand I think that succor is due to this just as much as to the worst hap\nthat may befall. For often those who fight keep their lives safe, but\nsuffer maiming; and this lot is commonly thought more dismal than any\ndeath; for death cuts off memory of all things, while the living cannot\nforget the devastation of his own body. Therefore this mischief also\nmust be helped somehow; so let it be agreed, that the injury of either\nof us by the other shall be made good with ten talents (marks) of gold.\nFor if it be righteous to have compassion on the calamities of another,\nhow much more is it to pity one's own? No man but obeys nature's\nprompting; and he who slights it is a self-murderer.\"\n\nAfter mutually pledging their faiths to these terms, they began the\nbattle. Nor was their strangeness his meeting one another, nor the\nsweetness of that spring-green spot, so heeded as to prevent them from\nthe fray. Horwendil, in his too great ardour, became keener to attack\nhis enemy than to defend his own body; and, heedless of his shield, had\ngrasped his sword with both hands; and his boldness did not fail. For by\nhis rain of blows he destroyed Koller's shield and deprived him of it,\nand at last hewed off his foot and drove him lifeless to the ground.\nThen, not to fail of his compact, he buried him royally, gave him a howe\nof lordly make and pompous obsequies. Then he pursued and slew Koller's\nsister Sela, who was a skilled warrior and experienced in roving.\n\nHe had now passed three years in valiant deeds of war; and, in order to\nwin higher rank in Rorik's favour, he assigned to him the best trophies\nand the pick of the plunder. His friendship with Rorik enabled him\nto woo and will in marriage his daughter Gerutha, who bore him a son\nAmleth.\n\nSuch great good fortune stung Feng with jealousy, so that he resolved\ntreacherously to waylay his brother, thus showing that goodness is not\nsafe even from those of a man's own house. And behold, when a chance\ncame to murder him, his bloody hand sated the deadly passion of his\nsoul. Then he took the wife of the brother he had butchered, capping\nunnatural murder with incest. For whoso yields to one iniquity, speedily\nfalls an easier victim to the next, the first being an incentive to\nthe second. Also, the man veiled the monstrosity of his deed with such\nhardihood of cunning, that he made up a mock pretence of goodwill\nto excuse his crime, and glossed over fratricide with a show of\nrighteousness. Gerutha, said he, though so gentle that she would do no\nman the slightest hurt, had been visited with her husband's extremest\nhate; and it was all to save her that he had slain his brother; for he\nthought it shameful that a lady so meek and unrancorous should suffer\nthe heavy disdain of her husband. Nor did his smooth words fail in their\nintent; for at courts, where fools are sometimes favoured and backbiters\npreferred, a lie lacks not credit. Nor did Feng keep from shameful\nembraces the hands that had slain a brother; pursuing with equal guilt\nboth of his wicked and impious deeds.\n\nAmleth beheld all this, but feared lest too shrewd a behaviour might\nmake his uncle suspect him. So he chose to feign dulness, and pretend\nan utter lack of wits. This cunning course not only concealed his\nintelligence but ensured his safety. Every day he remained in his\nmother's house utterly listless and unclean, flinging himself on the\nground and bespattering his person with foul and filthy dirt. His\ndiscoloured face and visage smutched with slime denoted foolish and\ngrotesque madness. All he said was of a piece with these follies; all\nhe did savoured of utter lethargy. In a word, you would not have thought\nhim a man at all, but some absurd abortion due to a mad fit of destiny.\nHe used at times to sit over the fire, and, raking up the embers with\nhis hands, to fashion wooden crooks, and harden them in the fire,\nshaping at their lips certain barbs, to make them hold more tightly\nto their fastenings. When asked what he was about, he said that he was\npreparing sharp javelins to avenge his father. This answer was not a\nlittle scoffed at, all men deriding his idle and ridiculous pursuit; but\nthe thing helped his purpose afterwards. Now it was his craft in this\nmatter that first awakened in the deeper observers a suspicion of his\ncunning. For his skill in a trifling art betokened the hidden talent of\nthe craftsman; nor could they believe the spirit dull where the hand had\nacquired so cunning a workmanship. Lastly, he always watched with the\nmost punctual care over his pile of stakes that he had pointed in the\nfire. Some people, therefore, declared that his mind was quick enough,\nand fancied that he only played the simpleton in order to hide his\nunderstanding, and veiled some deep purpose under a cunning feint. His\nwiliness (said these) would be most readily detected, if a fair woman\nwere put in his way in some secluded place, who should provoke his mind\nto the temptations of love; all men's natural temper being too blindly\namorous to be artfully dissembled, and this passion being also too\nimpetuous to be checked by cunning. Therefore, if his lethargy were\nfeigned, he would seize the opportunity, and yield straightway to\nviolent delights. So men were commissioned to draw the young man in\nhis rides into a remote part of the forest, and there assail him with a\ntemptation of this nature. Among these chanced to be a foster-brother of\nAmleth, who had not ceased to have regard to their common nurture;\nand who esteemed his present orders less than the memory of their past\nfellowship. He attended Amleth among his appointed train, being anxious\nnot to entrap, but to warn him; and was persuaded that he would suffer\nthe worst if he showed the slightest glimpse of sound reason, and above\nall if he did the act of love openly. This was also plain enough to\nAmleth himself. For when he was bidden mount his horse, he deliberately\nset himself in such a fashion that he turned his back to the neck and\nfaced about, fronting the tail; which he proceeded to encompass with the\nreins, just as if on that side he would check the horse in its furious\npace. By this cunning thought he eluded the trick, and overcame the\ntreachery of his uncle. The reinless steed galloping on, with rider\ndirecting its tail, was ludicrous enough to behold.\n\nAmleth went on, and a wolf crossed his path amid the thicket. When his\ncompanions told him that a young colt had met him, he retorted, that in\nFeng's stud there were too few of that kind fighting. This was a gentle\nbut witty fashion of invoking a curse upon his uncle's riches. When\nthey averred that he had given a cunning answer, he answered that he had\nspoken deliberately; for he was loth, to be thought prone to lying\nabout any matter, and wished to be held a stranger to falsehood; and\naccordingly he mingled craft and candour in such wise that, though his\nwords did lack truth, yet there was nothing to betoken the truth and\nbetray how far his keenness went.\n\nAgain, as he passed along the beach, his companions found the rudder\nof a ship, which had been wrecked, and said they had discovered a huge\nknife. \"This,\" said he, \"was the right thing to carve such a huge ham;\"\nby which he really meant the sea, to whose infinitude, he thought, this\nenormous rudder matched. Also, as they passed the sandhills, and bade\nhim look at the meal, meaning the sand, he replied that it had been\nground small by the hoary tempests of the ocean. His companions praising\nhis answer, he said that he had spoken it wittingly. Then they purposely\nleft him, that he might pluck up more courage to practise wantonness.\nThe woman whom his uncle had dispatched met him in a dark spot, as\nthough she had crossed him by chance; and he took her and would have\nravished her, had not his foster-brother, by a secret device, given him\nan inkling of the trap. For this man, while pondering the fittest way\nto play privily the prompter's part, and forestall the young man's\nhazardous lewdness, found a straw on the ground and fastened it\nunderneath the tail of a gadfly that was flying past; which he then\ndrove towards the particular quarter where he knew Amleth to be: an\nact which served the unwary prince exceedingly well. The token was\ninterpreted as shrewdly as it had been sent. For Amleth saw the gadfly,\nespied with curiosity the straw which it wore embedded in its tail, and\nperceived that it was a secret warning to beware of treachery. Alarmed,\nscenting a trap, and fain to possess his desire in greater safety, he\ncaught up the woman in his arms and dragged her off to a distant and\nimpenetrable fen. Moreover, when they had lain together, he conjured her\nearnestly to disclose the matter to none, and the promise of silence was\naccorded as heartily as it was asked. For both of them had been under\nthe same fostering in their childhood; and this early rearing in common\nhad brought Amleth and the girl into great intimacy.\n\nSo, when he had returned home, they all jeeringly asked him whether he\nhad given way to love, and he avowed that he had ravished the maid. When\nhe was next asked where he did it, and what had been his pillow, he said\nthat he had rested upon the hoof of a beast of burden, upon a cockscomb,\nand also upon a ceiling. For, when he was starting into temptation, he\nhad gathered fragments of all these things, in order to avoid lying. And\nthough his jest did not take aught of the truth out of the story, the\nanswer was greeted with shouts of merriment from the bystanders. The\nmaiden, too, when questioned on the matter, declared that he had done\nno such thing; and her denial was the more readily credited when it was\nfound that the escort had not witnessed the deed. Then he who had marked\nthe gadfly in order to give a hint, wishing to show Amleth that to his\ntrick he owed his salvation, observed that latterly he had been singly\ndevoted to Amleth. The young man's reply was apt. Not to seem forgetful\nof his informant's service, he said that he had seen a certain thing\nbearing a straw flit by suddenly, wearing a stalk of chaff fixed in its\nhinder parts. The cleverness of this speech, which made the rest split\nwith laughter, rejoiced the heart of Amleth's friend.\n\nThus all were worsted, and none could open the secret lock of the young\nman's wisdom. But a friend of Feng, gifted more with assurance than\njudgment, declared that the unfathomable cunning of such a mind could\nnot be detected by any vulgar plot, for the man's obstinacy was so great\nthat it ought not to be assailed with any mild measures; there were\nmany sides to his wiliness, and it ought not to be entrapped by any one\nmethod. Accordingly, said he, his own profounder acuteness had hit on\na more delicate way, which was well fitted to be put in practice, and\nwould effectually discover what they desired to know. Feng was purposely\nto absent himself, pretending affairs of great import. Amleth should be\ncloseted alone with his mother in her chamber; but a man should first be\ncommissioned to place himself in a concealed part of the room and listen\nheedfully to what they talked about. For if the son had any wits at all\nhe would not hesitate to speak out in the hearing of his mother, or fear\nto trust himself to the fidelity of her who bore him. The speaker,\nloth to seem readier to devise than to carry out the plot, zealously\nproffered himself as the agent of the eavesdropping. Feng rejoiced at\nthe scheme, and departed on pretence of a long journey. Now he who had\ngiven this counsel repaired privily to the room where Amleth was shut up\nwith his mother, and lay flown skulking in the straw. But Amleth had\nhis antidote for the treachery. Afraid of being overheard by some\neavesdropper, he at first resorted to his usual imbecile ways, and\ncrowed like a noisy cock, beating his arms together to mimic the\nflapping of wings. Then he mounted the straw and began to swing his\nbody and jump again and again, wishing to try if aught lurked there in\nhiding. Feeling a lump beneath his feet, he drove his sword into\nthe spot, and impaled him who lay hid. Then he dragged him from his\nconcealment and slew him. Then, cutting his body into morsels, he\nseethed it in boiling water, and flung it through the mouth of an\nopen sewer for the swine to eat, bestrewing the stinking mire with his\nhapless limbs. Having in this wise eluded the snare, he went back to the\nroom. Then his mother set up a great wailing, and began to lament her\nson's folly to his face; but he said: \"Most infamous of women; dost\nthou seek with such lying lamentations to hide thy most heavy guilt?\nWantoning like a harlot, thou hast entered a wicked and abominable state\nof wedlock, embracing with incestuous bosom thy husband's slayer, and\nwheedling with filthy lures of blandishment him who had slain the father\nof thy son. This, forsooth, is the way that the mares couple with the\nvanquishers of their mates; for brute beasts are naturally incited to\npair indiscriminately; and it would seem that thou, like them, hast\nclean forgot thy first husband. As for me, not idly do I wear the mask\nof folly; for I doubt not that he who destroyed his brother will riot as\nruthlessly in the blood of his kindred. Therefore it is better to choose\nthe garb of dulness than that of sense, and to borrow some protection\nfrom a show of utter frenzy. Yet the passion to avenge my father still\nburns in my heart; but I am watching the chances, I await the fitting\nhour. There is a place for all things; against so merciless and dark\nspirit must be used the deeper devices of the mind. And thou, who\nhadst been better employed in lamenting thine own disgrace, know it is\nsuperfluity to bewail my witlessness; thou shouldst weep for the blemish\nin thine own mind, not for that in another's. On the rest see thou\nkeep silence.\" With such reproaches he rent the heart of his mother\nand redeemed her to walk in the ways of virtue; teaching her to set the\nfires of the past above the seductions of the present.\n\nWhen Feng returned, nowhere could he find the man who had suggested the\ntreacherous espial; he searched for him long and carefully, but none\nsaid they had seen him anywhere. Amleth, among others, was asked in jest\nif he had come on any trace of him, and replied that the man had gone\nto the sewer, but had fallen through its bottom and been stifled by the\nfloods of filth, and that he had then been devoured by the swine that\ncame up all about that place. This speech was flouted by those who\nheard; for it seemed senseless, though really it expressly avowed the\ntruth.\n\nFeng now suspected that his stepson was certainly full of guile, and\ndesired to make away with him, but durst not do the deed for fear of the\ndispleasure, not only of Amleth's grandsire Rorik, but also of his own\nwife. So he thought that the King of Britain should be employed to\nslay him, so that another could do the deed, and he be able to feign\ninnocence. Thus, desirous to hide his cruelty, he chose rather to\nbesmirch his friend than to bring disgrace on his own head. Amleth, on\ndeparting, gave secret orders to his mother to hang the hall with\nwoven knots, and to perform pretended obsequies for him a year thence;\npromising that he would then return. Two retainers of Feng then\naccompanied him, bearing a letter graven on wood--a kind of writing\nmaterial frequent in old times; this letter enjoined the king of the\nBritons to put to death the youth who was sent over to him. While they\nwere reposing, Amleth searched their coffers, found the letter, and read\nthe instructions therein. Whereupon he erased all the writing on the\nsurface, substituted fresh characters, and so, changing the purport of\nthe instructions, shifted his own doom upon his companions. Nor was he\nsatisfied with removing from himself the sentence of death and passing\nthe peril on to others, but added an entreaty that the King of Britain\nwould grant his daughter in marriage to a youth of great judgment whom\nhe was sending to him. Under this was falsely marked the signature of\nFeng.\n\nNow when they had reached Britain, the envoys went to the king, and\nproffered him the letter which they supposed was an implement of\ndestruction to another, but which really betokened death to themselves.\nThe king dissembled the truth, and entreated them hospitably and kindly.\nThen Amleth scouted all the splendour of the royal banquet like vulgar\nviands, and abstaining very strangely, rejected that plenteous feast,\nrefraining from the drink even as from the banquet. All marvelled that\na youth and a foreigner should disdain the carefully cooked dainties of\nthe royal board and the luxurious banquet provided, as if it were\nsome peasant's relish. So, when the revel broke up, and the king was\ndismissing his friends to rest, he had a man sent into the sleeping-room\nto listen secretly, in order that he might hear the midnight\nconversation of his guests. Now, when Amleth's companions asked him why\nhe had refrained from the feast of yestereve, as if it were poison, he\nanswered that the bread was flecked with blood and tainted; that there\nwas a tang of iron in the liquor; while the meats of the feast reeked of\nthe stench of a human carcase, and were infected by a kind of smack of\nthe odour of the charnel. He further said that the king had the eyes of\na slave, and that the queen had in three ways shown the behaviour of a\nbondmaid. Thus he reviled with insulting invective not so much the feast\nas its givers. And presently his companions, taunting him with his old\ndefect of wits, began to flout him with many saucy jeers, because he\nblamed and cavilled at seemly and worthy things, and because he attacked\nthus ignobly an illustrious king and a lady of so refined a behaviour,\nbespattering with the shamefullest abuse those who merited all praise.\n\nAll this the king heard from his retainer; and declared that he who\ncould say such things had either more than mortal wisdom or more than\nmortal folly; in these few words fathoming the full depth of Amleth's\npenetration. Then he summoned his steward and asked him whence he had\nprocured the bread. The steward declared that it had been made by the\nking's own baker. The king asked where the corn had grown of which it\nwas made, and whether any sign was to be found there of human carnage?\nThe other answered, that not far off was a field, covered with the\nancient bones of slaughtered men, and still bearing plainly all the\nsigns of ancient carnage; and that he had himself planted this field\nwith grain in springtide, thinking it more fruitful than the rest, and\nhoping for plenteous abundance; and so, for aught he knew, the bread had\ncaught some evil savour from this bloodshed. The king, on hearing this,\nsurmised that Amleth had spoken truly, and took the pains to learn also\nwhat had been the source of the lard. The other declared that his hogs\nhad, through negligence, strayed from keeping, and battened on the\nrotten carcase of a robber, and that perchance their pork had thus come\nto have something of a corrupt smack. The king, finding that Amletll's\njudgment was right in this thing also, asked of what liquor the steward\nhad mixed the drink? Hearing that it had been brewed of water and meal,\nhe had the spot of the spring pointed out to him, and set to digging\ndeep down; and there he found, rusted away, several swords, the tang\nwhereof it was thought had tainted the waters. Others relate that Amleth\nblamed the drink because, while quaffing it, he had detected some bees\nthat had fed in the paunch of a dead man; and that the taint, which had\nformerly been imparted to the combs, had reappeared in the taste. The\nking, seeing that Amleth had rightly given the causes of the taste he\nhad found so faulty, and learning that the ignoble eyes wherewith Amleth\nhad reproached him concerned some stain upon his birth, had a secret\ninterview with his mother, and asked her who his father had really\nbeen. She said she had submitted to no man but the king. But when he\nthreatened that he would have the truth out of her by a trial, he was\ntold that he was the offspring of a slave. By the evidence of the avowal\nthus extorted he understood the whole mystery of the reproach upon\nhis origin. Abashed as he was with shame for his low estate, he was so\nravished with the young man's cleverness, that he asked him why he had\naspersed the queen with the reproach that she had demeaned herself like\na slave? But while resenting that the courtliness of his wife had been\naccused in the midnight gossip of guest, he found that her mother had\nbeen a bondmaid. For Amleth said he had noted in her three blemishes\nshowing the demeanor of a slave; first, she had muffled her head in\nher mantle as handmaids do; next, that she had gathered up her gown for\nwalking; and thirdly, that she had first picked out with a splinter, and\nthen chewed up, the remnant of food that stuck in the crevices between\nher teeth. Further, he mentioned that the king's mother had been brought\ninto slavery from captivity, lest she should seem servile only in her\nhabits, yet not in her birth.\n\nThen the king adored the wisdom of Amleth as though it were inspired,\nand gave him his daughter to wife; accepting his bare word as though it\nwere a witness from the skies. Moreover, in order to fulfil the bidding\nof his friend, he hanged Amleth's companions on the morrow. Amleth,\nfeigning offence, treated this piece of kindness as a grievance, and\nreceived from the king, as compensation, some gold, which he afterwards\nmelted in the fire, and secretly caused to be poured into some hollowed\nsticks.\n\nWhen he had passed a whole year with the king he obtained leave to\nmake a journey, and returned to his own land, carrying away of all\nhis princely wealth and state only the sticks which held the gold.\nOn reaching Jutland, he exchanged his present attire for his ancient\ndemeanour, which he had adopted for righteous ends, purposely assuming\nan aspect of absurdity. Covered with filth, he entered the banquet-room\nwhere his own obsequies were being held, and struck all men utterly\naghast, rumour having falsely noised abroad his death. At last terror\nmelted into mirth, and the guests jeered and taunted one another, that\nhe whose last rites they were celebrating as through he were dead,\nshould appear in the flesh. When he was asked concerning his comrades,\nhe pointed to the sticks he was carrying, and said, \"Here is both the\none and the other.\" This he observed with equal truth and pleasantry;\nfor his speech, though most thought it idle, yet departed not from the\ntruth; for it pointed at the weregild of the slain as though it were\nthemselves. Thereon, wishing to bring the company into a gayer mood,\nhe jollied the cupbearers, and diligently did the office of plying the\ndrink. Then, to prevent his loose dress hampering his walk, he girdled\nhis sword upon his side, and purposely drawing it several times, pricked\nhis fingers with its point. The bystanders accordingly had both sword\nand scabbard riveted across with all iron nail. Then, to smooth the way\nmore safely to his plot, he went to the lords and plied them heavily\nwith draught upon draught, and drenched them all so deep in wine, that\ntheir feet were made feeble with drunkenness, and they turned to rest\nwithin the palace, making their bed where they had revelled. Then he\nsaw they were in a fit state for his plots, and thought that here was a\nchance offered to do his purpose. So he took out of his bosom the stakes\nhe has long ago prepared, and went into the building, where the ground\nlay covered with the bodies of the nobles wheezing off their sleep and\ntheir debauch. Then, cutting away its support, he brought down the\nhanging his mother had knitted, which covered the inner as well as\nthe outer walls of the hall. This he flung upon the snorers, and then\napplying the crooked stakes, he knotted and bound them up in such\ninsoluble intricacy, that not one of the men beneath, however hard he\nmight struggle, could contrive to rise. After this he set fire to the\npalace. The flames spread, scattering the conflagration far and wide. It\nenveloped the whole dwelling, destroyed the palace, and burnt them all\nwhile they were either buried in deep sleep or vainly striving to arise.\nThen he went to the chamber of Feng, who had before this been conducted\nby his train into his pavilion; plucked up a sword that chanced to be\nhanging to the bed, and planted his own in its place. Then, awakening\nhis uncle, he told him that his nobles were perishing in the flames, and\nthat Amleth was here, armed with his crooks to help him, and thirsting\nto exact the vengeance, now long overdue, for his father's murder. Feng,\non hearing this, leapt from his couch, but was cut down while deprived\nof his own sword, and as he strove in vain to draw the strange one. O\nvaliant Amleth, and worthy of immortal fame, who being shrewdly armed\nwith a feint of folly, covered a wisdom too high for human wit under\na marvellous disguise of silliness! And not only found in his subtlety\nmeans to protect his own safety, but also by its guidance found\nopportunity to avenge his father. By this skilful defence of himself,\nand strenuous revenge for his parent, he has left it doubtful whether we\nare to think more of his wit or his bravery. (3)\n\n     ENDNOTES:\n     (1)  Saxo now goes back to the history of Denmark.  All the\n     events hitherto related in Bk. III, after the first\n     paragraph, are a digression in retrospect.\n     (2)  M. conjectures that this was a certain Harald, the bastard\n     son of Erik the Good, and a wild and dissolute man, who died\n     in 1135, not long before the probable date of Saxo's birth.\n     (3)  Shakespere's tragedy, \"Hamlet\", is derived from this story.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK FOUR.\n\nAmleth, when he had accomplished the slaughter of his stepfather, feared\nto expose his deed to the fickle judgment of his countrymen, and thought\nit well to lie in hiding till he had learnt what way the mob of the\nuncouth populace was tending. So the whole neighbourhood, who had\nwatched the blaze during the night, and in the morning desired to know\nthe cause of the fire they had seen, perceived the royal palace fallen\nin ashes; and, on searching through its ruins, which were yet warm,\nfound only some shapeless remains of burnt corpses. For the devouring\nflame had consumed everything so utterly that not a single token was\nleft to inform them of the cause of such a disaster. Also they saw the\nbody of Feng lying pierced by the sword, amid his blood-stained raiment.\nSome were seized with open anger, others with grief, and some with\nsecret delight. One party bewailed the death of their leader, the other\ngave thanks that the tyranny of the fratricide was now laid at rest.\nThus the occurrence of the king's slaughter was greeted by the beholders\nwith diverse minds.\n\nAmleth, finding the people so quiet, made bold to leave his hiding.\nSummoning those in whom he knew the memory of his father to be\nfast-rooted, he went to the assembly and there made a speech after this\nmanner:\n\n\"Nobles! Let not any who are troubled by the piteous end of Horwendil\nbe worried by the sight of this disaster before you; be not ye, I say,\ndistressed, who have remained loyal to your king and duteous to your\nfather. Behold the corpse, not of a prince, but of a fratricide. Indeed,\nit was a sorrier sight when ye saw our prince lying lamentably butchered\nby a most infamous fratricide-brother, let me not call him. With your\nown compassionating eyes ye have beheld the mangled limbs of Horwendil;\nthey have seen his body done to death with many wounds. Surely that most\nabominable butcher only deprived his king of life that he might despoil\nhis country of freedom! The hand that slew him made you slaves. Who\nthen so mad as to choose Feng the cruel before Horwendil the righteous?\nRemember how benignantly Horwendil fostered you, how justly he dealt\nwith you, how kindly he loved you. Remember how you lost the mildest of\nprinces and the justest of fathers, while in his place was put a tyrant\nand an assassin set up; how your rights were confiscated; how everything\nwas plague-stricken; how the country was stained with infamies; how the\nyoke was planted on your necks, and how, your free will was forfeited!\nAnd now all this is over; for ye see the criminal stifled in his own\ncrimes, the slayer of his kin punished for his misdoings. What man of\nbut ordinary wit, beholding it, would account this kindness a wrong?\nWhat sane man could be sorry that the crime has recoiled upon the\nculprit? Who could lament the killing of a most savage executioner? Or\nbewail the righteous death of a most cruel despot? Ye behold the doer of\nthe deed; he is before you. Yea, I own that I have taken vengeance for\nmy country and my father. Your hands were equally bound to the task\nwhich mine fulfilled. What it would have beseemed you to accomplish with\nme, I achieved alone. Nor had I any partner in so glorious a deed, or\nthe service of any man to help me. Not that I forget that you would have\nhelped this work, had I asked you; for doubtless you have remained loyal\nto your king and loving to your prince. But I chose that the wicked\nshould be punished without imperilling you; I thought that others need\nnot set their shoulders to the burden when I deemed mine strong enough\nto bear it. Therefore I consumed all the others to ashes, and left only\nthe trunk of Feng for your hands to burn, so that on this at least\nyou may wreak all your longing for a righteous vengeance. Now haste up\nspeedily, heap the pyre, burn up the body of the wicked, consume away\nhis guilty limbs, scatter his sinful ashes, strew broadcast his ruthless\ndust; let no urn or barrow enclose the abominable remnants of his bones.\nLet no trace of his fratricide remain; let there be no spot in his own\nland for his tainted limbs; let no neighbourhood suck infection from\nhim; let not sea nor soil be defiled by harboring his accursed carcase.\nI have done the rest; this one loyal duty is left for you. These must be\nthe tyrant's obsequies, this the funeral procession of the fratricide.\nIt is not seemly that he who stripped his country of her freedom should\nhave his ashes covered by his country's earth.\n\n\"Besides, why tell again my own sorrows? Why count over my troubles?\nWhy weave the thread of my miseries anew? Ye know them more fully than I\nmyself. I, pursued to the death by my stepfather, scorned by my mother,\nspat upon by friends, have passed my years in pitiable wise, and my days\nin adversity; and my insecure life has teemed with fear and perils.\nIn fine, I passed every season of my age wretchedly and in extreme\ncalamity. Often in your secret murmurings together you have sighed over\nmy lack of wits; there was none (you said) to avenge the father, none\nto punish the fratricide. And in this I found a secret testimony of your\nlove; for I saw that the memory of the King's murder had not yet faded\nfrom your minds.\n\n\"Whose breast is so hard that it can be softened by no fellow-feeling\nfor what I have felt? Who is so stiff and stony, that he is swayed by\nno compassion for my griefs? Ye whose hands are clean of the blood of\nHorwendil, pity your fosterling, be moved by my calamities. Pity also my\nstricken mother, and rejoice with me that the infamy of her who was once\nyour queen is quenched. For this weak woman had to bear a twofold weight\nof ignominy, embracing one who was her husband's brother and murderer.\nTherefore, to hide my purpose of revenge and to veil my wit, I\ncounterfeited a listless bearing; I feigned dulness; I planned a\nstratagem; and now you can see with your own eyes whether it has\nsucceeded, whether it has achieved its purpose to the full; I am content\nto leave you to judge so great a matter. It is your turn; trample under\nfoot the ashes of the murderer! Disdain the dust of him who slew his\nbrother, and defiled his brother's queen with infamous desecration, who\noutraged his sovereign and treasonably assailed his majesty, who\nbrought the sharpest tyranny upon you, stole your freedom, and crowned\nfratricide with incest. I have been the agent of this just vengeance; I\nhave burned for this righteous retribution; uphold me with a high-born\nspirit; pay me the homage that you owe; warm me with your kindly looks.\nIt is I who have wiped off my country's shame; I who have quenched my\nmother's dishonour; I who have beaten back oppression; I who have put to\ndeath the murderer; I who have baffled the artful hand of my uncle with\nretorted arts. Were he living, each new day would have multiplied his\ncrimes. I resented the wrong done to father and to fatherland: I slew\nhim who was governing you outrageously and more hardly than it beseemed\nmen. Acknowledge my service, honour my wit, give me the throne if I have\nearned it; for you have in me one who has done you a mighty service, and\nwho is no degenerate heir to his father's power; no fratricide, but the\nlawful successor to the throne; and a dutiful avenger of the crime of\nmurder. It is I who have stripped you of slavery, and clothed you with\nfreedom; I have restored your height of fortune, and given you your\nglory back; I have deposed the despot and triumphed over the butcher.\nIn your hands is the reward; you know what I have done for you, and from\nyour righteousness I ask my wage.\"\n\nEvery heart had been moved while the young man thus spoke; he affected\nsome to compassion, and some even to tears. When the lamentation ceased,\nhe was appointed king by prompt and general acclaim. For one and all\nrested their greatest hopes on his wisdom, since he had devised the\nwhole of such an achievement with the deepest cunning, and accomplished\nit with the most astonishing contrivance. Many could have been seen\nmarvelling how he had concealed so subtle a plan over so long a space of\ntime.\n\nAfter these deeds in Denmark, Amleth equipped three vessels, and went\nback to Britain to see his wife and her father. He had also enrolled in\nhis service the flower of the warriors, and arrayed them very choicely,\nwishing to have everything now magnificently appointed, even as of old\nhe had always worn contemptible gear, and to change all his old devotion\nto poverty for outlay on luxury. He also had a shield made for him,\nwhereon the whole series of his exploits, beginning with his earliest\nyouth, was painted in exquisite designs. This he bore as a record of his\ndeeds of prowess, and gained great increase of fame thereby. Here were\nto be seen depicted the slaying of Horwendil; the fratricide and incest\nof Feng; the infamous uncle, the whimsical nephew; the shapes of the\nhooked stakes; the stepfather suspecting, the stepson dissembling; the\nvarious temptations offered, and the woman brought to beguile him; the\ngaping wolf; the finding of the rudder; the passing of the sand; the\nentering of the wood; the putting of the straw through the gadfly; the\nwarning of the youth by the tokens; and the privy dealings with the\nmaiden after the escort was eluded. And likewise could be seen the\npicture of the palace; the queen there with her son; the slaying of the\neavesdropper; and how, after being killed, he was boiled down, and so\ndropped into the sewer, and so thrown out to the swine; how his limbs\nwere strewn in the mud, and so left for the beasts to finish. Also\nit could be seen how Amleth surprised the secret of his sleeping\nattendants, how he erased the letters, and put new characters in their\nplaces; how he disdained the banquet and scorned the drink; how\nhe condemned time face of the king and taxed the Queen with faulty\nbehaviour. There was also represented the hanging of the envoys, and\nthe young man's wedding; then the voyage back to Denmark; the festive\ncelebration of the funeral rites; Amleth, in answer to questions,\npointing to the sticks in place of his attendants, acting as cupbearer,\nand purposely drawing his sword and pricking his fingers; the sword\nriveted through, the swelling cheers of the banquet, the dance growing\nfast and furious; the hangings flung upon the sleepers, then fastened\nwith the interlacing crooks, and wrapped tightly round them as they\nslumbered; the brand set to the mansion, the burning of the guests, the\nroyal palace consumed with fire and tottering down; the visit to the\nsleeping-room of Feng, the theft of his sword, the useless one set\nin its place; and the king slain with his own sword's point by his\nstepson's hand. All this was there, painted upon Amleth's battle-shield\nby a careful craftsman in the choicest of handiwork; he copied truth in\nhis figures, and embodied real deeds in his outlines. Moreover, Amleth's\nfollowers, to increase the splendour of their presence, wore shields\nwhich were gilt over.\n\nThe King of Britain received them very graciously, and treated them with\ncostly and royal pomp. During the feast he asked anxiously whether Feng\nwas alive and prosperous. His son-in-law told him that the man of whose\nwelfare he was vainly inquiring had perished by the sword. With a flood\nof questions he tried to find out who had slain Feng, and learnt that\nthe messenger of his death was likewise its author. And when the king\nheard this, he was secretly aghast, because he found that an old promise\nto avenge Feng now devolved upon himself. For Feng and he had determined\nof old, by a mutual compact, that one of them should act as avenger of\nthe other. Thus the king was drawn one way by his love for his daughter\nand his affection for his son-in-law; another way by his regard for his\nfriend, and moreover by his strict oath and the sanctity of their mutual\ndeclarations, which it was impious to violate. At last he slighted\nthe ties of kinship, and sworn faith prevailed. His heart turned to\nvengeance, and he put the sanctity of his oath before family bonds.\nBut since it was thought sin to wrong the holy ties of hospitality, he\npreferred to execrate his revenge by the hand of another, wishing\nto mask his secret crime with a show of innocence. So he veiled his\ntreachery with attentions, and hid his intent to harm under a show of\nzealous goodwill. His queen having lately died of illness, he requested\nAmleth to undertake the mission of making him a fresh match, saying that\nhe was highly delighted with his extraordinary shrewdness. He declared\nthat there was a certain queen reigning in Scotland, whom he vehemently\ndesired to marry. Now he knew that she was not only unwedded by reason\nof her chastity, but that in the cruelty of her arrogance she had\nalways loathed her wooers, and had inflicted on her lovers the uttermost\npunishment, so that not one but of all the multitude was to be found who\nhad not paid for his insolence with his life.\n\nPerilous as this commission was Amleth started, never shrinking to obey\nthe duty imposed upon him, but trusting partly in his own servants, and\npartly in the attendants of the king. He entered Scotland, and, when\nquite close to the abode of the queen, he went into a meadow by the\nwayside to rest his horses. Pleased by the look of the spot, he thought\nof resting--the pleasant prattle of the stream exciting a desire to\nsleep--and posted men to keep watch some way off. The queen on hearing\nof this, sent out ten warriors to spy on the approach of the foreigners\nand their equipment. One of these, being quick-witted, slipped past\nthe sentries, pertinaciously made his way up, and took away the shield,\nwhich Amleth had chanced to set at his head before he slept, so gently\nthat he did not ruffle his slumbers, though he was lying upon it, nor\nawaken one man of all that troop; for he wished to assure his mistress\nnot only by report but by some token. With equal address he filched the\nletter entrusted to Amleth from the coffer in which it was kept. When\nthese things were brought to the queen, she scanned the shield narrowly,\nand from the notes appended made out the whole argument. Then she knew\nthat here was the man who, trusting in his own nicely calculated scheme,\nhad avenged on his uncle the murder of his father. She also looked at\nthe letter containing the suit for her band, and rubbed out all the\nwriting; for wedlock with the old she utterly abhorred, and desired\nthe embraces of young men. But she wrote in its place a commission\npurporting to be sent from the King of Britain to herself, signed like\nthe other with his name and title, wherein she pretended that she was\nasked to marry the bearer. Moreover, she included an account of the\ndeeds of which she had learnt from Amleth's shield, so that one would\nhave thought the shield confirmed the letter, while the letter explained\nthe shield. Then she told the same spies whom she had employed before to\ntake the shield back, and put the letter in its place again; playing the\nvery trick on Amleth which, as she had learnt, he had himself used in\noutwitting his companions.\n\nAmleth, meanwhile, who found that his shield had been filched from under\nhis head, deliberately shut his eyes and cunningly feigned sleep, hoping\nto regain by pretended what he had lost by real slumbers. For he thought\nthat the success of his one attempt would incline the spy to deceive\nhim a second time. And he was not mistaken. For as the spy came up\nstealthily, and wanted to put back the shield and the writing in their\nold place, Amleth leapt up, seized him, and detained him in bonds.\nThen he roused his retinue, and went to the abode of the queen. As\nrepresenting his father-in-law, he greeted her, and handled her\nthe writing, sealed with the king's seal. The queen, who was named\nHermutrude, took and read it, and spoke most warmly of Amleth's\ndiligence and shrewdness, saying, that Feng had deserved his punishment,\nand that the unfathomable wit of Amleth had accomplished a deed past\nall human estimation; seeing that not only had his impenetrable\ndepth devised a mode of revenging his father's death and his mother's\nadultery, but it had further, by his notable deeds Of prowess, seized\nthe kingdom of the man whom he had found constantly plotting against\nhim. She marvelled therefore that a man of such instructed mind could\nhave made the one slip of a mistaken marriage; for though his renown\nalmost rose above mortality, he seemed to have stumbled into an obscure\nand ignoble match. For the parents of his wife had been slaves, though\ngood luck had graced them with the honours of royalty. Now (said she),\nwhen looking for a wife a wise man must reckon the lustre of her birth\nand not of her beauty. Therefore, if he were to seek a match in a proper\nspirit, he should weigh the ancestry, and not be smitten by the looks;\nfor though looks were a lure to temptation, yet their empty bedizenment\nhad tarnished the white simplicity of many a man. Now there was a woman,\nas nobly born as himself, whom he could take. She herself, whose means\nwere not poor nor her birth lowly, was worthy his embraces, since he did\nnot surpass her in royal wealth nor outshine her in the honour of his\nancestors. Indeed she was a queen, and but that her sex gainsaid it,\nmight be deemed a king; may (and this is yet truer), whomsoever she\nthought worthy of her bed was at once a king, and she yielded her\nkingdom with herself. Thus her sceptre and her hand went together. It\nwas no mean favour for such a woman to offer her love, who in the case\nof other men had always followed her refusal with the sword. Therefore\nshe pressed him to transfer his wooing, to make over to her his marriage\nvows, and to learn to prefer birth to beauty. So saying, she fell upon\nhim with a close embrace.\n\nAmleth was overjoyed at the gracious speech of the maiden, fell to\nkissing back, and returned her close embrace, protesting that the\nmaiden's wish was his own. Then a banquet was held, friends bidden,\nthe nobles gathered, and the marriage rites performed. When they were\naccomplished, he went back to Britain with his bride, a strong band of\nScots being told to follow close behind, that he might have its help\nagainst the diverse treacheries in his path. As he was returning, the\ndaughter of the King of Britain, to whom he was still married, met him.\nThough she complained that she was slighted by the wrong of having a\nparamour put over her, yet, she said, it would be unworthy for her to\nhate him as an adulterer more than she loved him as a husband: nor would\nshe so far shrink from her lord as to bring herself to hide in silence\nthe guile which she knew was intended against him. For she had a son as\na pledge of their marriage, and regard for him, if nothing else, must\nhave inclined his mother to the affection of a wife. \"He,\" she said,\n\"may hate the supplanter of his mother, I will love her; no disaster\nshall put out my flame for thee; no ill-will shall quench it, or prevent\nme from exposing the malignant designs against thee, or from revealing\nthe snares I have detected. Bethink thee, then, that thou must beware\nof thy father-in-law, for thou hast thyself reaped the harvest of\nthy mission, foiled the wishes of him who sent thee, and with willful\ntrespass seized over all the fruit for thyself.\" By this speech she\nshowed herself more inclined to love her husband than her father.\n\nWhile she thus spoke, the King of Britain came up and embraced his\nson-in-law closely, but with little love, and welcomed him with a\nbanquet, to hide his intended guile under a show of generosity. But\nAmleth, having learnt the deceit, dissembled his fear, took a retinue of\ntwo hundred horsemen, put on an under-shirt (of mail), and complied\nwith the invitation, preferring the peril of falling in with the king's\ndeceit to the shame of hanging back. So much heed for honour did he\nthink that he must take in all things. As he rode up close, the king\nattacked him just under the porch of the folding doors, and would have\nthrust him through with his javelin, but that the hard shirt of mail\nthrew off the blade. Amleth received a slight wound, and went to the\nspot where he had bidden the Scottish warriors wait on duty. He then\nsent back to the king his new wife's spy, whom he had captured. This man\nwas to bear witness that he had secretly taken from the coffer where it\nwas kept the letter which was meant for his mistress, and thus was\nto make the whole blame recoil on Hermutrude, by this studied excuse\nabsolving Amleth from the charge of treachery. The king without tarrying\npursued Amleth hotly as he fled, and deprived him of most of his forces.\nSo Amleth, on the morrow, wishing to fight for dear life, and utterly\ndespairing of his powers of resistance, tried to increase his apparent\nnumbers. He put stakes under some of the dead bodies of his comrades to\nprop them up, set others on horseback like living men, and tied others\nto neighbouring stones, not taking off any of their armour, and dressing\nthem in due order of line and wedge, just as if they were about to\nengage. The wing composed of the dead was as thick as the troop of the\nliving. It was an amazing spectacle this, of dead men dragged out to\nbattle, and corpses mustered to fight. The plan served him well, for the\nvery figures of the dead men showed like a vast array as the sunbeams\nstruck them. For those dead and senseless shapes restored the original\nnumber of the army so well, that the mass might have been unthinned by\nthe slaughter of yesterday. The Britons, terrified at the spectacle,\nfled before fighting, conquered by the dead men whom they had overcome\nin life. I cannot tell whether to think more of the cunning or of the\ngood fortune of this victory. The Danes came down on the king as he was\ntardily making off, and killed him. Amleth, triumphant, made a great\nplundering, seized the spoils of Britain, and went back with his wives\nto his own land.\n\nMeanwhile Rorik had died, and Wiglek, who had come to the throne, had\nharassed Amleth's mother with all manner of insolence and stripped her\nof her royal wealth, complaining that her son had usurped the kingdom of\nJutland and defrauded the King of Leire, who had the sole privilege of\ngiving and taking away the rights of high offices. This treatment Amleth\ntook with such forbearance as apparently to return kindness for slander,\nfor he presented Wiglek with the richest of his spoils. But afterwards\nhe seized a chance of taking vengeance, attacked him, subdued him, and\nfrom a covert became an open foe. Fialler, the governor of Skaane, he\ndrove into exile; and the tale is that Fialler retired to a spot\ncalled Undensakre, which is unknown to our peoples. After this,\nWiglek, recruited with the forces of Skaane and Zealand, sent envoys to\nchallenge Amleth to a war. Amleth, with his marvellous shrewdness,\nsaw that he was tossed between two difficulties, one of which involved\ndisgrace and the other danger. For he knew that if he took up the\nchallenge he was threatened with peril of his life, while to shrink from\nit would disgrace his reputation as a soldier. Yet in that spirit ever\nfixed on deeds of prowess the desire to save his honour won the day.\nDread of disaster was blunted by more vehement thirst for glory; he\nwould not tarnish the unblemished lustre of his fame by timidly skulking\nfrom his fate. Also he saw that there is almost as wide a gap between a\nmean life and a noble death as that which is acknowledged between honour\nand disgrace themselves.\n\nYet Amleth was enchained by such great love for Hermutrude, that he was\nmore deeply concerned in his mind about her future widowhood than about\nhis own death, and cast about very zealously how he could decide on\nsome second husband for her before the opening of the war. Hermutrude,\ntherefore, declared that she had the courage of a man, and promised that\nshe would not forsake him even on the field, saying that the woman who\ndreaded to be united with her lord in death was abominable. But she\nkept this rare promise ill; for when Amleth had been slain by Wiglek in\nbattle in Jutland, she yielded herself up unasked to be the conqueror's\nspoil and bride. Thus all vows of woman are loosed by change of fortune\nand melted by the shifting of time; the faith of their soul rests on a\nslippery foothold, and is weakened by casual chances; glib in promises,\nand as sluggish in performance, all manner of lustful promptings enslave\nit, and it bounds away with panting and precipitate desire, forgetful\nof old things in the ever hot pursuit after something fresh. So ended\nAmleth. Had fortune been as kind to him as nature, he would have\nequalled the gods in glory, and surpassed the labours of Hercules by his\ndeeds of prowess. A plain in Jutland is to be found, famous for his name\nand burial-place. Wiglek's administration of the kingdom was long and\npeaceful, and he died of disease.\n\nWERMUND, his son, succeeded him. The long and leisurely tranquillity of\na most prosperous and quiet time flowed by and Wermund in undisturbed\nsecurity maintained a prolonged and steady peace at home. He had no\nchildren during the prime of his life, but in his old age, by a belated\ngift of fortune, he begat a son, Uffe, though all the years which had\nglided by had raised him up no offspring. This Uffe surpassed all of his\nage in stature, but in his early youth was supposed to have so dull and\nfoolish a spirit as to be useless for all affairs public or private.\nFor from his first years he never used to play or make merry, but was so\nvoid of all human pleasure that he kept his lips sealed in a perennial\nsilence, and utterly restrained his austere visage from the business of\nlaughter. But though through the years of his youth he was reputed\nfor an utter fool, he afterwards left that despised estate and became\nfamous, turning out as great a pattern of wisdom and hardihood as he had\nbeen a picture of stagnation. His father, seeing him such a simpleton,\ngot him for a wife the daughter of Frowin, the governor of the men of\nSleswik; thinking that by his alliance with so famous a man Uffe would\nreceive help which would serve him well in administering the realm.\nFrowin had two sons, Ket and Wig, who were youths of most brilliant\nparts, and their excellence, not less than that of Frowin, Wermund\ndestined to the future advantage of his son.\n\nAt this time the King of Sweden was Athisl, a man of notable fame and\nenergy. After defeating his neighbours far around, he was loth to leave\nthe renown won by his prowess to be tarnished in slothful ease, and by\nconstant and zealous practice brought many novel exercises into vogue.\nFor one thing he had a daily habit of walking alone girt with splendid\narmour: in part because he knew that nothing was more excellent in\nwarfare than the continual practice of arms; and in part that he might\nswell his glory by ever following this pursuit. Self-confidence claimed\nas large a place in this man as thirst for fame. Nothing, he thought,\ncould be so terrible as to make him afraid that it would daunt his\nstout heart by its opposition. He carried his arms into Denmark, and\nchallenged Frowin to battle near Sleswik. The armies routed one another\nwith vast slaughter, and it happened that the generals came to engage in\nperson, so that they conducted the affair like a duel; and, in addition\nto the public issues of the war, the fight was like a personal conflict.\nFor both of them longed with equal earnestness for an issue of the\ncombat by which they might exhibit their valour, not by the help of\ntheir respective sides, but by a trial of personal strength. The end was\nthat, though the blows rained thick on either side, Athisl prevailed and\noverthrew Frowin, and won a public victory as well as a duel, breaking\nup and shattering the Danish ranks in all directions. When he returned\nto Sweden, he not only counted the slaying of Frowin among the trophies\nof his valour, but even bragged of it past measure, so ruining the glory\nof the deed by his wantonness of tongue. For it is sometimes handsomer\nfor deeds of valour to be shrouded in the modesty of silence than to be\nblazoned in wanton talk.\n\nWermund raised the sons of Frowin to honours of the same rank as their\nfather's, a kindness which was only due to the children of his friend\nwho had died for the country. This prompted Athisl to carry the war\nagain into Denmark. Emboldened therefore by his previous battle, he\ncalled back, bringing with him not only no slender and feeble force,\nbut all the flower of the valour of Sweden, thinking he would seize the\nsupremacy of all Denmark. Ket, the son of Frowin, sent Folk, his chief\nofficer, to take this news to Wermund, who then chanced to be in his\nhouse Jellinge. (1) Folk found the king feasting with his friends, and\ndid his errand, admonishing him that here was the long-wished-for chance\nof war at hand, and pressing itself upon the wishes of Wermund, to whom\nwas give an immediate chance of victory and the free choice of a speedy\nand honourable triumph. Great and unexpected were the sweets of good\nfortune, so long sighed for, and now granted to him by this lucky event.\nFor Athisl had come encompassed with countless forces of the Swedes,\njust as though in his firm assurance he had made sure of victory; and\nsince the enemy who was going to fight would doubtless prefer death to\nflight, this chance of war gave them a fortunate opportunity to take\nvengeance for their late disaster.\n\nWermund, declaring that he had performed his mission nobly and bravely,\nordered that he should take some little refreshment of the banquet,\nsince \"far-faring ever hurt fasters.\" When Folk said that he had no kind\nof leisure to take food, he begged him to take a draught to quench his\nthirst. This was given him; and Wermund also bade him keep the cup,\nwhich was of gold, saying that men who were weary with the heat of\nwayfaring found it handier to take up the water in a goblet than in the\npalms, and that it was better to use a cup for drinking than the hand.\nWhen the king accompanied his great gift with such gracious words, the\nyoung man, overjoyed at both, promised that, before the king should see\nhim turn and flee, he would take a draught of his own blood to the full\nmeasure of the liquor he had drunk.\n\nWith this doughty vow Wermund accounted himself well repaid, and got\nsomewhat more joy from giving the boon than the soldier had from gaining\nit. Nor did he find that Folk's talk was braver than his fighting.\n\nFor, when battle had begun, it came to pass that amidst divers charges\nof the troops Folk and Athisl met and fought a long while together; and\nthat the host of the Swedes, following the fate of their captain, took\nto flight, and Athisl also was wounded and fled from the battle to his\nships. And when Folk, dazed with wounds and toils, and moreover steeped\nalike in heat and toil and thirst, had ceased to follow the rout of the\nenemy, then, in order to refresh himself, he caught his own blood in\nhis helmet, and put it to his lips to drain: by which deed he gloriously\nrequited the king's gift of the cup. Wermund, who chanced to see this,\npraised him warmly for fulfilling his vow. Folk answered, that a noble\nvow ought to be strictly performed to the end: a speech wherein he\nshowed no less approval of his own deed than Wermund.\n\nNow, while the conquerors had laid down their arms, and, as is usual\nafter battle, were exchanging diverse talk with one another, Ket, the\ngovernor of the men of Sleswik, declared that it was a matter of great\nmarvel to him how it was that Athisl, though difficulties strewed his\npath, had contrived an opportunity to escape, especially as he had been\nthe first and foremost in the battle, but last of all in the retreat;\nand though there had not been one of the enemy whose fall was so\nvehemently desired by the Danes. Wermund rejoined that he should know\nthat there were four kinds of warrior to be distinguished in every army.\nThe fighters of the first order were those who, tempering valour with\nforbearance, were keen to slay those who resisted, but were ashamed to\nbear hard on fugitives. For these were the men who had won undoubted\nproofs of prowess by veteran experience in arms, and who found their\nglory not in the flight of the conquered, but in overcoming those whom\nthey had to conquer. Then there was a second kind of warriors, who were\nendowed with stout frame and spirit, but with no jot of compassion, and\nwho raged with savage and indiscriminate carnage against the backs as\nwell as the breasts of their foes. Now of this sort were the men carried\naway by hot and youthful blood, and striving to grace their first\ncampaign with good auguries of warfare. They burned as hotly with the\nglow of youth as with the glow for glory, and thus rushed headlong into\nright or wrong with equal recklessness. There was also the third kind,\nwho, wavering betwixt shame and fear, could not go forward for terror,\nwhile shame barred retreat. Of distinguished blood, but only notable for\ntheir useless stature, they crowded the ranks with numbers and not with\nstrength, smote the foe more with their shadows than with their arms,\nand were only counted among the throng of warriors as so many bodies\nto be seen. These men were lords of great riches, but excelled more in\nbirth than bravery; hungry for life because owning great possessions,\nthey were forced to yield to the sway of cowardice rather than\nnobleness. There were others, again, who brought show to the war, and\nnot substance, and who, foisting themselves into the rear of their\ncomrades, were the first to fly and the last to fight. One sure token\nof fear betrayed their feebleness; for they always deliberately sought\nexcuses to shirk, and followed with timid and sluggish advance in the\nrear of the fighters. It must be supposed, therefore, that these were\nthe reasons why the king had escaped safely; for when he fled he was not\npursued pertinaciously by the men of the front rank; since these made it\ntheir business to preserve the victory, not to arrest the conquered, and\nmassed their wedges, in order that the fresh-won victory might be duly\nand sufficiently guarded, and attain the fulness of triumph.\n\nNow the second class of fighters, whose desire was to cut down\neverything in their way, had left Athisl unscathed, from lack not of\nwill but of opportunity; for they had lacked the chance to hurt him\nrather than the daring. Moreover, though the men of the third kind, who\nfrittered away the very hour of battle by wandering about in a flurried\nfashion, and also hampered the success of their own side, had had their\nchance of harming the king, they yet lacked courage to assail him. In\nthis way Wermund satisfied the dull amazement of Ket, and declared\nthat he had set forth and expounded the true reasons of the king's safe\nescape.\n\nAfter this Athisl fled back to Sweden, still wantonly bragging of the\nslaughter of Frowin, and constantly boasting the memory of his exploit\nwith prolix recital of his deeds; not that he bore calmly the shame of\nhis defeat, but that he might salve the wound of his recent flight by\nthe honours of his ancient victory. This naturally much angered Ket and\nWig, and they swore a vow to unite in avenging their father. Thinking\nthat they could hardly accomplish this in open war, they took an\nequipment of lighter armament, and went to Sweden alone. Then, entering\na wood in which they had learnt by report that the king used to take his\nwalks unaccompanied, they hid their weapons. Then they talked long with\nAthisl, giving themselves out as deserters; and when he asked them what\nwas their native country, they said they were men of Sleswik, and had\nleft their land \"for manslaughter\". The king thought that this statement\nreferred not to their vow to commit the crime, but to the guilt of some\ncrime already committed. For they desired by this deceit to foil his\ninquisitiveness, so that the truthfulness of the statement might\nbaffle the wit of the questioner, and their true answer, being covertly\nshadowed forth in a fiction, might inspire in him a belief that it was\nfalse. For famous men of old thought lying a most shameful thing. Then\nAthisl said he would like to know whom the Danes believed to be the\nslayer of Frowin. Ket replied that there was a doubt as to who ought\nto claim so illustrious a deed, especially as the general testimony was\nthat he had perished on the field of battle. Athisl answered that it was\nidle to credit others with the death of Frowin, which he, and he alone,\nhad accomplished in mutual combat. Soon he asked whether Frowin had left\nany children. Ket answering that two sons of his were alive, said that\nhe would be very glad to learn their age and stature. Ket replied that\nthey were almost of the same size as themselves in body, alike in years,\nand much resembling them in tallness. Then Athisl said: \"If the mind and\nthe valour of their sire were theirs, a bitter tempest would break upon\nme.\" Then he asked whether those men constantly spoke of the slaying of\ntheir father. Ket rejoined that it was idle to go on talking and talking\nabout a thing that could not be softened by any remedy, and declared\nthat it was no good to harp with constant vexation on an inexpiable ill.\nBy saying this he showed that threats ought not to anticipate vengeance.\n\nWhen Ket saw that the king regularly walked apart alone in order to\ntrain his strength, he took up his arms, and with his brother followed\nthe king as he walked in front of them. Athisl, when he saw them, stood\nhis ground on the sand, thinking it shameful to avoid threateners. Then\nthey said that they would take vengeance for his slaying of Frowin,\nespecially as he avowed with so many arrogant vaunts that he alone was\nhis slayer. But he told them to take heed lest while they sought to\ncompass their revenge, they should be so foolhardy as to engage him with\ntheir feeble and powerless hand, and while desiring the destruction of\nanother, should find they had fallen themselves. Thus they would cut off\ntheir goodly promise of overhasty thirst for glory. Let them then save\ntheir youth and spare their promise; let them not be seized so lightly\nwith a desire to perish. Therefore, let them suffer him to requite with\nmoney the trespass done them in their father's death, and account it\ngreat honour that they would be credited with forcing so mighty a chief\nto pay a fine, and in a manner with shaking him with overmastering fear.\nYet he said he advised them thus, not because he was really terrified,\nbut because he was moved with compassion for their youth. Ket replied\nthat it was idle to waste time in beating so much about the bush and\ntrying to sap their righteous longing for revenge by an offer of pelf.\nSo he bade him come forward and make trial with him in single combat\nof whatever strength he had. He himself would do without the aid of his\nbrother, and would fight with his own strength, lest it should appear a\nshameful and unequal combat, for the ancients held it to be unfair, and\nalso infamous, for two men to fight against one; and a victory gained by\nthis kind of fighting they did not account honourable, but more like a\ndisgrace than a glory. Indeed, it was considered not only a poor, but a\nmost shameful exploit for two men to overpower one.\n\nBut Athisl was filled with such assurance that he bade them both assail\nhim at once, declaring that if he could not cure them of the desire to\nfight, he would at least give them the chance of fighting more safely.\nBut Ket shrank so much from this favour that he swore he would accept\ndeath sooner: for he thought that the terms of battle thus offered would\nbe turned into a reproach to himself. So he engaged hotly with Athisl,\nwho desirous to fight him in a forbearing fashion, merely thrust lightly\nwith his blade and struck upon his shield; thus guarding his own safety\nwith more hardihood than success. When he had done this some while, he\nadvised him to take his brother to share in his enterprise, and not be\nashamed to ask for the help of another hand, since his unaided efforts\nwere useless. If he refused, said Athisl, he should not be spared; then\nmaking good his threats, he assailed him with all his might. But Ket\nreceived him with so sturdy a stroke of his sword, that it split the\nhelmet and forced its way down upon the head. Stung by the wound (for a\nstream of blood flowed from his poll), he attacked Ket with a shower of\nnimble blows, and drove him to his knees. Wig, leaning more to personal\nlove than to general usage, (2) could not bear the sight, but made\naffection conquer shame, and attacking Athisl, chose rather to defend\nthe weakness of his brother than to look on at it. But he won more\ninfamy than glory by the deed. In helping his brother he had violated\nthe appointed conditions of the duel; and the help that he gave him was\nthought more useful than honourable. For on the one scale he inclined to\nthe side of disgrace, and on the other to that of affection. Thereupon\nthey perceived themselves that their killing of Athisl had been more\nswift than glorious. Yet, not to hide the deed from the common people,\nthey cut off his head, slung his body on a horse, took it out of the\nwood, and handed it over to the dwellers in a village near, announcing\nthat the sons of Frowin had taken vengeance upon Athisl, King of the\nSwedes, for the slaying of their father. Boasting of such a victory as\nthis, they were received by Wermund with the highest honours; for he\nthought they had done a most useful deed, and he preferred to regard\nthe glory of being rid of a rival with more attention than the infamy of\ncommitting an outrage. Nor did he judge that the killing of a tyrant was\nin any wise akin to shame. It passed into a proverb among foreigners,\nthat the death of the king had broken down the ancient principle of\ncombat.\n\nWhen Wermund was losing his sight by infirmity of age, the King of\nSaxony, thinking that Denmark lacked a leader, sent envoys ordering him\nto surrender to his charge the kingdom which he held beyond the due term\nof life; lest, if he thirsted to hold sway too long, he should strip his\ncountry of laws and defence. For how could he be reckoned a king, whose\nspirit was darkened with age, and his eyes with blindness not less black\nand awful? If he refused, but yet had a son who would dare to accept a\nchallenge and fight with his son, let him agree that the victor should\npossess the realm. But if he approved neither offer, let him learn that\nhe must be dealt with by weapons and not by warnings; and in the end\nhe must unwillingly surrender what he was too proud at first to yield\nuncompelled. Wermund, shaken by deep sighs, answered that it was too\ninsolent to sting him with these taunts upon his years; for he had\npassed no timorous youth, nor shrunk from battle, that age should bring\nhim to this extreme misery. It was equally unfitting to cast in his\nteeth the infirmity of his blindness: for it was common for a loss\nof this kind to accompany such a time of life as his, and it seemed a\ncalamity fitter for sympathy than for taunts. It were juster to fix\nthe blame on the impatience of the King of Saxony, whom it would have\nbeseemed to wait for the old man's death, and not demand his throne; for\nit was somewhat better to succeed to the dead than to rob the living.\nYet, that he might not be thought to make over the honours of his\nancient freedom, like a madman, to the possession of another, he would\naccept the challenge with his own hand. The envoys answered that they\nknew that their king would shrink from the mockery of fighting a blind\nman, for such an absurd mode of combat was thought more shameful than\nhonourable. It would surely be better to settle the affair by means of\ntheir offspring on either side. The Danes were in consternation, and at\na sudden loss for a reply: but Uffe, who happened to be there with the\nrest, craved his father's leave to answer; and suddenly the dumb as it\nwere spake. When Wermund asked who had thus begged leave to speak, and\nthe attendants said that it was Uffe, he declared that it was enough\nthat the insolent foreigner should jeer at the pangs of his misery,\nwithout those of his own household vexing him with the same wanton\neffrontery. But the courtiers persistently averred that this man was\nUffe; and the king said: \"He is free, whosoever he be, to say out what\nhe thinks.\" Then said Uffe, \"that it was idle for their king to covet\na realm which could rely not only on the service of its own ruler, but\nalso on the arms and wisdom of most valiant nobles. Moreover, the king\ndid not lack a son nor the kingdom an heir; and they were to know that\nhe had made up his mind to fight not only the son of their king, but\nalso, at the same time, whatsoever man the prince should elect as his\ncomrade out of the bravest of their nation.\"\n\nThe envoys laughed when they beard this, thinking it idle lip-courage.\nInstantly the ground for the battle was agreed on, and a fixed time\nappointed. But the bystanders were so amazed by the strangeness of\nUffe's speaking and challenging, that one can scarce say if they were\nmore astonished at his words or at his assurance.\n\nBut on the departure of the envoys Wermund praised him who had made\nthe answer, because he had proved his confidence in his own valour by\nchallenging not one only, but two; and said that he would sooner quit\nhis kingdom for him, whoever he was, than for an insolent foe. But when\none and all testified that he who with lofty self-confidence had spurned\nthe arrogance of the envoys was his own son, he bade him come nearer\nto him, wishing to test with his hands what he could not with his eyes.\nThen he carefully felt his body, and found by the size of his limbs and\nby his features that he was his son; and then began to believe their\nassertions, and to ask him why he had taken pains to hide so sweet an\neloquence with such careful dissembling, and had borne to live through\nso long a span of life without utterance or any intercourse of talk, so\nas to let men think him utterly incapable of speech, and a born mute. He\nreplied that he had been hitherto satisfied with the protection of his\nfather, that he had not needed the use of his own voice, until he saw\nthe wisdom of his own land hard pressed by the glibness of a foreigner.\nThe king also asked him why he had chosen to challenge two rather than\none. He said he had desired this mode of combat in order that the death\nof King Athisl, which, having been caused by two men, was a standing\nreproach to the Danes, might be balanced by the exploit of one, and\nthat a new ensample of valour might erase the ancient record of their\ndisgrace. Fresh honour, he said, would thus obliterate the guilt of\ntheir old dishonour.\n\nWermund said that his son had judged all things rightly, and bade him\nfirst learn the use of arms, since he had been little accustomed to\nthem. When they were offered to Uffe, he split the narrow links of the\nmail-coats by the mighty girth of his chest, nor could any be found\nlarge enough to hold him properly. For he was too hugely built to be\nable to use the arms of any other man. At last, when he was bursting\neven his father's coat of mail by the violent compression of his body,\nWermund ordered it to be cut away on the left side and patched with a\nbuckle; thinking it mattered little if the side guarded by the shield\nwere exposed to the sword. He also told him to be most careful in fixing\non a sword which he could use safely. Several were offered him; but\nUffe, grasping the hilt, shattered them one after the other into\nflinders by shaking them, and not a single blade was of so hard a temper\nbut at the first blow he broke it into many pieces. But the king had a\nsword of extraordinary sharpness, called \"Skrep\", which at a single blow\nof the smiter struck straight through and cleft asunder any obstacle\nwhatsoever; nor would aught be hard enough to check its edge when driven\nhome. The king, loth to leave this for the benefit of posterity, and\ngreatly grudging others the use of it, had buried it deep in the earth,\nmeaning, since he had no hopes of his son's improvement, to debar\neveryone else from using it. But when he was now asked whether he had a\nsword worthy of the strength of Uffe, he said that he had one which, if\nhe could recognize the lie of the ground and find what he had consigned\nlong ago to earth, he could offer him as worthy of his bodily strength.\nThen he bade them lead him into a field, and kept questioning his\ncompanions over all the ground. At last he recognised the tokens, found\nthe spot where he had buried the sword, drew it out of its hole, and\nhanded it to his son. Uffe saw it was frail with great age and rusted\naway; and, not daring to strike with it, asked if he must prove this\none also like the rest, declaring that he must try its temper before\nthe battle ought to be fought. Wermund replied that if this sword were\nshattered by mere brandishing, there was nothing left which could serve\nfor such strength as his. He must, therefore, forbear from the act,\nwhose issue remained so doubtful.\n\nSo they repaired to the field of battle as agreed. It is fast\nencompassed by the waters of the river Eider, which roll between, and\nforbid any approach save by ship. Hither Uffe went unattended, while\nthe Prince of Saxony was followed by a champion famous for his strength.\nDense crowds on either side, eager to see, thronged each winding bank,\nand all bent their eyes upon this scene. Wermund planted himself on the\nend of the bridge, determined to perish in the waters if defeat were\nthe lot of his son: he would rather share the fall of his own flesh and\nblood than behold, with heart full of anguish, the destruction of his\nown country. Both the warriors assaulted Uffe; but, distrusting his\nsword, he parried the blows of both with his shield, being determined\nto wait patiently and see which of the two he must beware of most\nheedfully, so that he might reach that one at all events with a single\nstroke of his blade. Wermund, thinking that his feebleness was at fault,\nthat he took the blows so patiently, dragged himself little by little,\nin his longing for death, forward to the western edge of the bridge,\nmeaning to fling himself down and perish, should all be over with his\nson.\n\nFortune shielded the old father, for Uffe told the prince to engage with\nhim more briskly, and to do some deed of prowess worthy of his famous\nrace; lest the lowborn squire should seem braver than the prince. Then,\nin order to try the bravery of the champion, he bade him not skulk\ntimorously at his master's heels, but requite by noble deeds of combat\nthe trust placed in him by his prince, who had chosen him to be his\nsingle partner in the battle. The other complied, and when shame drove\nhim to fight at close quarters, Uffe clove him through with the first\nstroke of his blade. The sound revived Wermund, who said that he heard\nthe sword of his son, and asked \"on what particular part he had dealt\nthe blow?\" Then the retainers answered that it had gone through no one\nlimb, but the man's whole frame; whereat Wermund drew back from the\nprecipice and came on the bridge, longing now as passionately to live as\nhe had just wished to die. Then Uffe, wishing to destroy his remaining\nfoe after the fashion of the first, incited the prince with vehement\nwords to offer some sacrifice by way of requital to the shade of the\nservant slain in his cause. Drawing him by those appeals, and warily\nnoting the right spot to plant his blow, he turned the other edge of\nhis sword to the front, fearing that the thin side of his blade was too\nfrail for his strength, and smote with a piercing stroke through the\nprince's body. When Wermund heard it, he said that the sound of his\nsword \"Skrep\" had reached his ear for the second time. Then, when the\njudges announced that his son had killed both enemies, he burst into\ntears from excess of joy. Thus gladness bedewed the cheeks which sorrow\ncould not moisten. So while the Saxons, sad and shamefaced, bore their\nchampions to burial with bitter shame, the Danes welcomed Uffe and\nbounded for joy. Then no more was heard of the disgrace of the murder of\nAthisl, and there was an end of the taunts of the Saxons.\n\nThus the realm of Saxony was transferred to the Danes, and Uffe, after\nhis father, undertook its government; and he, who had not been thought\nequal to administering a single kingdom properly, was now appointed to\nmanage both. Most men have called him Olaf, and he has won the name\nof \"the Gentle\" for his forbearing spirit. His later deeds, lost in\nantiquity, have lacked formal record. But it may well be supposed that\nwhen their beginnings were so notable, their sequel was glorious. I am\nso brief in considering his doings, because the lustre of the famous\nmen of our nation has been lost to memory and praise by the lack of\nwritings. But if by good luck our land had in old time been endowed with\nthe Latin tongue, there would have been countless volumes to read of the\nexploits of the Danes.\n\nUffe was succeeded by his son DAN, who carried his arms against\nforeigners, and increased his sovereignty with many a trophy; but he\ntarnished the brightness of the glory he had won by foul and abominable\npresumption; falling so far away from the honour of his famous father,\nwho surpassed all others in modesty, that he contrariwise was puffed up\nand proudly exalted in spirit, so that he scorned all other men. He\nalso squandered the goods of his father on infamies, as well as his\nown winnings from the spoils of foreign nations; and he devoured in\nexpenditure on luxuries the wealth which should have ministered to his\nroyal estate. Thus do sons sometimes, like monstrous births, degenerate\nfrom their ancestors.\n\nAfter this HUGLEIK was king, who is said to have defeated in battle at\nsea Homod and Hogrim, the despots of Sweden.\n\nTo him succeeded FRODE, surnamed the Vigorous, who bore out his name by\nthe strength of his body and mind. He destroyed in war ten captains of\nNorway, and finally approached the island which afterwards had its name\nfrom him, meaning to attack the king himself last of all. This king,\nFroger, was in two ways very distinguished, being notable in arms no\nless than in wealth; and graced his sovereignty with the deeds of a\nchampion, being as rich in prizes for bodily feats as in the honours of\nrank. According to some, he was the son of Odin, and when he begged the\nimmortal gods to grant him a boon, received the privilege that no man\nshould conquer him, save he who at the time of the conflict could catch\nup in his hand the dust lying beneath Froger's feet. When Frode found\nthat Heaven had endowed this king with such might, he challenged him to\na duel, meaning to try to outwit the favour of the gods. So at first,\nfeigning inexperience, he besought the king for a lesson in fighting,\nknowing (he said) his skill and experience in the same. The other,\nrejoicing that his enemy not only yielded to his pretensions, but even\nmade him a request, said that he was wise to submit his youthful mind to\nan old man's wisdom; for his unscarred face and his brow, ploughed by\nno marks of battle, showed that his knowledge of such matters was but\nslender. So he marked off on the ground two square spaces with sides\nan ell long, opposite one another, meaning to begin by instructing him\nabout the use of these plots. When they had been marked off, each took\nthe side assigned to him. Then Frode asked Froger to exchange arms and\nground with him, and the request was readily granted. For Froger was\nexcited with the dashing of his enemy's arms, because Frode wore a\ngold-hilted sword, a breastplate equally bright, and a headpiece most\nbrilliantly adorned in the same manner. So Frode caught up some dust\nfrom the ground whence Froger had gone, and thought that he had been\ngranted an omen of victory. Nor was he deceived in his presage; for he\nstraightway slew Froger, and by this petty trick won the greatest name\nfor bravery; for he gained by craft what had been permitted to no man's\nstrength before.\n\nAfter him DAN came to the throne. When he was in the twelfth year of his\nage, he was wearied by the insolence of the embassies, which commanded\nhim either to fight the Saxons or to pay them tribute. Ashamed, he\npreferred fighting to payment and was moved to die stoutly rather than\nlive a coward. So he elected to fight; and the warriors of the Danes\nfilled the Elbe with such a throng of vessels, that the decks of the\nships lashed together made it quite easy to cross, as though along a\ncontinuous bridge. The end was that the King of Saxony had to accept the\nvery terms he was demanding from the Danes.\n\nAfter Dan, FRIDLEIF, surnamed the Swift, assumed the sovereignty. During\nhis reign, Huyrwil, the lord of Oland, made a league with the Danes and\nattacked Norway. No small fame was added to his deeds by the defeat\nof the amazon Rusila, who aspired with military ardour to prowess in\nbattle: but he gained manly glory over a female foe. Also he took into\nhis alliance, on account of their deeds of prowess, her five partners,\nthe children of Finn, named Brodd, Bild, Bug, Fanning, and Gunholm.\nTheir confederacy emboldened him to break the treaty which he made\nwith the Danes; and the treachery of the violation made it all the\nmore injurious, for the Danes could not believe that he could turn\nso suddenly from a friend into an enemy; so easily can some veer from\ngoodwill into hate. I suppose that this man inaugurated the morals of\nour own day, for we do not account lying and treachery as sinful and\nsordid. When Huyrwil attacked the southern side of Zealand, Fridleif\nassailed him in the harbour which was afterwards called by Huyrwil's\nname. In this battle the soldiers, in their rivalry for glory, engaged\nwith such bravery that very few fled to escape peril, and both armies\nwere utterly destroyed; nor did the victory fall to either side, where\nboth were enveloped in an equal ruin. So much more desirous were they\nall of glory than of life. So the survivors of Huyrwil's army, in order\nto keep united, had the remnants of their fleet lashed together at\nnight. But, in the same night, Bild and Brodd cut the cables with which\nthe ships were joined, and stealthily severed their own vessels from the\nrest, thus yielding to their own terrors by deserting their brethren,\nand obeying the impulses of fear rather than fraternal love. When\ndaylight returned, Fridleif, finding that after the great massacre\nof their friends only Huyrwil, Gunholm, Bug, and Fanning were left,\ndetermined to fight them all single-handed, so that the mangled relics\nof his fleet might not again have to be imperilled. Besides his innate\ncourage, a shirt of steel-defying mail gave him confidence; a garb which\nhe used to wear in all public battles and in duels, as a preservative of\nhis life. He accomplished his end with as much fortune as courage, and\nended the battle successfully. For, after slaying Huyrwil, Bug, and\nFanning, he killed Gunholm, who was accustomed to blunt the blade of\nan enemy with spells, by a shower of blows from his hilt. But while\nhe gripped the blade too eagerly, the sinews, being cut and disabled,\ncontracted the fingers upon the palm, and cramped them with life-long\ncurvature.\n\nWhile Fridleif was besieging Dublin, a town in Ireland, and saw from\nthe strength of the walls that there was no chance of storming them, he\nimitated the shrewd wit of Hadding, and ordered fire to be shut up in\nwicks and fastened to the wings of swallows. When the birds got back in\ntheir own nesting-place, the dwellings suddenly flared up; and while the\ncitizens all ran up to quench them, and paid more heed to abating the\nfire than to looking after the enemy, Fridleif took Dublin. After this\nhe lost his soldiers in Britain, and, thinking that he would find\nit hard to get back to the coast, he set up the corpses of the slain\n(Amleth's device) and stationed them in line, thus producing so nearly\nthe look of his original host that its great reverse seemed not to have\nlessened the show of it a whit. By this deed he not only took out of the\nenemy all heart for fighting, but inspired them with the desire to make\ntheir escape.\n\n\n     ENDNOTES:\n     (1)  Jellinge.  Lat. \"Ialunga\", Icel. \"Jalangr\".\n     (2)  General usage.  \"publicus consuetudini\": namely, the rule of\n     combat that two should not fight against one.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK FIVE.\n\nAfter the death of Fridleif, his son FRODE, aged seven, was elected\nin his stead by the unanimous decision of the Danes. But they held an\nassembly first, and judged that the minority of the king should be taken\nin charge by guardians, lest the sovereignty should pass away owing to\nthe boyishness of the ruler. For one and all paid such respect to the\nname and memory of Fridleif, that the royalty was bestowed on his son\ndespite his tender years. So a selection was made, and the brothers\nWestmar and Koll were summoned to the charge of bringing up the king.\nIsulf, also, and Agg and eight other men of mark were not only entrusted\nwith the guardianship of the king, but also granted authority to\nadminister the realm under him. These men were rich in strength and\ncourage, and endowed with ample gifts of mind as well as of body. Thus\nthe state of the Danes was governed with the aid of regents until the\ntime when the king should be a man.\n\nThe wife of Koll was Gotwar, who used to paralyse the most eloquent and\nfluent men by her glib and extraordinary insolence; for she was potent\nin wrangling, and full of resource in all kinds of disputation. Words\nwere her weapons; and she not only trusted in questions, but was armed\nwith stubborn answers. No man could subdue this woman, who could not\nfight, but who found darts in her tongue instead. Some she would argue\ndown with a flood of impudent words, while others she seemed to\nentangle in the meshes of her quibbles, and strangle in the noose of\nher sophistries; so nimble a wit had the woman. Moreover, she was very\nstrong, either in making or cancelling a bargain, and the sting of\nher tongue was the secret of her power in both. She was clever both at\nmaking and at breaking leagues; thus she had two sides to her tongue,\nand used it for either purpose.\n\nWestmar had twelve sons, three of whom had the same name--Grep in\ncommon. These three men were conceived at once and delivered at one\nbirth, and their common name declared their simultaneous origin. They\nwere exceedingly skillful swordsmen and boxers. Frode had also given the\nsupremacy of the sea to Odd; who was very closely related to the king.\nKoll rejoiced in an offspring of three sons. At this time a certain\nson of Frode's brother held the chief command of naval affairs for the\nprotection of the country, Now the king had a sister, Gunwar, surnamed\nthe Fair because of her surpassing beauty. The sons of Westmar and Koll,\nbeing ungrown in years and bold in spirit, let their courage become\nrecklessness and devoted their guilt-stained minds to foul and degraded\norgies.\n\nTheir behaviour was so outrageous and uncontrollable that they ravished\nother men's brides and daughters, and seemed to have outlawed chastity\nand banished it to the stews. Nay, they defiled the couches of matrons,\nand did not even refrain from the bed of virgins. A man's own chamber\nwas no safety to him: there was scarce a spot in the land but bore\ntraces of their lust. Husbands were vexed with fear, and wives with\ninsult to their persons: and to these wrongs folk bowed. No ties\nwere respected, and forced embraces became a common thing. Love was\nprostituted, all reverence for marriage ties died out, and lust was\ngreedily run after. And the reason of all this was the peace; for men's\nbodies lacked exercise and were enervated in the ease so propitious to\nvices. At last the eldest of those who shared the name of Grep, wishing\nto regulate and steady his promiscuous wantonness, ventured to seek a\nhaven for his vagrant amours in the love of the king's sister. Yet\nhe did amiss. For though it was right that his vagabond and straying\ndelights should be bridled by modesty, yet it was audacious for a man of\nthe people to covet the child of a king. She, much fearing the impudence\nof her wooer, and wishing to be safer from outrage, went into a\nfortified building. Thirty attendants were given to her, to keep guard\nand constant watch over her person.\n\nNow the comrades of Frode, sadly lacking the help of women in the matter\nof the wear of their garments, inasmuch as they had no means of patching\nor of repairing rents, advised and urged the king to marry. At first\nhe alleged his tender years as an excuse, but in the end yielded to the\npersistent requests of his people. And when he carefully inquired of his\nadvisers who would be a fit wife for him, they all praised the daughter\nof the King of the Huns beyond the rest. When the question was pushed,\nwhat reason Frode had for objecting to her, he replied that he had heard\nfrom his father that it was not expedient for kings to seek alliance far\nafield, or to demand love save from neighbours. When Gotwar heard this\nshe knew that the king's resistance to his friends was wily. Wishing\nto establish his wavering spirit, and strengthen the courage of his\nweakling soul, she said: \"Bridals are for young men, but the tomb awaits\nthe old. The steps of youth go forward in desires and in fortune; but\nold age declines helpless to the sepulchre. Hope attends youth; age is\nbowed with hopeless decay. The fortune of young men increases; it will\nnever leave unfinished what it begins.\" Respecting her words, he begged\nher to undertake the management of the suit. But she refused, pleading\nher age as her pretext, and declaring herself too stricken in years to\nbear so difficult a commission. The king saw that a bribe was wanted,\nand, proffering a golden necklace, promised it as the reward of her\nembassy. For the necklace had links consisting of studs, and figures of\nkings interspersed in bas-relief, which could be now separated and now\ndrawn together by pulling a thread inside; a gewgaw devised more for\nluxury than use. Frode also ordered that Westmar and Koll, with their\nsons, should be summoned to go on the same embassy, thinking that their\ncunning would avoid the shame of a rebuff.\n\nThey went with Gotwar, and were entertained by the King of the Huns at a\nthree days' banquet, ere they uttered the purpose of their embassy. For\nit was customary of old thus to welcome guests. When the feast had been\nprolonged three days, the princess came forth to make herself pleasant\nto the envoys with a most courteous address, and her blithe presence\nadded not a little to the festal delights of the banqueters. And as the\ndrink went faster Westmar revealed his purpose in due course, in a very\nmerry declaration, wishing to sound the mind of the maiden in talk of\na friendly sort. And, in order not to inflict on himself a rebuff,\nhe spoke in a mirthful vein, and broke the ground of his mission,\nby venturing to make up a sportive speech amid the applause of the\nrevellers. The princess said that she disdained Frode because he lacked\nhonour and glory. For in days of old no men were thought fit for the\nhand of high-born women but those who had won some great prize of glory\nby the lustre of their admirable deeds. Sloth was the worst of vices in\na suitor, and nothing was more of a reproach in one who sought marriage\nthan the lack of fame. A harvest of glory, and that alone, could bring\nwealth in everything else. Maidens admired in their wooers not so much\ngood looks as deeds nobly done. So the envoys, flagging and despairing\nof their wish, left the further conduct of the affair to the wisdom\nof Gotwar, who tried to subdue the maiden not only with words but with\nlove-philtres, and began to declare that Frode used his left hand as\nwell as his right, and was a quick and skillful swimmer and fighter.\nAlso by the drink which she gave she changed the strictness of the\nmaiden to desire, and replaced her vanished anger with love and delight.\nThen she bade Westmar, Koll, and their sons go to the king and urge\ntheir mission afresh; and finally, should they find him froward, to\nanticipate a rebuff by a challenge to fight.\n\nSo Westmar entered the palace with his men-at-arms, and said: \"Now thou\nmust needs either consent to our entreaties, or meet in battle us who\nentreat thee. We would rather die nobly than go back with our mission\nunperformed; lest, foully repulsed and foiled of our purpose, we should\ntake home disgrace where we hoped to will honour. If thou refuse thy\ndaughter, consent to fight: thou must needs grant one thing or\nthe other. We wish either to die or to have our prayers beard.\nSomething--sorrow if not joy--we will get from thee. Frode will be\nbetter pleased to hear of our slaughter than of our repulse.\" Without\nanother word, he threatened to aim a blow at the king's throat with his\nsword. The king replied that it was unseemly for the royal majesty\nto meet an inferior in rank in level combat, and unfit that those of\nunequal station should fight as equals. But when Westmar persisted in\nurging him to fight, he at last bade him find out what the real mind of\nthe maiden was; for in old time men gave women who were to marry, free\nchoice of a husband. For the king was embarrassed, and hung vacillating\nbetwixt shame and fear of battle. Thus Westmar, having been referred\nto the thoughts of the girl's heart, and knowing that every woman is as\nchangeable in purpose as she is fickle in soul, proceeded to fulfil his\ntask all the more confidently because he knew how mutable the wishes of\nmaidens were. His confidence in his charge was increased and his zeal\nencouraged, because she had both a maiden's simplicity, which was left\nto its own counsels, and a woman's freedom of choice, which must be\nwheedled with the most delicate and mollifying flatteries; and thus she\nwould be not only easy to lead away, but even hasty in compliance. But\nher father went after the envoys, that he might see more surely into his\ndaughter's mind. She had already been drawn by the stealthy working of\nthe draught to love her suitor, and answered that the promise of Frode,\nrather than his present renown, had made her expect much of his nature:\nsince he was sprung from so famous a father, and every nature commonly\nanswered to its origin. The youth therefore had pleased her by her\nregard of his future, rather than his present, glory. These words amazed\nthe father; but neither could he bear to revoke the freedom he had\ngranted her, and he promised her in marriage to Frode. Then, having\nlaid in ample stores, he took her away with the most splendid pomp, and,\nfollowed by the envoys, hastened to Denmark, knowing that a father was\nthe best person to give away a daughter in marriage. Frode welcomed\nhis bride most joyfully, and also bestowed the highest honours upon\nhis future royal father-in-law; and when the marriage rites were over,\ndismissed him with a large gift of gold and silver.\n\nAnd so with Hanund, the daughter of the King of the Huns, for his wife,\nhe passed three years in the most prosperous peace. But idleness brought\nwantonness among his courtiers, and peace begot lewdness, which they\ndisplayed in the most abominable crimes. For they would draw some men\nup in the air on ropes, and torment them, pushing their bodies as they\nhung, like a ball that is tossed; or they would put a kid's hide under\nthe feet of others as they walked, and, by stealthily pulling a rope,\ntrip their unwary steps on the slippery skill in their path; others they\nwould strip of their clothes, and lash with sundry tortures of stripes;\nothers they fastened to pegs, as with a noose, and punished with\nmock-hanging. They scorched off the beard and hair with tapers; of\nothers they burned the hair of the groin with a brand. Only those\nmaidens might marry whose chastity they had first deflowered. Strangers\nthey battered with bones; others they compelled to drunkenness with\nimmoderate draughts, and made them burst. No man might give his daughter\nto wife unless he had first bought their favour and goodwill. None might\ncontract any marriage without first purchasing their consent with a\nbribe. Moreover, they extended their abominable and abandoned lust not\nonly to virgins, but to the multitude of matrons indiscriminately. Thus\na twofold madness incited this mixture of wantonness and frenzy. Guests\nand strangers were proffered not shelter but revilings. All these\nmaddening mockeries did this insolent and wanton crew devise, and thus\nunder a boy-king freedom fostered licence. For nothing prolongs reckless\nsin like the procrastination of punishment and vengeance. This unbridled\nimpudence of the soldiers ended by making the king detested, not only by\nforeigners, but even by his own people, for the Danes resented such an\narrogant and cruel rule. But Grep was contented with no humble loves;\nhe broke out so outrageously that he was guilty of intercourse with the\nqueen, and proved as false to the king as he was violent to all other\nmen. Then by degrees the scandal grew, and the suspicion of his guilt\ncrept on with silent step. The common people found it out before the\nking. For Grep, by always punishing all who alluded in the least to this\ncircumstance, had made it dangerous to accuse him. But the rumour of his\ncrime, which at first was kept alive in whispers, was next passed on in\npublic reports; for it is hard for men to hide another's guilt if they\nare aware of it. Gunwar had many suitors; and accordingly Grep, trying\nto take revenge for his rebuff by stealthy wiles, demanded the right\nof judging the suitors, declaring that the princess ought to make the\nchoicest match. But he disguised his anger, lest he should seem to have\nsought the office from hatred of the maiden. At his request the king\ngranted him leave to examine the merits of the young men. So he first\ngathered all the wooers of Gunwar together on the pretence of a banquet,\nand then lined the customary room of the princess with their heads--a\ngruesome spectacle for all the rest. Yet he forfeited none of his favour\nwith Frode, nor abated his old intimacy with him. For he decided that\nany opportunity of an interview with the king must be paid for, and gave\nout that no one should have any conversation with him who brought no\npresents. Access, he announced, to so great a general must be gained\nby no stale or usual method, but by making interest most zealously.\nHe wished to lighten the scandal of his cruelty by the pretence\nof affection to his king. The people, thus tormented, vented their\ncomplaint of their trouble in silent groans. None had the spirit to lift\nup his voice in public against this season of misery. No one had become\nso bold as to complain openly of the affliction that was falling upon\nthem. Inward resentment vexed the hearts of men, secretly indeed, but\nall the more bitterly.\n\nWhen Gotar, the King of Norway, heard this, he assembled his soldiers,\nand said that the Danes were disgusted with their own king, and longed\nfor another if they could get the opportunity; that he had himself\nresolved to lead an army thither, and that Denmark would be easy to\nseize if attacked. Frode's government of his country was as covetous as\nit was cruel. Then Erik rose up and gainsaid the project with contrary\nreasons. \"We remember,\" he said, \"how often coveters of other men's\ngoods lose their own. He who snatches at both has oft lost both. It must\nbe a very strong bird that can wrest the prey from the claws of another.\nIt is idle for thee to be encouraged by the internal jealousies of the\ncountry, for these are oft blown away by the approach of an enemy. For\nthough the Danes now seem divided in counsel, yet they will soon be of\none mind to meet the foe. The wolves have often made peace between\nthe quarrelling swine. Every man prefers a leader of his own land to a\nforeigner, and every province is warmer in loyalty to a native than to a\nstranger king. For Frode will not await thee at home, but will intercept\nthee abroad as thou comest. Eagles claw each other with their talons,\nand fowls fight fronting. Thou thyself knowest that the keen sight of\nthe wise man must leave no cause for repentance. Thou hast an ample\nguard of nobles. Keep thou quiet as thou art; indeed thou wilt almost be\nable to find out by means of others what are thy resources for war. Let\nthe soldiers first try the fortunes of their king. Provide in peace for\nthine own safety, and risk others if thou dost undertake the enterprise:\nbetter that the slave should perish than the master. Let thy servant\ndo for thee what the tongs do for the smith, who by the aid of his iron\ntool guards his hand from scorching, and saves his fingers from burning.\nLearn thou also, by using thy men, to spare and take thought for\nthyself.\"\n\nSo spake Erik, and Gotar, who had hitherto held him a man of no parts,\nnow marvelled that he had graced his answer with sentences so choice\nand weighty, and gave him the name of Shrewd-spoken, thinking that his\nadmirable wisdom deserved some title. For the young man's reputation\nhad been kept in the shade by the exceeding brilliancy of his brother\nRoller. Erik begged that some substantial gift should be added to the\nname, declaring that the bestowal of the title ought to be graced by\na present besides. The king gave him a ship, and the oarsmen called it\n\"Skroter.\" Now Erik and Roller were the sons of Ragnar, the champion,\nand children of one father by different mothers; Roller's mother and\nErik's stepmother was named Kraka.\n\nAnd so, by leave of Gotar, the task of making a raid on the Danes\nfell to one Hrafn. He was encountered by Odd, who had at that time the\ngreatest prestige among the Danes as a rover, for he was such a skilled\nmagician that he could range over the sea without a ship, and could\noften raise tempests by his spells, and wreck the vessels of the enemy.\nAccordingly, that he might not have to condescend to pit his sea-forces\nagainst the rovers, he used to ruffle the waters by enchantment, and\ncause them to shipwreck his foes. To traders this man was ruthless,\nbut to tillers of the soil he was merciful, for he thought less of\nmerchandise than of the plough-handle, but rated the clean business\nof the country higher than the toil for filthy lucre. When he began to\nfight with the Northmen he so dulled the sight of the enemy by the power\nof his spells that they thought the drawn swords of the Danes cast their\nbeams from afar off, and sparkled as if aflame. Moreover, their vision\nwas so blunted that they could not so much as look upon the sword\nwhen it was drawn from the sheath: the dazzle was too much for their\neyesight, which could not endure the glittering mirage. So Hrafn and\nmany of his men were slain, and only six vessels slipped back to Norway\nto teach the king that it was not so easy to crush the Danes. The\nsurvivors also spread the news that Frode trusted only in the help of\nhis champions, and reigned against the will of his people, for his rule\nhad become a tyranny.\n\nIn order to examine this rumour, Roller, who was a great traveller\nabroad, and eager to visit unknown parts, made a vow that he would get\ninto the company of Frode. But Erik declared that, splendid as were his\nbodily parts, he had been rash in pronouncing the vow. At last, seeing\nhim persisting stubbornly in his purpose, Erik bound himself under a\nsimilar vow; and the king promised them that he would give them for\ncompanions whomsoever they approved by their choice. The brethren,\ntherefore, first resolved to visit their father and beg for the stores\nand the necessaries that were wanted for so long a journey. He welcomed\nthem paternally, and on the morrow took them to the forest to inspect\nthe herd, for the old man was wealthy in cattle. Also he revealed to\nthem treasures which had long lain hid in caverns of the earth; and they\nwere suffered to gather up whatsoever of these they would. The boon was\naccepted as heartily as it was offered: so they took the riches out of\nthe ground, and bore away what pleased them.\n\nTheir rowers meanwhile were either refreshing themselves or exercising\ntheir skill with casting weights. Some sped leaping, some running;\nothers tried their strength by sturdily hurling stones; others tested\ntheir archery by drawing the bow. Thus they essayed to strengthen\nthemselves with divers exercises. Some again tried to drink themselves\ninto a drowse. Roller was sent by his father to find out what had passed\nat home in the meanwhile. And when he saw smoke coming from his mother's\nhut he went up outside, and, stealthily applying his eye, saw through\nthe little chink and into the house, where he perceived his mother\nstirring a cooked mess in an ugly-looking pot. Also he looked up at\nthree snakes hanging from above by a thin cord, from whose mouths flowed\na slaver which dribbled drops of moisture on the meal. Now two of these\nwere pitchy of hue, while the third seemed to have whitish scales, and\nwas hung somewhat higher than the others. This last had a fastening\non its tail, while the others were held by a cord round their bellies.\nRoller thought the affair looked like magic, but was silent on what\nhe had seen, that he might not be thought to charge his mother with\nsorcery. For he did not know that the snakes were naturally harmless, or\nhow much strength was being brewed for that meal. Then Ragnar and Erik\ncame up, and, when they saw the smoke issuing from the cottage, entered\nand went to sit at meat. When they were at table, and Kraka's son and\nstepson were about to eat together, she put before them a small dish\ncontaining a piebald mess, part looking pitchy, but spotted with specks\nof yellow, while part was whitish: the pottage having taken a different\nhue answering to the different appearance of the snakes. And when each\nhad tasted a single morsel, Erik, judging the feast not by the colours\nbut by the inward strengthening effected, turned the dish around\nvery quickly, and transferred to himself the part which was black but\ncompounded of stronger juices; and, putting over to Roller the whitish\npart which had first been set before himself, throve more on his supper.\nAnd, to avoid showing that the exchange was made on purpose, he said,\n\"Thus does prow become stern when the sea boils up.\" The man had no\nlittle shrewdness, thus to use the ways of a ship to dissemble his\ncunning act.\n\nSo Erik, now refreshed by this lucky meal, attained by its inward\nworking to the highest pitch of human wisdom. For the potency of the\nmeal bred in him the fulness of all kinds of knowledge to an incredible\ndegree, so that he had cunning to interpret even the utterances of wild\nbeasts and cattle. For he was not only well versed in all the affairs\nof men, but he could interpret the particular feelings which brutes\nexperienced from the sounds which expressed them. He was also gifted\nwith an eloquence so courteous and graceful, that he adorned whatsoever\nhe desired to expound with a flow of witty adages. But when Kraka came\nup, and found that the dish had been turned round, and that Erik had\neaten the stronger share of the meal, she lamented that the good luck\nshe had bred for her son should have passed to her stepson. Soon she\nbegan to sigh, and entreat Eric that he should never fail to help his\nbrother, whose mother had heaped on him fortune so rich and strange: for\nby tasting a single savoury meal he had clearly attained sovereign wit\nand eloquence, besides the promise of success in combat. She added also,\nthat Roller was almost as capable of good counsel, and that he should\nnot utterly miss the dainty that had been intended for him. She also\ntold him that in case of extreme and violent need, he could find speedy\nhelp by calling on her name; declaring that she trusted partially in her\ndivine attributes, and that, consorting as she did in a manner with the\ngods, she wielded an innate and heavenly power. Erik said that he was\nnaturally drawn to stand by his brother, and that the bird was\ninfamous which fouled its own nest. But Kraka was more vexed by her own\ncarelessness than weighed down by her son's ill-fortune: for in old\ntime it made a craftsman bitterly ashamed to be outwitted by his own\ncleverness.\n\nThen Kraka, accompanied by her husband, took away the brothers on their\njourney to the sea. They embarked in a single ship, but soon attached\ntwo others. They had already reached the coast of Denmark, when,\nreconnoitering, they learned that seven ships had come up at no great\ndistance. Then Erik bade two men who could speak the Danish tongue well,\nto go to them unclothed, and, in order to spy better, to complain to Odd\nof their nakedness, as if Erik had caused it, and to report when they\nhad made careful scrutiny. These men were received as friends by Odd,\nand hunted for every plan of the general with their sharp ears. He\nhad determined to attack the enemy unawares at daybreak, that he might\nmassacre them the more speedily while they were swathed in their night\ngarments: for he said that men's bodies were wont to be most dull and\nheavy at that hour of dawn. He also told them, thereby hastening what\nwas to prove his own destruction, that his ships were laden with stones\nfit for throwing. The spies slipped off in the first sleep of the night,\nreported that Odd had filled all his vessels with pebbles, and also told\neverything else they had heard. Erik now quite understood the case, and,\nwhen he considered the smallness of his own fleet, thought that he must\ncall the waters to destroy the enemy, and win their aid for himself.\n\nSo he got into a boat and rowed, pulling silently, close up to the\nkeels of the enemy; and gradually, by screwing in an auger, he bored the\nplanks (a device practiced by Hadding and also by Frode), nearest to the\nwater, and soon made good his return, the oar-beat being scarce audible.\nNow he bore himself so warily, that not one of the watchers noted his\napproach or departure. As he rowed off, the water got in through\nthe chinks of Odd's vessels, and sank them, so that they were seen\ndisappearing in the deep, as the water flooded them more and more\nwithin. The weight of the stones inside helped them mightily to sink.\nThe billows were washing away the thwarts, and the sea was flush with\nthe decks, when Odd, seeing the vessels almost on a level with the\nwaves, ordered the heavy seas that had been shipped to be baled out with\npitchers. And so, while the crews were toiling on to protect the sinking\nparts of the vessels from the flood of waters, the enemy hove close up.\nThus, as they fell to their arms, the flood came upon them harder, and\nas they prepared to fight, they found they must swim for it. Waves, not\nweapons, fought for Erik, and the sea, which he had himself Enabled to\napproach and do harm, battled for him. Thus Erik made better use of the\nbillow than of the steel, and by the effectual aid of the waters seemed\nto fight in his own absence, the ocean lending him defence. The victory\nwas given to his craft; for a flooded ship could not endure a battle.\nThus was Odd slain with all his crew; the look-outs were captured, and\nit was found that no man escaped to tell the tale of the disaster.\n\nErik, when the massacre was accomplished, made a rapid retreat, and put\nin at the isle Lesso. Finding nothing there to appease his hunger, he\nsent the spoil homeward on two ships, which were to bring back supplies\nfor another year. He tried to go by himself to the king in a single\nship. So he put in to Zealand, and the sailors ran about over the shore,\nand began to cut down the cattle: for they must either ease their hunger\nor perish of famine. So they killed the herd, skinned the carcases, and\ncast them on board. When the owners of the cattle found this out, they\nhastily pursued the free-booters with a fleet. And when Erik found that\nhe was being attacked by the owners of the cattle, he took care that the\ncarcases of the slaughtered cows should be tied with marked ropes and\nhidden under water. Then, when the Zealanders came up, he gave them\nleave to look about and see if any of the carcases they were seeking\nwere in his hands; saying that a ship's corners were too narrow to hide\nthings. Unable to find a carcase anywhere, they turned their suspicions\non others, and thought the real criminals were guiltless of the plunder.\nSince no traces of free-booting were to be seen, they fancied that\nothers had injured them, and pardoned the culprits. As they sailed off,\nErik lifted the carcase out of the water and took it in.\n\nMeantime Frode learnt that Odd and his men had gone down. For a\nwidespread rumour of the massacre had got wind, though the author of the\ndeed was unknown. There were men, however, who told how they had seen\nthree sails putting in to shore, and departing again northwards. Then\nErik went to the harbour, not far from which Frode was tarrying, and,\nthe moment that he stepped out of the ship, tripped inadvertently, and\ncame tumbling to the ground. He found in the slip a presage of a lucky\nissue, and forecast better results from this mean beginning. When Grep\nheard of his coming, he hastened down to the sea, intending to\nassail with chosen and pointed phrases the man whom he had heard was\nbetter-spoken than all other folk. Grep's eloquence was not so much\nexcellent as impudent, for he surpassed all in stubbornness of speech.\nSo he began the dispute with reviling, and assailed Erik as follows:\n\nGrep: \"Fool, who art thou? What idle quest is thine? Tell me, whence or\nwhither dost thou journey? What is thy road? What thy desire? Who thy\nfather? What thy lineage? Those have strength beyond others who have\nnever left their own homes, and the Luck of kings is their houseluck.\nFor the things of a vile man are acceptable unto few, and seldom are the\ndeeds of the hated pleasing.\"\n\nErik: \"Ragnar is my father; eloquence clothes my tongue; I have ever\nloved virtue only. Wisdom hath been my one desire; I have travelled many\nways over the world, and seen the different manners of men. The mind of\nthe fool can keep no bounds in aught: it is base and cannot control its\nfeelings. The use of sails is better than being drawn by the oar; the\ngale troubles the waters, a drearier gust the land. For rowing goes\nthrough the seas and lying the lands; and it is certain that the lands\nare ruled with the lips, but the seas with the hand.\"\n\nGrep: \"Thou art thought to be as full of quibbling as a cock of dirt.\nThou stinkest heavy with filth, and reekest of nought but sin. There is\nno need to lengthen the plea against a buffoon, whose strength is in an\nempty and voluble tongue.\"\n\nErik: \"By Hercules, if I mistake not, the coward word is wont to come\nback to the utterer. The gods with righteous endeavour bring home to\nthe speaker words cast forth without knowledge. As soon as we espy the\nsinister ears of the wolf, we believe that the wolf himself is near. Men\nthink no credit due to him that hath no credit, whom report accuses of\ntreachery.\"\n\nGrep: \"Shameless boy, owl astray from the path, night-owl in the\ndarkness, thou shalt pay for thy reckless words. Thou shalt be sorry for\nthe words thou now belchest forth madly, and shalt pay with thy death\nfor thy unhallowed speech. Lifeless thou shalt pasture crows on thy\nbloodless corpse, to be a morsel for beasts, a prey to the ravenous\nbird.\"\n\nErik: \"The boding of the coward, and the will that is trained to evil,\nhave never kept themselves within due measure. He who betrays his lord,\nhe who conceives foul devices, will be as great a snare to himself as\nto his friends. Whoso fosters a wolf in his house is thought to feed a\nthief and a pest for his own hearth.\"\n\nGrep: \"I did not, as thou thinkest, beguile the queen, but I was the\nguardian of her tender estate. She increased my fortunes, and her favour\nfirst brought me gifts and strength, and wealth and counsel.\"\n\nErik: \"Lo, thy guilty disquiet lies heavy on thee; that man's freedom is\nsafest whose mind remains untainted. Whoso asks a slave to be a friend,\nis deceived; often the henchman hurts his master.\"\n\nAt this Grep, shorn of his glibness of rejoinder, set spurs to his\nhorse and rode away. Now when he reached home, he filled the palace with\nuproarious and vehement clamour; and shouting that he had been worsted\nin words, roused all his soldiers to fight, as though he would avenge by\nmain force his luckless warfare of tongues. For he swore that he would\nlay the host of the foreigners under the claws of eagles. But the king\nwarned him that he should give his frenzy pause for counsel, that blind\nplans were commonly hurtful; that nothing could be done both cautiously\nand quickly at once; that headstrong efforts were the worst obstacle;\nand lastly, that it was unseemly to attack a handful with a host. Also,\nsaid he, the sagacious man was he who could bridle a raging spirit, and\nstop his frantic empetuosity in time. Thus the king forced the headlong\nrage of the young man to yield to reflection. But he could not wholly\nrecall to self-control the frenzy of his heated mind, or prevent the\nchampion of wrangles, abashed by his hapless debate, and finding armed\nvengeance refused him, from asking leave at least to try his sorceries\nby way of revenge. He gained his request, and prepared to go back to\nthe shore with a chosen troop of wizards. So he first put on a pole\nthe severed head of a horse that had been sacrificed to the gods, and\nsetting sticks beneath displayed the jaws grinning agape; hoping that\nhe would foil the first efforts of Erik by the horror of this wild\nspectacle. For he supposed that the silly souls of the barbarians would\ngive away at the bogey of a protruding neck.\n\nErik was already on his road to meet them, and saw the head from afar\noff, and, understanding the whole foul contrivance, he bade his men keep\nsilent and behave warily; no man was to be rash or hasty of speech, lest\nby some careless outburst they might give some opening to the sorceries;\nadding that if talking happened to be needed, he would speak for all.\nAnd they were now parted by a river; when the wizards, in order to\ndislodge Erik from the approach to the bridge, set up close to the\nriver, on their own side, the pole on which they had fixed the horse's\nhead. Nevertheless Erik made dauntlessly for the bridge, and said: \"On\nthe bearer fall the ill-luck of what he bears! May a better issue attend\nour steps! Evil befall the evil-workers! Let the weight of the ominous\nburden crush the carrier! Let the better auguries bring us safety!\" And\nit happened according to his prayer. For straightway the head was shaken\noff, the stick fell and crushed the bearer. And so all that array\nof sorceries was baffled at the bidding of a single curse, and\nextinguished.\n\nThen, as Erik advanced a little, it came into his mind that strangers\nought to fix on gifts for the king. So he carefully wrapped up in his\nrobe a piece of ice which he happened to find, and managed to take it to\nthe king by way of a present. But when they reached the palace he sought\nentrance first, and bade his brother follow close behind. Already the\nslaves of the king, in order to receive him with mockery as he entered,\nhad laid a slippery hide on the threshold; and when Erik stepped upon\nit, they suddenly jerked it away by dragging a rope, and would have\ntripped him as he stood upon it, had not Roller, following behind,\ncaught his brother on his breast as he tottered. So Erik, having half\nfallen, said that \"bare was the back of the brotherless.\" And when\nGunwar said that such a trick ought not to be permitted by a king,\nthe king condemned the folly of the messenger who took no heed against\ntreachery. And thus he excused his flout by the heedlessness of the man\nhe flouted.\n\nWithin the palace was blazing a fire, which the aspect of the season\nrequired: for it was now gone midwinter. By it, in different groups, sat\nthe king on one side and the champions on the other. These latter, when\nErik joined them, uttered gruesome sounds like things howling. The king\nstopped the clamour, telling them that the noises of wild beasts ought\nnot to be in the breasts of men. Erik added, that it was the way of\ndogs, for all the others to set up barking when one started it; for all\nfolk by their bearing betrayed their birth and revealed their race. But\nwhen Koll, who was the keeper of the gifts offered to the king, asked\nhim whether he had brought any presents with him, he produced the ice\nwhich he had hidden in his breast. And when he had handed it to Koll\nacross the hearth, he purposely let it go into the fire, as though it\nhad slipped from the hand of the receiver. All present saw the shining\nfragment, and it seemed as though molten metal had fallen into the fire.\nErik, maintaining that it had been jerked away by the carelessness of\nhim who took it, asked what punishment was due to the loser of the gift.\n\nThe king consulted the opinion of the queen, who advised him not to\nrelax the statute of the law which he had passed, whereby he gave\nwarning that all who lost presents that were transmitted to him should\nbe punished with death. Everyone else also said that the penalty by law\nappointed ought not to be remitted. And so the king, being counselled to\nallow the punishment as inevitable, gave leave for Koll to be hanged.\n\nThen Frode began to accost Erik thus: \"O thou, wantoning in insolent\nphrase, in boastful and bedizened speech, whence dost thou say that thou\nhast come hither, and why?\"\n\nErik answered: \"I came from Rennes Isle, and I took my seat by a stone.\"\n\nFrode rejoined: \"I ask, whither thou wentest next?\"\n\nErik answered. \"I went off from the stone riding on a beam, and often\nagain took station by a stone.\"\n\nFrode replied: \"I ask thee whither thou next didst bend thy course, or\nwhere the evening found thee?\"\n\nThen said Erik: \"Leaving a crag, I came to a rock, and likewise lay by a\nstone.\"\n\nFrode said: \"The boulders lay thick in those parts.\"\n\nErik answered: \"Yet thicker lies the sand, plain to see.\"\n\nFrode said: \"Tell what thy business was, and whither thou struckest off\nthence.\"\n\nThen said Erik: \"Leaving the rock, as my ship ran on, I found a\ndolphin.\"\n\nFrode said: \"Now thou hast said something fresh, though both these\nthings are common in the sea: but I would know what path took thee after\nthat?\"\n\nErik answered: \"After a dolphin I went to a dolphin.\"\n\nFrode said: \"The herd of dolphins is somewhat common.\"\n\nThen said Erik: \"It does swim somewhat commonly on the waters.\"\n\nFrode said: \"I would fain blow whither thou wert borne on thy toilsome\njourney after leaving the dolphins?\"\n\nErik answered: \"I soon came upon the trunk of a tree.\"\n\nFrode rejoined: \"Whither didst thou next pass on thy journey?\"\n\nThen said Erik: \"From a trunk I passed on to a log.\"\n\nFrode said: \"That spot must be thick with trees, since thou art always\ncalling the abodes of thy hosts by the name of trunks.\"\n\nErik replied: \"There is a thicker place in the woods.\"\n\nFrode went on: \"Relate whither thou next didst bear thy steps.\"\n\nErik answered: \"Oft again I made my way to the lopped timbers of the\nwoods; but, as I rested there, wolves that were sated on human carcases\nlicked the points of the spears. There a lance-head was shaken from the\nshaft of the king, and it was the grandson of Fridleif.\"\n\nFrode said: \"I am bewildered, and know not what to think about the\ndispute: for thou hast beguiled my mind with very dark riddling.\"\n\nErik answered: \"Thou owest me the prize for this contest that is\nfinished: for under a veil I have declared to thee certain things thou\nhast ill understood. For under the name I gave before of `spear-point' I\nsignified Odd, whom my hand had slain.\"\n\nAnd when the queen also had awarded him the palm of eloquence and the\nprize for flow of speech, the king straightway took a bracelet from his\narm, and gave it to him as the appointed reward, adding: \"I would fain\nlearn from thyself thy debate with Grep, wherein he was not ashamed\nopenly to avow himself vanquished.\"\n\nThen said Erik: \"He was smitten with shame for the adultery wherewith he\nwas taxed; for since he could bring no defence, he confessed that he had\ncommitted it with thy wife.\"\n\nThe king turned to Hanund and asked her in what spirit she received\nthe charge; and she not only confessed her guilt by a cry, but also put\nforth in her face a blushing signal of her sin, and gave manifest token\nof her fault. The king, observing not only her words, but also the signs\nof her countenance, but doubting with what sentence he should punish the\ncriminal, let the queen settle by her own choice the punishment which\nher crime deserved. When she learnt that the sentence committed to\nher concerned her own guilt, she wavered awhile as she pondered how\nto appraise her transgression; but Grep sprang up and ran forward to\ntransfix Erik with a spear, wishing to buy off his own death by slaying\nthe accuser. But Roller fell on him with drawn sword, and dealt him\nfirst the doom he had himself purposed.\n\nErik said: \"The service of kin is best for the helpless.\"\n\nAnd Roller said: \"In sore needs good men should be dutifully summoned.\"\n\nThen Frode said: \"I think it will happen to you according to the common\nsaying, `that the striker sometimes has short joy of his stroke', and\n`that the hand is seldom long glad of the smiting'.\"\n\nErik answered: \"The man must not be impeached whose deed justice\nexcuses. For my work is as far as from that of Grep, as an act of\nself-defence is from an attack upon another.\"\n\nThen the brethren of Grep began to spring up and clamour and swear that\nthey would either bring avengers upon the whole fleet of Erik, or would\nfight him and ten champions with him.\n\nErik said to them: \"Sick men have to devise by craft some provision for\ntheir journey. He whose sword-point is dull should only probe things\nthat are soft and tender. He who has a blunt knife must search out the\nways to cut joint by joint. Since, therefore, it is best for a man in\ndistress to delay the evil, and nothing is more fortunate in trouble\nthan to stave off hard necessity, I ask three days' space to get ready,\nprovided that I may obtain from the king the skill of a freshly slain\nox.\"\n\nFrode answered: \"He who fell on a hide deserves a hide\"; thus openly\ntaunting the asker with his previous fall. But Erik, when the hide was\ngiven him, made some sandals, which he smeared with a mixture of tar and\nsand, in order to plant his steps the more firmly, and fitted them on to\nthe feet of himself and his people. At last, having meditated what spot\nhe should choose for the fight--for he said that he was unskilled in\ncombat by land and in all warfare--he demanded it should be on the\nfrozen sea. To this both sides agreed. The king granted a truce for\npreparations, and bade the sons of Westmar withdraw, saying that it was\namiss that a guest, even if he had deserved ill should be driven\nfrom his lodging. Then he went back to examine into the manner of the\npunishment, which he had left to the queen's own choice to exact. For\nshe forebore to give judgment, and begged pardon for her slip. Erik\nadded, that woman's errors must often be forgiven, and that punishment\nought not to be inflicted, unless amendment were unable to get rid of\nher fault. So the king pardoned Hanund. As twilight drew near, Erik\nsaid: \"With Gotar, not only are rooms provided when the soldiers are\ncoming to feast at the banquet, but each is appointed a separate place\nand seat where he is to lie.\" Then the king gave up for their occupation\nthe places where his own champions had sat; and next the servants\nbrought the banquet. But Erik, knowing well the courtesy of the king,\nwhich made him forbid them to use up any of the meal that was left,\ncast away the piece of which he had tasted very little, calling whole\nportions broken bits of food. And so, as the dishes dwindled, the\nservants brought up fresh ones to the lacking and shamefaced guests,\nthus spending on a little supper what might have served for a great\nbanquet.\n\nSo the king said: \"Are the soldiers of Gotar wont to squander the meat\nafter once touching it, as if it were so many pared-off crusts? And to\nspurn the first dishes as if they were the last morsels?\"\n\nErik said: \"Uncouthness claims no place in the manners of Gotar, neither\ndoes any disorderly habit feign there.\"\n\nBut Frode said: \"Then thy manners are not those of thy lord, and thou\nhast proved that thou hast not taken all wisdom to heart. For he who\ngoes against the example of his elders shows himself a deserter and a\nrenegade.\"\n\nThen said Erik: \"The wise man must be taught by the wiser. For knowledge\ngrows by learning, and instruction is advanced by doctrine.\"\n\nFrode rejoined: \"This affectation of thine of superfluous words, what\nexemplary lesson will it teach me?\"\n\nErik said: \"A loyal few are a safer defence for a king than many\ntraitors.\"\n\nFrode said to him: \"Wilt thou then show us closer allegiance than the\nrest?\"\n\nErik answered: \"No man ties the unborn (horse) to the crib, or the\nunbegotten to the stall. For thou hast not yet experienced all things.\nBesides, with Gotar there is always a mixture of drinking with\nfeasting; liquor, over and above, and as well as meat, is the joy of the\nreveller.\"\n\nFrode said: \"Never have I found a more shameless beggar of meat and\ndrink.\"\n\nErik replied: \"Few reckon the need of the silent, or measure the wants\nof him who holds his peace.\"\n\nThen the king bade his sister bring forth the drink in a great goblet.\nErik caught hold of her right hand and of the goblet she offered at the\nsame time, and said: \"Noblest of kings, hath thy benignity granted me\nthis present? Dost thou assure me that what I hold shall be mine as an\nirrevocable gift?\"\n\nThe king, thinking that he was only asking for the cup, declared it was\na gift. But Erik drew the maiden to him, as if she was given with the\ncup. When the king saw it, he said: \"A fool is shown by his deed; with\nus freedom of maidens is ever held inviolate.\"\n\nThen Erik, feigning that he would cut off the girl's hand with his\nsword, as though it had been granted under the name of the cup, said:\n\"If I have taken more than thou gavest, or if I am rash to keep the\nwhole, let me at least get some.\" The king saw his mistake in his\npromise, and gave him the maiden, being loth to undo his heedlessness\nby fickleness, and that the weight of his pledge might seem the greater;\nthough it is held an act more of ripe judgment than of unsteadfastness\nto take back a foolish promise.\n\nThen, taking from Erik security that he would return, he sent him to the\nships; for the time appointed for the battle was at hand. Erik and his\nmen went on to the sea, then covered near with ice; and, thanks to the\nstability of their sandals, felled the enemy, whose footing was slippery\nand unsteady. For Frode had decreed that no man should help either side\nif it wavered or were distressed. Then he went back in triumph to the\nking. So Gotwar, sorrowing at the destruction of her children who had\nmiserably perished, and eager to avenge them, announced that it would\nplease her to have a flyting with Erik, on condition that she should\ngage a heavy necklace and he his life; so that if he conquered he should\nwin gold, but if he gave in, death. Erik agreed to the contest, and the\ngage was deposited with Gunwar. So Gotwar began thus:\n\n     \"Quando tuam limas admissa cote bipennem,\n     Nonne terit tremulas mentula quassa nates?\"\n\nErik rejoined:\n\n     \"Ut cuivis natura pilos in corpore sevit,\n     Omnis nempe suo barba ferenda loco est.\n     Re Veneris homines artus agitare necesse est;\n     Motus quippe suos nam labor omnis habet.\n     Cum natis excipitur nate, vel cum subdita penem\n     Vulva capit, quid ad haec addere mas renuit?\"\n\nPowerless to answer this, Gotwar had to give the gold to the man\nwhom she had meant to kill, and thus wasted a lordly gift instead of\npunishing the slayer of her son. For her ill fate was crowned, instead\nof her ill-will being avenged. First bereaved, and then silenced\nby furious words, she lost at once her wealth and all reward of her\neloquence. She made the man blest who had taken away her children, and\nenriched her bereaver with a present: and took away nothing to make up\nthe slaughter of her sons save the reproach of ignorance and the loss of\ngoods. Westmar, when he saw this, determined to attack the man by force,\nsince he was the stronger of tongue, and laid down the condition that\nthe reward of the conqueror should be the death of the conquered, so\nthat the life of both parties was plainly at stake. Erik, unwilling to\nbe thought quicker of tongue than of hand, did not refuse the terms.\n\nNow the manner of combat was as follows. A ring, plaited of withy or\nrope, used to be offered to the combatants for them to drag away by\nwrenching it with a great effort of foot and hand; and the prize went to\nthe stronger, for if either of the combatants could wrench it from the\nother, he was awarded the victory. Erik struggled in this manner, and,\ngrasping the rope sharply, wrested it out of the hands of his opponent.\nWhen Erode saw this, he said: \"I think it is hard to tug at a rope with\na strong man.\"\n\nAnd Erik said: \"Hard, at any rate, when a tumour is in the body or a\nhunch sits on the back.\"\n\nAnd straightway, thrusting his foot forth, he broke the infirm neck and\nback of the old man, and crushed him. And so Westmar failed to compass\nhis revenge: zealous to retaliate, he fell into the portion of those who\nneed revenging; being smitten down even as those whose slaughter he had\ndesired to punish.\n\nNow Frode intended to pierce Erik by throwing a dagger at him. But\nGunwar knew her brother's purpose, and said, in order to warn\nher betrothed of his peril, that no man could be wise who took no\nforethought for himself. This speech warned Erik to ward off the\ntreachery, and he shrewdly understood the counsel of caution. For at\nonce he sprang up and said that the glory of the wise man would be\nvictorious, but that guile was its own punishment; thus censuring his\ntreacherous intent in very gentle terms. But the king suddenly flung his\nknife at him, yet was too late to hit him; for he sprang aside, and the\nsteel missed its mark and ran into the wall opposite. Then said Erik:\n\"Gifts should be handed to friends, and not thrown; thou hadst made\nthe present acceptable if thou hadst given the sheath to keep the blade\ncompany.\"\n\nOn this request the king at once took the sheath from his girdle and\ngave it to him, being forced to abate his hatred by the self-control of\nhis foe. Thus he was mollified by the prudent feigning of the other, and\nwith goodwill gave him for his own the weapon which he had cast with\nill will. And thus Erik, by taking the wrong done him in a dissembling\nmanner, turned it into a favour, accepting as a splendid gift the steel\nwhich had been meant to slay him. For he put a generous complexion on\nwhat Frode had done with intent to harm. Then they gave themselves up\nto rest. In the night Gunwar awoke Erik silently, and pointed out to him\nthat they ought to fly, saying that it was very expedient to return with\nsafe chariot ere harm was done. He went with her to the shore, where he\nhappened to find the king's fleet beached: so, cutting away part of\nthe sides, he made it unseaworthy, and by again replacing some laths he\npatched it so that the damage might be unnoticed by those who looked at\nit. Then he caused the vessel whither he and his company had retired to\nput off a little from the shore.\n\nThe king prepared to give them chase with his mutilated ships, but soon\nthe waves broke through; and though he was very heavily laden with his\narmour, he began to swim off among the rest, having become more anxious\nto save his own life than to attack that of others. The bows plunged\nover into the sea, the tide flooded in and swept the rowers from their\nseats. When Erik and Roller saw this they instantly flung themselves\ninto the deep water, spurning danger, and by swimming picked up the\nking, who was tossing about. Thrice the waves had poured over him and\nborne him down when Erik caught him by the hair, and lifted him out of\nthe sea. The remaining crowd of the wrecked either sank in the waters,\nor got with trouble to the land. The king was stripped of his dripping\nattire and swathed round with dry garments, and the water poured in\nfloods from his chest as he kept belching it; his voice also seemed\nto fail under the exhaustion of continual pantings. At last heat was\nrestored to his limbs, which were numbed with cold, and his breathing\nbecame quicker. He had not fully got back his strength, and could sit\nbut not rise. Gradually his native force returned. But when he was asked\nat last whether he sued for life and grace, he put his hand to his eyes,\nand strove to lift up their downcast gaze. But as, little by little,\npower came back to his body, and as his voice became more assured, he\nsaid:\n\n\"By this light, which I am loth to look on, by this heaven which I\nbehold and drink in with little joy, I beseech and conjure you not to\npersuade me to use either any more. I wished to die; ye have saved me in\nvain. I was not allowed to perish in the waters; at least I will die by\nthe sword. I was unconquered before; thine, Erik, was the first wit to\nwhich I yielded: I was all the more unhappy, because I had never been\nbeaten by men of note, and now I let a low-born man defeat me. This\nis great cause for a king to be ashamed. This is a good and sufficient\nreason for a general to die; it is right that he should care for nothing\nso much as glory. If he want that, then take it that he lacks all else.\nFor nothing about a king is more on men's lips than his repute. I was\ncredited with the height of understanding and eloquence. But I have been\nstripped of both the things wherein I was thought to excel, and am all\nthe more miserable because I, the conqueror of kings, am seen conquered\nby a peasant. Why grant life to him whom thou hast robbed of honour? I\nhave lost sister, realm, treasure, household gear, and, what is greater\nthan them all, renown: I am luckless in all chances, and in all thy\ngood fortune is confessed. Why am I to be kept to live on for all this\nignominy? What freedom can be so happy for me that it can wipe out all\nthe shame of captivity? What will all the following time bring for me?\nIt can beget nothing but long remorse in my mind, and will savour only\nof past woes. What will prolonging of life avail, if it only brings back\nthe memory of sorrow? To the stricken nought is pleasanter than death,\nand that decease is happy which comes at a man's wish, for it cuts not\nshort any sweetness of his days, but annihilates his disgust at all\nthings. Life in prosperity, but death in adversity, is best to seek.\nNo hope of better things tempts me to long for life. What hap can quite\nrepair my shattered fortunes? And by now, had ye not rescued me in my\nperil, I should have forgotten even these. What though thou shouldst\ngive me back my realm, restore my sister, and renew my treasure? Thou\ncanst never repair my renown. Nothing that is patched up can have the\nlustre of the unimpaired, and rumour will recount for ages that\nFrode was taken captive. Moreover, if ye reckon the calamities I have\ninflicted on you, I have deserved to die at your hands; if ye recall the\nharms I have done, ye will repent your kindness. Ye will be ashamed of\nhaving aided a foe, if ye consider how savagely he treated you. Why do\nye spare the guilty? Why do ye stay your hand from the throat of your\npersecutor? It is fitting that the lot which I had prepared for you\nshould come home to myself. I own that if I had happened to have you in\nmy power as ye now have me, I should have paid no heed to compassion.\nBut if I am innocent before you in act, I am guilty at least in will. I\npray you, let my wrongful intention, which sometimes is counted to stand\nfor the deed, recoil upon me. If ye refuse me death by the sword I will\ntake care to kill myself with my own hand.\"\n\nErik rejoined thus: \"I pray that the gods may turn thee from the folly\nof thy purpose; turn thee, I say, that thou mayst not try to end a most\nglorious life abominably. Why, surely the gods themselves have forbidden\nthat a man who is kind to others should commit unnatural self-murder.\nFortune has tried thee to find out with what spirit thou wouldst meet\nadversity. Destiny has proved thee, not brought thee low. No sorrow has\nbeen inflicted on thee which a happier lot cannot efface. Thy prosperity\nhas not been changed; only a warning has been given thee. No man behaves\nwith self-control in prosperity who has not learnt to endure adversity.\nBesides, the whole use of blessings is reaped after misfortunes have\nbeen graciously acknowledged. Sweeter is the joy which follows on the\nbitterness of fate. Wilt thou shun thy life because thou hast once had a\ndrenching, and the waters closed over thee? But if the waters can crush\nthy spirit, when wilt thou with calm courage bear the sword? Who would\nnot reckon swimming away in his armour more to his glory than to his\nshame? How many men would think themselves happy were they unhappy\nwith thy fortune? The sovereignty is still thine; thy courage is in its\nprime; thy years are ripening; thou canst hope to compass more than thou\nhast yet achieved. I would not find thee fickle enough to wish, not only\nto shun hardships, but also to fling away thy life, because thou couldst\nnot bear them. None is so unmanly as he who from fear of adversity loses\nheart to live. No wise man makes up for his calamities by dying. Wrath\nagainst another is foolish, but against a man's self it is foolhardy;\nand it is a coward frenzy which dooms its owner. But if thou go\nwithout need to thy death for some wrong suffered, or for some petty\nperturbation of spirit, whom dost thou leave behind to avenge thee?\nWho is so mad that he would wish to punish the fickleness of fortune by\ndestroying himself? What man has lived so prosperously but that ill\nfate has sometimes stricken him? Hast thou enjoyed felicity unbroken\nand passed thy days without a shock, and now, upon a slight cloud of\nsadness, dost thou prepare to quit thy life, only to save thy anguish?\nIf thou bear trifles so ill, how shalt thou endure the heavier frowns\nof fortune? Callow is the man who has never tasted of the cup of sorrow;\nand no man who has not suffered hardships is temperate in enjoying ease.\nWilt thou, who shouldst have been a pillar of courage, show a sign of a\npalsied spirit? Born of a brave sire, wilt thou display utter impotence?\nWilt thou fall so far from thy ancestors as to turn softer than women?\nHast thou not yet begun thy prime, and art thou already taken with\nweariness of life? Whoever set such an example before? Shall the\ngrandson of a famous man, and the child of the unvanquished, be too weak\nto endure a slight gust of adversity? Thy nature portrays the courage of\nthy sires; none has conquered thee, only thine own heedlessness has hurt\nthee. We snatched thee from peril, we did not subdue thee; wilt thou\ngive us hatred for love, and set our friendship down as wrongdoing? Our\nservice should have appeased thee, and not troubled thee. May the gods\nnever desire thee to go so far in frenzy, as to persist in branding\nthy preserver as a traitor! Shall we be guilty before thee in a matter\nwherein we do thee good? Shall we draw anger on us for our service? Wilt\nthou account him thy foe whom thou hast to thank for thy life? For thou\nwert not free when we took thee, but in distress, and we came in time to\nhelp thee. And, behold, I restore thy treasure, thy wealth, thy goods.\nIf thou thinkest thy sister was betrothed to me over-hastily, let her\nmarry the man whom thou commandest; for her chastity remains inviolate.\nMoreover, if thou wilt accept me, I wish to fight for thee. Beware lest\nthou wrongfully steel thy mind in anger. No loss of power has shattered\nthee, none of thy freedom has been forfeited. Thou shalt see that I\nam obeying, not commanding thee. I agree to any sentence thou mayst\npronounce against my life. Be assured that thou art as strong here as-in\nthy palace; thou hast the same power to rule here as in thy court. Enact\nconcerning us here whatsoever would have been thy will in the palace: we\nare ready to obey.\" Thus much said Erik.\n\nNow this speech softened the king towards himself as much as towards his\nfoe. Then, everything being arranged and made friendly, they returned to\nthe shore. The king ordered that Erik and his sailors should be taken in\ncarriages. But when they reached the palace he had an assembly summoned,\nto which he called Erik, and under the pledge of betrothal gave him\nhis sister and command over a hundred men. Then he added that the queen\nwould be a weariness to him, and that the daughter of Gotar had taken\nhis liking. He must, therefore, have a fresh embassy, and the business\ncould best be done by Erik, for whose efforts nothing seemed too hard.\nHe also said that he would stone Gotwar to death for her complicity in\nconcealing the crime; but Hanund he would restore to her father, that he\nmight not have a traitress against his life dwelling amongst the Danes.\nErik approved his plans, and promised his help to carry out his bidding;\nexcept that he declared that it would be better to marry the queen, when\nshe had been put away, to Roller, of whom his sovereignty need have no\nfears. This opinion Frode received reverentially, as though it were some\nlesson vouchsafed from above. The queen also, that she might not seem\nto be driven by compulsion, complied, as women will, and declared that\nthere was no natural necessity to grieve, and that all distress of\nspirit was a creature of fancy: and, moreover, that one ought not to\nbewail the punishment that befell one's deserts. And so the brethren\ncelebrated their marriages together, one wedding the sister of the king,\nand the other his divorced queen.\n\nThen they sailed back to Norway, taking their wives with them. For\nthe women could not be torn from the side of their husbands, either by\ndistance of journey or by dread of peril, but declared that they would\nstick to their lords like a feather to something shaggy. They found that\nRagnar was dead, and that Kraka had already married one Brak. Then they\nremembered the father's treasure, dug up the money, and bore it off.\nBut Erik's fame had gone before him, and Gotar had learnt all his good\nfortune. Now when Gotar learnt that he had come himself, he feared that\nhis immense self-confidence would lead him to plan the worst against the\nNorwegians, and was anxious to take his wife from him and marry him to\nhis own daughter in her place: for his queen had just died, and he was\nanxious to marry the sister of Frode more than anyone. Erik, when he\nlearnt of his purpose, called his men together, and told them that his\nfortune had not yet got off from the reefs. Also he said that he saw,\nthat as a bundle that was not tied by a band fell to pieces, so likewise\nthe heaviest punishment that was not constrained on a man by his own\nfault suddenly collapsed. They had experienced this of late with Frode;\nfor they saw how at the hardest pass their innocence had been protected\nby the help of the gods; and if they continued to preserve it they\nshould hope for like aid in their adversity. Next, they must pretend\nflight for a little while, if they were attacked by Gotar, for so they\nwould have a juster plea for fighting. For they had every right to\nthrust out the hand in order to shield the head from peril. Seldom\ncould a man carry to a successful end a battle he had begun against the\ninnocent; so, to give them a better plea for assaulting the enemy, he\nmust be provoked to attack them first.\n\nErik then turned to Gunwar, and asked her, in order to test her\nfidelity, whether she had any love for Gotar, telling her it was\nunworthy that a maid of royal lineage should be bound to the bed of a\nman of the people. Then she began to conjure him earnestly by the power\nof heaven to tell her whether his purpose was true or reigned? He said\nthat he had spoken seriously, and she cried: \"And so thou art prepared\nto bring on me the worst of shame by leaving me a widow, whom thou\nlovedst dearly as a maid! Common rumour often speaks false, but I have\nbeen wrong in my opinion of thee. I thought I had married a steadfast\nman; I hoped his loyalty was past question; but now I find him to be\nmore fickle than the winds.\" Saying this, she wept abundantly.\n\nDear to Erik was his wife's fears; presently he embraced her and said:\n\"I wished to know how loyal thou wert to me. Nought but death has the\nright to sever us, but Gotar means to steal thee away, seeking thy love\nby robbery. When he has committed the theft, pretend it is done with thy\ngoodwill; yet put off the wedding till he has given me his daughter in\nthy place. When she has been granted, Gotar and I will hold our\nmarriage on the same day. And take care that thou prepare rooms for\nour banqueting which have a common party-wall, yet are separate: lest\nperchance, if I were before thine eyes, thou shouldst ruffle the king\nwith thy lukewarm looks at him. For this will be a most effective trick\nto baffle the wish of the ravisher.\" Then he bade Brak (one of his\nmen), to lie in ambush not far from the palace with a chosen band of his\nquickest men, that he might help him at need.\n\nThen he summoned Roller, and fled in his ship with his wife and all his\ngoods, in order to tempt the king out, pretending panic: So, when he saw\nthat the fleet of Gotar was pressing him hard, he said: \"Behold how the\nbow of guile shooteth the shaft of treachery;\" and instantly rousing his\nsailors with the war-shout, he steered the ship about. Gotar came close\nup to him and asked who was the pilot of the ship, and he was told that\nit was Erik. He also shouted a question whether he was the same man who\nby his marvellous speaking could silence the eloquence of all other men.\nErik, when he heard this, replied that he had long since received the\nsurname of the \"Shrewd-spoken\", and that he had not won the auspicious\ntitle for nothing. Then both went back to the nearest shore, where\nGotar, when he learnt the mission of Erik, said that he wished for the\nsister of Frode, but would rather offer his own daughter to Frode's\nenvoy, that Erik might not repent the passing of his own wife to another\nman. Thus it would not be unfitting for the fruit of the mission to fall\nto the ambassador.\n\nErik, he said, was delightful to him as a son-in-law, if only he could\nwin alliance with Frode through Gunwar.\n\nErik lauded the kindness of the king and approved his judgment,\ndeclaring he could not have expected a greater thing from the immortal\ngods than what was now offered him unasked. Still, he said, the king\nmust first discover Gunwar's own mind and choice. She accepted the\nflatteries of the king with feigned goodwill, and seemed to consent\nreadily to his suit, but besought him to suffer Erik's nuptials to\nprecede hers; because, if Erik's were accomplished first, there would be\na better opportunity for the king's; but chiefly on this account,\nthat, if she were to marry again, she might not be disgusted at her new\nmarriage troth by the memory of the old recurring. She also declared\nit inexpedient for two sets of preparations to be confounded in one\nceremony. The king was prevailed upon by her answers, and highly\napproved her requests.\n\nGotar's constant talks with Erik furnished him with a store of most\nfairshapen maxims, wherewith to rejoice and refresh his mind. So, not\nsatisfied with giving him his daughter in marriage he also made over to\nhim the district of Lither, thinking that their connection deserved some\nkindness. Now Kraka, whom Erik, because of her cunning in witchcraft,\nhad brought with him on his travels, feigned weakness of the eyes, and\nmuffled up her face in her cloak, so that not a single particle of her\nhead was visible for recognition. When people asked her who she was,\nshe said that she was Gunwar's sister, child of the same mother but a\ndifferent father.\n\nNow when they came to the dwelling of Gotar, the wedding-feast of\nAlfhild (this was his daughter's name) was being held. Erik and the king\nsat at meat in different rooms, with a party-wall in common, and also\nentirely covered on the inside with hanging tapestries. Gunwar sat by\nGotar, but Erik sat close between Kraka on the one side and Alfhild on\nthe other. Amid the merrymaking, he gradually drew a lath out of the\nwall, and made an opening large enough to allow the passage of a human\nbody; and thus, without the knowledge of the guests, he made a space\nwide enough to go through. Then, in the course of the feast, he began to\nquestion his betrothed closely whether she would rather marry himself or\nFrode: especially since, if due heed were paid to matches, the daughter\nof a king ought to go to the arms of one as noble as herself, so that\nthe lowliness of one of the pair might not impair the lordliness of the\nother. She said that she would never marry against the permission of her\nfather; but he turned her aversion into compliance by promises that she\nshould be queen, and that she should be richer than all other women, for\nshe was captivated by the promise of wealth quite as much as of glory.\nThere is also a tradition that Kraka turned the maiden's inclinations to\nFrode by a drink which she mixed and gave to her.\n\nNow Gotar, after the feast, in order to make the marriage-mirth go fast\nand furious, went to the revel of Erik. As he passed out, Gunwar, as\nshe had been previously bidden, went through the hole in the party-wall\nwhere the lath had been removed, and took the seat next to Erik. Gotar\nmarvelled that she was sitting there by his side, and began to ask\neagerly how and why she had come there. She said that she was Gunwar's\nsister, and that the king was deceived by the likeness of their looks.\nAnd when the king, in order to look into the matter, hurried back to the\nroyal room, Gunwar returned through the back door by which she had come\nand sat in her old place in the sight of all. Gotar, when he saw her,\ncould scarcely believe his eyes, and in the utmost doubt whether he had\nrecognized her aright, he retraced his steps to Erik; and there he saw\nbefore him Gunwar, who had got back in her own fashion. And so, as often\nas he changed to go from one hall to the other, he found her whom he\nsought in either place. By this time the king was tormented by great\nwonder at what was no mere likeness, but the very same face in both\nplaces. For it seemed flatly impossible that different people should\nlook exactly and undistinguishably alike. At last, when the revel broke\nup, he courteously escorted his daughter and Erik as far as their room,\nas the manner is at weddings, and went back himself to bed elsewhere.\n\nBut Erik suffered Alfhild, who was destined for Frode, to lie apart, and\nembraced Gunwar as usual, thus outwitting the king. So Gotar passed a\nsleepless night, revolving how he had been apparently deluded with\na dazed and wandering mind: for it seemed to him no mere likeness of\nlooks, but sameness. Thus he was filled with such wavering and doubtful\njudgment, that though he really discerned the truth he thought he must\nhave been mistaken. At last it flashed across his mind that the\nwall might have been tampered with. He gave orders that it should be\ncarefully surveyed and examined, but found no traces of a breakage: in\nfact, the entire room seemed to be whole and unimpaired. For Erik, early\nin the night, had patched up the damage of the broken wall, that his\ntrick might not be detected. Then the king sent two men privily into\nthe bedroom of Erik to learn the truth, and bade them stand behind the\nhangings and note all things carefully. They further received orders\nto kill Erik if they found him with Gunwar. They went secretly into the\nroom, and, concealing themselves in the curtained corners, beheld\nErik and Gunwar in bed together with arms entwined. Thinking them only\ndrowsy, they waited for their deeper sleep, wishing to stay until a\nheavier slumber gave them a chance to commit their crime. Erik snored\nlustily, and they knew it was a sure sign that he slept soundly; so they\nstraightway came forth with drawn blades in order to butcher him. Erik\nwas awakened by their treacherous onset, and seeing their swords hanging\nover his head, called out the name of his stepmother, (Kraka), to which\nlong ago he had been bidden to appeal when in peril, and he found a\nspeedy help in his need. For his shield, which hung aloft from the\nrafter, instantly fell and covered his unarmed body, and, as if on\npurpose, covered it from impalement by the cutthroats. He did not fail\nto make use of his luck, but, snatching his sword, lopped off both feet\nof the nearest of them. Gunwar, with equal energy, ran a spear through\nthe other: she had the body of a woman, but the spirit of a man.\n\nThus Erik escaped the trap; whereupon he went back to the sea and made\nready to sail off by night. But Roller sounded on his horn the signal\nfor those who had been bidden to watch close by, to break into the\npalace. When the king heard this, he thought it meant that the enemy was\nupon them, and made off hastily in a ship. Meanwhile Brak, and those who\nhad broken in with him, snatched up the goods of the king, and got them\non board Erik's ships. Almost half the night was spent in pillaging.\nIn the morning, when the king found that they had fled, he prepared to\npursue them, but was advised by one of his friends not to plan anything\non a sudden or do it in haste. His friend, indeed, tried to convince him\nthat he needed a larger equipment, and that it was ill-advised to pursue\nthe fugitives to Denmark with a handful. But neither could this curb\nthe king's impetuous spirit; it could not bear the loss; for nothing had\nstung him more than this, that his preparations to slay another should\nhave recoiled on his own men. So he sailed to the harbour which is now\ncalled Omi. Here the weather began to be bad, provision failed, and\nthey thought it better, since die they must, to die by the sword than\nby famine. And so the sailors turned their hand against one another, and\nhastened their end by mutual blows. The king with a few men took to the\ncliffs and escaped. Lofty barrows still mark the scene of the slaughter.\nMeanwhile Erik ended his voyage fairly, and the wedding of Alfhild and\nFrode was kept.\n\nThen came tidings of an inroad of the Sclavs, and Erik was commissioned\nto suppress it with eight ships, since Frode as yet seemed inexperienced\nin war. Erik, loth ever to flinch from any manly undertaking, gladly\nundertook the business and did it bravely. Learning that the pirates had\nseven ships, he sailed up to them with only one of his own, ordering\nthe rest to be girt with timber parapets, and covered over with pruned\nboughs of trees. Then he advanced to observe the number of the enemy\nmore fully, but when the Sclavs pursued closely, he beat a quick retreat\nto his men. But the enemy, blind to the trap, and as eager to take the\nfugitives, rowed smiting the waters fast and incessantly. For the ships\nof Erik could not be clearly distinguished, looking like a leafy\nwood. The enemy, after venturing into a winding strait, suddenly saw\nthemselves surrounded by the fleet of Erik. First, confounded by the\nstrange sight, they thought that a wood was sailing; and then they saw\nthat guile lurked under the leaves. Therefore, tardily repenting their\nrashness, they tried to retrace their incautious voyage: but while they\nwere trying to steer about, they saw the enemy boarding them; Erik,\nhowever, put his ship ashore, and slung stones against the enemy\nfrom afar. Thus most of the Sclavs were killed, and forty taken, who\nafterwards under stress of bonds and famine, and in strait of divers\ntorments, gave up the ghost.\n\nMeantime Frode, in order to cross on an expedition into Sclavia, had\nmustered a mighty fleet from the Danes, as well as from neighbouring\npeoples. The smallest boat of this fleet could carry twelve sailors, and\nbe rowed by as many oars. Then Erik, bidding his men await him patiently\nwent to tell Frode the tidings of the defeat he had inflicted. As he\nsailed along he happened to see a pirate ship aground on some shallows;\nand being wont to utter weighty words upon chance occurrences, he said,\n\"Obscure is the lot of the base-born, and mean is the fortune of the\nlowly.\" Then he brought his ship up close and destroyed the pirates, who\nwere trying to get off their own vessel with poles, and busily engrossed\nin saving her. This accomplished, he made his way back to the king's\nfleet; and wishing to cheer Frode with a greeting that heralded his\nvictory, he said, \"Hail to the maker of a most prosperous peace!\" The\nking prayed that his word might come true, and declared that the spirit\nof the wise man was prophetic. Erik answered that he spoke truly, and\nthat the petty victory brought an omen of a greater one; declaring that\na presage of great matters could often be got from trifles. Then the\nking counselled him to scatter his force, and ordered the horsemen of\nJutland to go by the land way, while the rest of the army went by\nthe short sea-passage. But the sea was covered with such a throng of\nvessels, that there were not enough harbours to take them in, nor shores\nfor them to encamp on, nor money for their provisions; while the land\narmy is said to have been so great that, in order to shorten the way, it\nlevelled mountains, made marshes passable, filled up pits with material,\nand the hugest chasms by casting in great boulders.\n\nMeanwhile Strunik the King of the Sclavs sent envoys to ask for a truce;\nbut Frode refused him time to equip himself, saying that an enemy ought\nnot to be furnished with a truce. Moreover, he said, he had hitherto\npassed his life without experience of war, and now he ought not to delay\nits beginning by waiting in doubt; for the man that conducted his first\ncampaign successfully might hope for as good fortune in the rest. For\neach side would take the augury afforded by the first engagements as a\npresage of the combat; since the preliminary successes of war were\noften a prophecy of the sequel. Erik commended the wisdom of the reply,\ndeclaring that the game ought to be played abroad just as it had been\nbegun at home: meaning that the Danes had been challenged by the Sclavs.\nAfter these words he fought a furious battle, slew Strunik with the\nbravest of his race, and received the surrender of the rest. Then Frode\ncalled the Sclavs together, and proclaimed by a herald that any man\namong them who had been trained to theft or plunder should be speedily\ngiven up; promising that he would reward the character of such men with\nthe highest honours. He also ordered that all of them, who were versed\nin evil arts should come forth to have their reward. This offer pleased\nthe Sclavs: and some of them, tempted by their hopes of the gift,\nbetrayed themselves with more avarice than judgment, before the others\ncould make them known. These were misled by such great covetousness,\nthat they thought less of shame than lucre, and accounted as their glory\nwhat was really their guilt. When these had given themselves up of their\nown will, he said: \"Sclavs! This is the pest from which you must clear\nyour land yourselves.\" And straightway he ordered the executioners to\nseize them, and had them fixed upon the highest gallows by the hand of\ntheir own countrymen. The punishers looked fewer than the punished. And\nthus the shrewd king, by refusing to those who owned their guilt the\npardon which he granted to the conquered foe, destroyed almost the\nentire stock of the Sclavic race. Thus the longing for an undeserved\nreward was visited with a deserved penalty, and the thirst for an\nundue wage justly punished. I should think that these men were rightly\ndelivered to their doom, who brought the peril on their own heads by\nspeaking, when they could have saved their lives by the protection of\nsilence.\n\nThe king, exalted by the honours of his fresh victory, and loth to seem\nless strong in justice than in battle, resolved to remodel his army by\nsome new laws, some of which are retained by present usage, while others\nmen have chosen to abolish for new ones. (a) For he decreed, when the\nspoil was divided, that each of the vanguard should receive a greater\nshare than the rest of the soldiery: while he granted all gold that was\ntaken to the generals (before whom the standards were always borne in\nbattle) on account of their rank; wishing the common soldiers to\nbe content with silver. He ordered that the arms should go to the\nchampions, but the captured ships should pass to the common people, as\nthe due of those who had the right of building and equipping vessels.\n(b) Also he forbade that anyone should venture to lock up his household\ngoods, as he would receive double the value of any losses from the\ntreasury of the king; but if anyone thought fit to keep it in locked\ncoffers, he must pay the king a gold mark. He also laid down that anyone\nwho spared a thief should be punished as a thief. (d) Further, that the\nfirst man to flee in battle should forfeit all common rights. (e) But\nwhen he had returned into Denmark he wished to amend by good measures\nany corruption caused by the evil practices of Grep; and therefore\ngranted women free choice in marriage, so that there might be no\ncompulsory wedlock. And so he provided by law that women should be held\nduly married to those whom they had wedded without consulting their\nfathers. (f) But if a free woman agreed to marry a slave, she must fall\nto his rank, lose the blessing of freedom, and adopt the standing of a\nslave. (g) He also imposed on men the statute that they must marry any\nwoman whom they had seduced. (h) He ordained that adulterers should be\ndeprived of a member by the lawful husbands, so that continence might\nnot be destroyed by shameful sins. (I) Also he ordained that if a Dane\nplundered another Dane, he should repay double, and be held guilty of\na breach of the peace. (k) And if any man were to take to the house of\nanother anything which he had got by thieving, his host, if he shut the\ndoor of his house behind the man, should incur forfeiture of all his\ngoods, and should be beaten in full assembly, being regarded as having\nmade himself guilty of the same crime. (l) Also, whatsoever exile should\nturn enemy to his country, or bear a shield against his countrymen,\nshould be punished with the loss of life and goods. (m) But if any man,\nfrom a contumacious spirit, were slack in fulfilling the orders of the\nking, he should be punished with exile. For, on all occasion of any\nsudden and urgent war, an arrow of wood, looking like iron, used to be\npassed on everywhere from man to man as a messenger. (n) But if any one\nof the commons went in front of the vanguard in battle, he was to rise\nfrom a slave into a freeman, and from a peasant into a nobleman; but if\nhe were nobly-born already, he should be created a governor. So great\na guerdon did valiant men earn of old; and thus did the ancients think\nnoble rank the due of bravery. For it was thought that the luck a man\nhad should be set down to his valour, and not his valour to his luck.\n(o) He also enacted that no dispute should be entered on with a promise\nmade under oath and a gage deposited; but whosoever requested another\nman to deposit a gage against him should pay that man half a gold mark,\non pain of severe bodily chastisement. For the king had foreseen that\nthe greatest occasions of strife might arise from the depositing of\ngages. (p) But he decided that any quarrel whatsoever should be decided\nby the sword, thinking a combat of weapons more honourable than one of\nwords. But if either of the combatants drew back his foot, and stepped\nout of the ring of the circle previously marked, he was to consider\nhimself conquered, and suffer the loss of his case. But a man of the\npeople, if he attacked a champion on any score, should be armed to meet\nhim; but the champion should only fight with a truncheon an ell long.\n(q) Further, he appointed that if an alien killed a Dane, his death\nshould be redressed by the slaying of two foreigners.\n\nMeanwhile, Gotar, in order to punish Erik, equipped his army for war:\nand Frode, on the other side, equipped a great fleet to go against\nNorway. When both alike had put into Rennes-Isle, Gotar, terrified by\nthe greatness of Frode's name, sent ambassadors to pray for peace. Erik\nsaid to them, \"Shameless is the robber who is the first to seek peace,\nor ventures to offer it to the good. He who longs to win must struggle:\nblow must counter blow, malice repel malice.\"\n\nGotar listened attentively to this from a distance, and then said,\nas loudly as he could: \"Each man fights for valour according as he\nremembers kindness.\" Erik said to him: \"I have requited thy kindness by\ngiving thee back counsel.\" By this speech he meant that his excellent\nadvice was worth more than all manner of gifts. And, in order to show\nthat Gotar was ungrateful for the counsel he had received, he said:\n\"When thou desiredst to take my life and my wife, thou didst mar the\nlook of thy fair example. Only the sword has the right to decide between\nus.\" Then Gotar attacked the fleet of the Danes; he was unsuccessful in\nthe engagement, and slain.\n\nAfterwards Roller received his realm from Frode as a gift; it stretched\nover seven provinces. Erik likewise presented Roller with the province\nwhich Gotar had once bestowed upon him. After these exploits Frode\npassed three years in complete and tranquil peace.\n\nMeanwhile the King of the Huns, when he heard that his daughter had been\nput away, allied himself with Olmar, King of the Easterlings, and in two\nyears equipped an armament against the Danes. So Frode levied an army\nnot only of native Danes, but also of Norwegians and Sclavs. Erik, whom\nhe had sent to spy out the array of the enemy, found Olmar, who had\nreceived the command of the fleet, not far from Russia; while the King\nof the Huns led the land forces. He addressed Olmar thus:\n\n\"What means, prithee, this strong equipment of war? Or whither dost thou\nspeed, King Olmar, mighty in thy fleet?\"\n\nOlmar. \"We are minded to attack the son of Fridleif. And who art thou,\nwhose bold lips ask such questions?\"\n\nErik. \"Vain hope of conquering the unconquered hath filled thy heart;\nover Frode no man can prevail.\"\n\nOlmar. \"Whatsoever befalls, must once happen for the first time; and\noften enough the unexpected comes to pass.\"\n\nBy this saying he let him know that no man must put too much trust in\nfortune. Then Erik rode up to inspect the army of the Huns. As it passed\nby him, and he in turn by it, it showed its vanguard to the rising and\nits rear to the setting sun. So he asked those whom he met, who had the\ncommand of all those thousands. Hun, the King of the Huns, happened to\nsee him, and heard that he had undertaken to reconnoitre, and asked\nwhat was the name of the questioner. Erik said he was the man who came\neverywhere and was found nowhere. Then the king, when an interpreter\nwas brought, asked what work Frode was about. Erik replied, \"Frode never\nwaits at home for a hostile army, nor tarries in his house for his foe.\nFor he who covets the pinnacle of another's power must watch and wake\nall night. No man has ever won a victory by snoring, and no wolf has\never found a carcase by lying asleep.\"\n\nThe king, perceiving that he was a cunning speaker of choice maxims,\nsaid: \"Here, perchance, is that Erik who, as I have heard, accused my\ndaughter falsely.\"\n\nBut Erik, when they were bidden to seize him instantly, said that it was\nunseemly for one man to be dragged off by really; and by this saying\nhe not only appeased the mind of the king, but even inclined him to be\nwilling to pardon him. But it was clear that this impunity came more\nfrom cunning than kindness; for the chief reason why he was let go was\nthat he might terrify Frode by the report of their vast numbers. When he\nreturned, Frode bad him relate what he had discovered, and he said that\nhe had seen six kings each with his fleet; and that each of these fleets\ncontained five thousand ships, each ship being known to hold three\nhundred rowers. Each millenary of the whole total he said consisted of\nfour wings; now, since the full number of a wing is three hundred, he\nmeant that a millenary should be understood to contain twelve hundred\nmen. When Frode wavered in doubt what he could do against so many, and\nlooked eagerly round for reinforcements, Erik said: \"Boldness helps the\nrighteous; a valiant dog must attack the bear; we want wolf-hounds, and\nnot little unwarlike birds.\" This said, he advised Frode to muster his\nfleet. When it was drawn up they sailed off against the enemy; and so\nthey fought and subdued the islands lying between Denmark and the East;\nand as they advanced thence, met some ships of the Ruthenian fleet.\nFrode thought it shameful to attack such a handful, but Erik said:\n\"We must seek food from the gaunt and lean. He who falls shall seldom\nfatten, nor has that man the power to bite whom the huge sack has\ndevoured.\" By this warning he cured the king of all shame about making\nan assault, and presently induced him to attack a small number with a\nthrong; for he showed him that advantage must be counted before honour.\n\nAfter this they went on to meet Olmar, who because of the slowness of\nhis multitude preferred awaiting the enemy to attacking it; for the\nvessels of the Ruthenians seemed disorganized, and, owing to their size,\nnot so well able to row. But not even did the force of his multitudes\navail him. For the extraordinary masses of the Ruthenians were stronger\nin numbers than in bravery, and yielded the victory to the stout handful\nof the Danes.\n\nWhen Frode tried to return home, his voyage encountered an unheard-of\ndifficulty. For the crowds of dead bodies, and likewise the fragments of\nshields and spears, bestrewed the entire gulf of the sea, and tossed on\nthe tide, so that the harbours were not only straitened, but stank. The\nvessels stuck, hampered amid the corpses. They could neither thrust off\nwith oars, nor drive away with poles, the rotting carcases that floated\naround, or prevent, when they had put one away, another rolling up and\ndriving against the fleet. You would have thought that a war had arisen\nwith the dead, and there was a strange combat with the lifeless.\n\nSo Frode summoned the nations which he had conquered, and enacted (a)\nthat any father of a family who had fallen in that war should be\nburied with his horse and all his arms and decorations. And if any\nbody-snatcher, in his abominable covetousness, made an attempt on him,\nhe was to suffer for it, not only with his life, but also with the loss\nof burial for his own body; he should have no barrow and no funeral.\nFor he thought it just that he who despoiled another's ashes should be\ngranted no burial, but should repeat in his own person the fate he\nhad inflicted on another. He appointed that the body of a centurion\nor governor should receive funeral on a pyre built of his own ship. He\nordered that the bodies of every ten pilots should be burnt together\nwith a single ship, but that every earl or king that was killed should\nbe put on his own ship and burnt with it. He wished this nice attention\nto be paid in conducting the funerals of the slain, because he wished\nto prevent indiscriminate obsequies. By this time all the kings of the\nRussians except Olmar and Dag had fallen in battle. (b) He also ordered\nthe Russians to conduct their warfare in imitation of the Danes,\nand never to marry a wife without buying her. He thought that bought\nmarriages would have more security, believing that the troth which\nwas sealed with a price was the safest. (d) Moreover, anyone who durst\nattempt the violation of a virgin was to be punished with the severance\nof his bodily parts, or else to requite the wrong of his intercourse\nwith a thousand talents. (e) He also enacted that any man that applied\nhimself to war, who aspired to the title of tried soldier, should attack\na single man, should stand the attack of two, should only withdraw his\nfoot a little to avoid three, but should not blush to flee from four.\n(f) He also proclaimed that a new custom concerning the pay of the\nsoldiers should be observed by the princes under his sway. He ordered\nthat each native soldier and housecarl should be presented in the winter\nseason with three marks of silver, a common or hired soldier with two, a\nprivate soldier who had finished his service with only one. By this law\nhe did injustice to valour, reckoning the rank of the soldiers and not\ntheir courage; and he was open to the charge of error in the matter,\nbecause he set familiar acquaintance above desert.\n\nAfter this the king asked Erik whether the army of the Huns was as large\nas the forces of Olmar, and Erik answered in the following song:\n\n\"By Hercules, I came on a countless throng, a throng that neither earth\nnor wave could hold. Thick flared all their camp-fires, and the whole\nwood blazed up; the flame betokened a numberless array. The earth sank\nunder the fraying of the horse-hoofs; creaking waggons rattled swiftly.\nThe wheels rumbled, the driver rode upon the winds, so that the chariots\nsounded like thunder. The earth hardly bore the throngs of men-at-arms,\nspeeding on confusedly; they trod it, but it could not bear their\nweight. I thought that the air crashed and the earth was shaken, so\nmighty was the motion of the stranger army. For I saw fifteen standards\nflickering at once; each of them had a hundred lesser standards, and\nafter each of these could have been seen twenty; and the captains in\ntheir order were equal in number to the standards.\"\n\nNow when Frode asked wherewithal he was to resist so many, Erik\ninstructed him that he must return home and suffer the enemy first to\nperish of their own hugeness. His counsel was obeyed, the advice being\napproved as heartily as it was uttered. But the Huns went on through\npathless deserts, and, finding provisions nowhere, began to run the\nrisk of general starvation; for it was a huge and swampy district, and\nnothing could be found to relieve their want. At last, when the beasts\nof burden had been cut down and eaten, they began to scatter, lacking\ncarriages as much as food. Now their straying from the road was as\nperilous to them as their hunger. Neither horses nor asses were spared,\nnor did they refrain from filthy garbage. At last they did not even\nspare dogs: to dying men every abomination was lawful; for there is\nnothing too hard for the bidding of extreme need. At last when they\nwere worn out with hunger, there came a general mortality. Bodies were\ncarried out for burial without end, for all feared to perish, and none\npitied the perishing. Fear indeed had cast out humanity. So first the\ndivisions deserted from the king little by little; and then the army\nmelted away by companies. He was also deserted by the prophet Ygg, a man\nof unknown age, which was prolonged beyond the human span; this man\nwent as a deserter to Frode, and told him of all the preparations of the\nHuns.\n\nMeanwhile Hedin, prince of a considerable tribe of the Norwegians,\napproached the fleet of Frode with a hundred and fifty vessels. Choosing\ntwelve out of these, he proceeded to cruise nearer, signalling the\napproach of friends by a shield raised on the mast. He thus greatly\naugmented the forces of the king, and was received into his closest\nfriendship. A mutual love afterwards arose between this man and Hilda,\nthe daughter of Hogni, a chieftain of the Jutes, and a maiden of most\neminent renown. For, though they had not yet seen one another, each\nhad been kindled by the other's glory. But when they had a chance of\nbeholding one another, neither could look away; so steadfast was the\nlove that made their eyes linger.\n\nMeanwhile, Frode distributed his soldiers through the towns, and\ncarefully gathered in the materials needed for the winter supplies; but\neven so he could not maintain his army, with its burden of expense: and\nplague fell on him almost as great as the destruction that met the Huns.\nTherefore, to prevent the influx of foreigners, he sent a fleet to the\nElbe to take care that nothing should cross; the admirals were Revil\nand Mevil. When the winter broke up, Hedin and Hogni resolved to make\na roving-raid together; for Hogni did not know that his partner was in\nlove with his daughter. Now Hogni was of unusual stature, and stiff in\ntemper; while Hedin was very comely, but short. Also, when Frode saw\nthat the cost of keeping up his army grew daily harder to bear, he\nsent Roller to Norway, Olmar to Sweden, King Onef and Glomer, a rover\ncaptain, to the Orkneys for supplies, each with his own forces. Thirty\nkings followed Frode, and were his friends or vassals. But when Hun\nheard that Frode had sent away his forces he mustered another and a\nfresh army. But Hogni betrothed his daughter to Hedin, after they had\nsworn to one another that whichever of them should perish by the sword\nshould be avenged by the other.\n\nIn the autumn, the men in search of supplies came back, but they were\nricher in trophies than in food. For Roller had made tributary the\nprovinces Sundmor and Nordmor, after slaying Arthor their king. But\nOlmar conquered Thor the Long, the King of the Jemts and the Helsings,\nwith two other captains of no less power, and also took Esthonia and\nKurland, with Oland, and the isles that fringe Sweden; thus he was a\nmost renowned conqueror of savage lands. So he brought back 700 ships,\nthus doubling the numbers of those previously taken out. Onef and\nGlomer, Hedin and Hogni, won victories over the Orkneys, and returned\nwith 900 ships. And by this time revenues had been got in from far and\nwide, and there were ample materials gathered by plunder to recruit\ntheir resources. They had also added twenty kingdoms to the sway of\nFrode, whose kings, added to the thirty named before, fought on the side\nof the Danes.\n\nTrusting in their strength, they engaged with the Huns. Such a carnage\nbroke out on the first day of this combat that the three chief rivers\nof Russia were bestrewn with a kind of bridge of corpses, and could be\ncrossed and passed over. Also the traces of the massacre spread so wide\nthat for the space of three days' ride the ground was to be seen covered\nwith human carcases. So, when the battle had been seven days prolonged,\nKing Hun fell; and his brother of the same name, when he saw the line of\nthe Huns giving way, without delay surrendered himself and his company.\nIn that war 170 kings, who were either Huns or fighting amongst the\nHuns, surrendered to the king. This great number Erik had comprised in\nhis previous description of the standards, when he was giving an account\nof the multitude of the Huns in answer to the questions of Frode. So\nFrode summoned the kings to assembly, and imposed a rule upon them that\nthey should all live under one and the same law. Now he set Olmar\nover Holmgard; Onef over Conogard; and he bestowed Saxony on Hun, his\nprisoner, and gave Revil the Orkneys. To one Dimar he allotted the\nmanagement of the provinces of the Helsings, of the Jarnbers, and the\nJemts, as well as both Laplands; while on Dag he bestowed the government\nof Esthonia. Each of these men he burdened with fixed conditions of\ntribute, thus making allegiance a condition of his kindness. So the\nrealms of Frode embraced Russia on the east, and on the west were\nbounded by the Rhine.\n\nMeantime, certain slanderous tongues accused Hedin to Hogni of having\ntempted and defiled his daughter before the rites of betrothal; which\nwas then accounted an enormous crime by all nations. So the credulous\nears of Hogni drank in this lying report, and with his fleet he attacked\nHedin, who was collecting the king's dues among the Slavs; there was\nan engagement, and Hogni was beaten, and went to Jutland. And thus the\npeace instituted by Frode was disturbed by intestine war, and natives\nwere the first to disobey the king's law. Frode, therefore, sent men to\nsummon them both at once, and inquired closely what was the reason of\ntheir feud. When he had heard it, he gave judgment according to the\nterms of the law he had enacted; but when he saw that even this could\nnot reconcile them (for the father obstinately demanded his daughter\nback), he decreed that the quarrel should be settled by the sword--it\nseemed the only remedy for ending the dispute. The fight began, and\nHedin was grievously wounded; but when he began to lose blood and bodily\nstrength, he received unexpected mercy from his enemy. For though Hogni\nhad an easy chance of killing him, yet, pitying youth and beauty, he\nconstrained his cruelty to give way to clemency. And so, loth to cut off\na stripling who was panting at his last gasp, he refrained his sword.\nFor of old it was accounted shameful to deprive of his life one who was\nungrown or a weakling; so closely did the antique bravery of champions\ntake heed of all that could incline them to modesty. So Hedin, with the\nhelp of his men, was taken back to his ship, saved by the kindness of\nhis foe.\n\nIn the seventh year after, these same men began to fight on Hedin's\nisle, and wounded each other so that they died. Hogni would have been\nlucky if he had shown severity rather than compassion to Hedin when he\nhad once conquered him. They say that Hilda longed so ardently for her\nhusband, that she is believed to have conjured up the spirits of the\ncombatants by her spells in the night in order to renew the war.\n\nAt the same time came to pass a savage war between Alrik, king of the\nSwedes, and Gestiblind, king of the Goths. The latter, being the weaker,\napproached Frode as a suppliant, willing, if he might get his aid, to\nsurrender his kingdom and himself. He soon received the aid of Skalk,\nthe Skanian, and Erik, and came back with reinforcements. He had\ndetermined to let loose his attack on Alrik, but Erik thought that he\nshould first assail his son Gunthion, governor of the men of Wermland\nand Solongs, declaring that the storm-weary mariner ought to make\nfor the nearest shore, and moreover that the rootless trunk seldom\nburgeoned. So he made an attack, wherein perished Gunthion, whose tomb\nrecords his name. Alrik, when he heard of the destruction of his\nson, hastened to avenge him, and when he had observed his enemies, he\nsummoned Erik, and, in a secret interview, recounted the leagues of\ntheir fathers, imploring him to refuse to fight for Gestiblind.\nThis Erik steadfastly declined, and Alrik then asked leave to fight\nGestiblind, thinking that a duel was better than a general engagement.\nBut Erik said that Gestiblind was unfit for arms by reason of old age,\npleading his bad health, and above all his years; but offered himself\nto fight in his place, explaining that it would be shameful to decline a\nduel on behalf of the man for whom he had come to make a war. Then\nthey fought without delay: Alrik was killed, and Erik was most severely\nwounded; it was hard to find remedies, and he did not for long time\nrecover health. Now a false report had come to Frode that Erik had\nfallen, and was tormenting the king's mind with sore grief; but Erik\ndispelled this sadness with his welcome return; indeed, he reported to\nFrode that by his efforts Sweden, Wermland, Helsingland, and the islands\nof the Sun (Soleyar) had been added to his realm. Frode straightway\nmade him king of the nations he had subdued, and also granted to him\nHelsingland with the two Laplands, Finland and Esthonia, under a yearly\ntribute. None of the Swedish kings before him was called by the name of\nErik, but the title passed from him to the rest.\n\nAt the same time Alf was king in Hethmark, and he had a son Asmund.\nBiorn ruled in the province of Wik, and had a son Aswid. Asmund was\nengaged on an unsuccessful hunt, and while he was proceeding either to\nstalk the game with dogs or to catch it in nets, a mist happened to\ncome on. By this he was separated from his sharers on a lonely track,\nwandered over the dreary ridges, and at last, destitute of horse and\nclothing, ate fungi and mushrooms, and wandered on aimlessly till he\ncame to the dwelling of King Biorn. Moreover, the son of the king and\nhe, when they had lived together a short while, swore by every vow, in\norder to ratify the friendship which they observed to one another, that\nwhichever of them lived longest should be buried with him who died. For\ntheir fellowship and love were so strong, that each determined he would\nnot prolong his days when the other was cut off by death.\n\nAfter this Frode gathered together a host of all his subject nations,\nand attacked Norway with his fleet, Erik being bidden to lead the land\nforce. For, after the fashion of human greed, the more he gained the\nmore he wanted, and would not suffer even the dreariest and most rugged\nregion of the world to escape this kind of attack; so much is increase\nof wealth wont to encourage covetousness. So the Norwegians, casting\naway all hope of self-defence, and losing all confidence in their power\nto revolt, began to flee for the most part to Halogaland. The maiden\nStikla also withdrew from her country to save her chastity, proferring\nthe occupations of war to those of wedlock.\n\nMeanwhile Aswid died of an illness, and was consigned with his horse\nand dog to a cavern in the earth. And Asmund, because of his oath of\nfriendship, had the courage to be buried with him, food being put in for\nhim to eat.\n\nNow just at this time Erik, who had crossed the uplands with his army,\nhappened to draw near the barrow of Aswid; and the Swedes, thinking\nthat treasures were in it, broke the hill open with mattocks, and saw\ndisclosed a cave deeper than they had thought. To examine it, a man was\nwanted, who would lower himself on a hanging rope tied around him. One\nof the quickest of the youths was chosen by lot; and Asmund, when he saw\nhim let down in a basket following a rope, straightway cast him out and\nclimbed into the basket. Then he gave the signal to draw him up to those\nabove who were standing by and controlling the rope. They drew in the\nbasket in the hopes of great treasure; but when they saw the unknown\nfigure of the man they had taken out, they were scared by his\nextraordinary look, and, thinking that the dead had come to life, flung\ndown the rope and fled all ways. For Asmund looked ghastly and seemed to\nbe covered as with the corruption of the charnel. He tried to recall the\nfugitives, and began to clamour that they were wrongfully afraid of a\nliving man. And when Erik saw him, he marvelled most at the aspect of\nhis bloody face: the blood flowing forth and spurting over it. For\nAswid had come to life in the nights, and in his continual struggles had\nwrenched off his left ear; and there was to be seen the horrid sight of\na raw and unhealed scar. And when the bystanders bade him tell how he\nhad got such a wound, he began to speak thus:--\n\n\"Why stand ye aghast, who see me colourless? Surely every live man fades\namong the dead. Evil to the lonely man, and burdensome to the single,\nremains every dwelling in the world. Hapless are they whom chance hath\nbereft of human help. The listless night of the cavern, the darkness of\nthe ancient den, have taken all joy from my eyes and soul. The ghastly\nground, the crumbling barrow, and the heavy tide of filthy things have\nmarred the grace of my youthful countenance, and sapped my wonted pith\nand force. Besides all this, I have fought with the dead, enduring the\nheavy burden and grievous peril of the wrestle; Aswid rose again and\nfell on me with rending nails, by hellish might renewing ghastly warfare\nafter he was ashes.\n\n\"Why stand ye aghast, who see me colourless? Surely every live man fades\namong the dead.\n\n\"By some strange enterprise of the power of hell the spirit of Aswid\nwas sent up from the nether world, and with cruel tooth eats the\nfleet-footed (horse), and has given his dog to his abominable jaws. Not\nsated with devouring the horse or hound, he soon turned his swift nails\nupon me, tearing my cheek and taking off my ear. Hence the hideous sight\nof my slashed countenance, the blood-spurts in the ugly wound. Yet the\nbringer of horrors did it not unscathed; for soon I cut off his head\nwith my steel, and impaled his guilty carcase with a stake.\n\n\"Why stand ye aghast who see me colourless? Surely every live man fades\namong the dead.\"\n\nFrode had by this taken his fleet over to Halogaland; and here, in order\nto learn the numbers of his host, which seemed to surpass all bounds\nand measure that could be counted, he ordered his soldiers to pile up\na hill, one stone being cast upon the heap for each man. The enemy also\npursued the same method of numbering their host, and the hills are still\nto be seen to convince the visitor. Here Frode joined battle with the\nNorwegians, and the day was bloody. At nightfall both sides determined\nto retreat. As daybreak drew near, Erik, who had come across the land,\ncame up and advised the king to renew the battle. In this war the Danes\nsuffered such slaughter that out of 3,000 ships only 170 are supposed to\nhave survived. The Northmen, however, were exterminated in such a mighty\nmassacre, that (so the story goes) there were not men left to till even\na fifth of their villages.\n\nFrode, now triumphant, wished to renew peace among all nations, that\nhe might ensure each man's property from the inroads of thieves and now\nensure peace to his realms after war. So he hung one bracelet on a crag\nwhich is called Frode's Rock, and another in the district of Wik,\nafter he had addressed the assembled Norwegians; threatening that these\nnecklaces should serve to test the honesty which he had decreed, and\nthreatening that if they were filched punishment should fall on all the\ngovernors of the district. And thus, sorely imperilling the officers,\nthere was the gold unguarded, hanging up full in the parting of the\nroads, and the booty, so easy to plunder, a temptation to all covetous\nspirits. (a) Frode also enacted that seafarers should freely use oars\nwherever they found them; while to those who wished to cross a river he\ngranted free use of the horse which they found nearest to the ford. He\ndecreed that they must dismount from this horse when its fore feet only\ntouched land and its hind feet were still washed by the waters. For he\nthought that services such as these should rather be accounted kindness\nthan wrongdoing. Moreover, he ordained that whosoever durst try and\nmake further use of the horse after he had crossed the river should\nbe condemned to death. (b) He also ordered that no man should hold his\nhouse or his coffer under lock and key, or should keep anything guarded\nby bolts, promising that all losses should be made good threefold. Also,\nhe appointed that it was lawful to claim as much of another man's food\nfor provision as would suffice for a single supper. If anyone exceeded\nthis measure in his takings, he was to be held guilty of theft. Now, a\nthief (so he enacted) was to be hung up with a sword passed through his\nsinews, with a wolf fastened by his side, so that the wicked man might\nlook like the savage beast, both being punished alike. He also had the\nsame penalty extended to accomplices in thefts. Here he passed seven\nmost happy years of peace, begetting a son Alf and a daughter Eyfura.\n\nIt chanced that in these days Arngrim, a champion of Sweden, who had\nchallenged, attacked, and slain Skalk the Skanian because he had once\nrobbed him of a vessel, came to Frode. Elated beyond measure with his\ndeed, he ventured to sue for Frode's daughter; but, finding the king\ndeaf to him, he asked Erik, who was ruling Sweden, to help him. Erik\nadvised him to win Frode's goodwill by some illustrious service, and\nto fight against Egther, the King of Permland, and Thengil, the King of\nFinmark, since they alone seemed to repudiate the Danish rule, while all\nmen else submitted. Without delay he led his army to that country.\nNow, the Finns are the uttermost peoples of the North, who have taken a\nportion of the world that is barely habitable to till and dwell in. They\nare very keen spearmen, and no nation has a readier skill in throwing\nthe javelin. They fight with large, broad arrows; they are addicted to\nthe study of spells; they are skilled hunters. Their habitation is not\nfixed, and their dwellings are migratory; they pitch and settle wherever\nthey have caught game. Riding on curved boards (skees or snow-skates),\nthey run over ridges thick with snow. These men Arngrim attacked, in\norder to win renown, and he crushed them. They fought with ill success;\nbut, as they were scattering in flight, they cast three pebbles behind\nthem, which they caused to appear to the eyes of the enemy like three\nmountains. Arngrim's eyes were dazzled and deluded, and he called back\nhis men from the pursuit of the enemy, fancying that he was checked by a\nbarrier of mighty rocks. Again, when they engaged and were beaten on\nthe morrow, the Finns cast snow upon the ground and made it look like\na mighty river. So the Swedes, whose eyes were utterly deluded,\nwere deceived by their misjudgment, for it seemed the roaring of\nan extraordinary mass of waters. Thus, the conqueror dreading the\nunsubstantial phantom of the waters, the Finns managed to escape. They\nrenewed the war again on the third day; but there was no effective\nmeans of escape left any longer, for when they saw that their lines were\nfalling back, they surrendered to the conqueror. Arngrim imposed on them\nthe following terms of tribute: that the number of the Finns should be\ncounted, and that, after the lapse of (every) three years, every ten of\nthem should pay a carriage-full of deer-skins by way of assessment. Then\nhe challenged and slew in single combat Egther, the captain of the men\nof Permland, imposing on the men of Permland the condition that each of\nthem should pay one skin. Enriched with these spoils and trophies,\nhe returned to Erik, who went with him into Denmark, and poured loud\npraises of the young warrior into the ear of Frode, declaring that he\nwho had added the ends of the world to his realms deserved his daughter.\nThen Frode, considering his splendid deserts, thought it was not amiss\nto take for a son-in-law a man who had won wide-resounding fame by such\na roll of noble deeds.\n\nArngrim had twelve sons by Eyfura, whose names I here subjoin: Brand,\nBiarbe, Brodd, Hiarrande; Tand, Tyrfing, two Haddings; Hiortuar,\nHiartuar, Hrane, Anganty. These followed the business of sea-roving from\ntheir youth up; and they chanced to sail all in one ship to the island\nSamso, where they found lying off the coast two ships belonging to\nHialmar and Arvarodd (Arrow-Odd) the rovers. These ships they attacked\nand cleared of rowers; but, not knowing whether they had cut down the\ncaptains, they fitted the bodies of the slain to their several thwarts,\nand found that those whom they sought were missing. At this they were\nsad, knowing that the victory they had won was not worth a straw, and\nthat their safety would run much greater risk in the battle that was to\ncome. In fact, Hialmar and Arvarodd, whose ships had been damaged by\na storm, which had torn off their rudders, went into a wood to hew\nanother; and, going round the trunk with their axes, pared down the\nshapeless timber until the huge stock assumed the form of a marine\nimplement. This they shouldered, and were bearing it down to the beach,\nignorant of the disaster of their friends, when the sons of Eyfura,\nreeking with the fresh blood of the slain, attacked them, so that they\ntwo had to fight many; the contest was not even equal, for it was a\nband of twelve against two. But the victory did not go according to the\nnumbers. For all the sons of Eyfura were killed; Hialmar was slain\nby them, but Arvarodd gained the honours of victory, being the only\nsurvivor left by fate out of all that band of comrades. He, with an\nincredible effort, poised the still shapeless hulk of the rudder, and\ndrove it so strongly against the bodies of his foes that, with a single\nthrust of it, he battered and crushed all twelve. And, so, though they\nwere rid of the general storm of war, the band of rovers did not yet\nquit the ocean.\n\nThis it was that chiefly led Frode to attack the West, for his one\ndesire was the spread of peace. So he summoned Erik, and mustered a\nfleet of all the kingdoms that bid him allegiance, and sailed to Britain\nwith numberless ships. But the king of that island, perceiving that he\nwas unequal in force (for the ships seemed to cover the sea), went\nto Frode, affecting to surrender, and not only began to flatter his\ngreatness, but also promised to the Danes, the conquerors of nations,\nthe submission of himself and of his country; proffering taxes,\nassessment, tribute, what they would. Finally, he gave them a hospitable\ninvitation. Frode was pleased with the courtesy of the Briton, though\nhis suspicions of treachery were kept by so ready and unconstrained\na promise of everything, so speedy a surrender of the enemy before\nfighting; such offers being seldom made in good faith. They were also\ntroubled with alarm about the banquet, fearing that as drunkenness came\non their sober wits might be entangled in it, and attacked by hidden\ntreachery. So few guests were bidden, moreover, that it seemed unsafe\nfor them to accept the invitation; and it was further thought foolish to\ntrust their lives to the good faith of an enemy whom they did not know.\n\nWhen the king found their minds thus wavering he again approached Frode,\nand invited him to the banquet with 2,400 men; having before bidden\nhim to come to the feast with 1,200 nobles. Frode was encouraged by the\nincrease in the number of guests, and was able to go to the banquet\nwith greater inward confidence; but he could not yet lay aside his\nsuspicions, and privily caused men to scour the interior and let him\nknow quickly of any treachery which they might espy. On this errand they\nwent into the forest, and, coming upon the array of an armed encampment\nbelonging to the forces of the Britons, they halted in doubt, but\nhastily retraced their steps when the truth was apparent. For the tents\nwere dusky in colour, and muffled in a sort of pitchy coverings, that\nthey might not catch the eye of anyone who came near. When Frode learned\nthis, he arranged a counter-ambuscade with a strong force of nobles,\nthat he might not go heedlessly to the banquet, and be cheated of timely\naid. They went into hiding, and he warned them that the note of the\ntrumpet was the signal for them to bring assistance. Then with a select\nband, lightly armed, he went to the banquet. The hall was decked with\nregal splendour; it was covered all round with crimson hangings of\nmarvellous rich handiwork. A curtain of purple dye adorned the propelled\nwalls. The flooring was bestrewn with bright mantles, which a man\nwould fear to trample on. Up above was to be seen the twinkle of many\nlanterns, the gleam of lamps lit with oil, and the censers poured forth\nfragrance whose sweet vapour was laden with the choicest perfumes. The\nwhole way was blocked by the tables loaded with good things; and the\nplaces for reclining were decked with gold-embroidered couches; the\nseats were full of pillows. The majestic hall seemed to smile upon\nthe guests, and nothing could be noticed in all that pomp either\ninharmonious to the eye or offensive to the smell. In the midst of the\nhall stood a great butt ready for refilling the goblets, and holding an\nenormous amount of liquor; enough could be drawn from it for the huge\nrevel to drink its fill. Servants, dressed in purple, bore golden cups,\nand courteously did the office of serving the drink, pacing in ordered\nranks. Nor did they fail to offer the draught in the horns of the wild\nox.\n\nThe feast glittered with golden bowls, and was laden with shining\ngoblets, many of them studded with flashing jewels. The place was filled\nwith an immense luxury; the tables groaned with the dishes, and the\nbowls brimmed over with divers liquors. Nor did they use wine pure and\nsimple, but, with juices sought far and wide, composed a nectar of many\nflavours. The dishes glistened with delicious foods, being filled mostly\nwith the spoils of the chase; though the flesh of tame animals was not\nlacking either. The natives took care to drink more sparingly than the\nguests; for the latter felt safe, and were tempted to make an orgy;\nwhile the others, meditating treachery, had lost all temptations to be\ndrunken. So the Danes, who, if I may say so with my country's leave,\nwere seasoned to drain the bowl against each other, took quantities of\nwine. The Britons, when they saw that the Danes were very drunk, began\ngradually to slip away from the banquet, and, leaving their guests\nwithin the hall, made immense efforts, first to block the doors of the\npalace by applying bars and all kinds of obstacles, and then to set fire\nto the house. The Danes were penned inside the hall, and when the fire\nbegan to spread, battered vainly at the doors; but they could not get\nout, and soon attempted to make a sally by assaulting the wall. And the\nAngles, when they saw that it was tottering under the stout attack of\nthe Danes, began to shove against it on their side, and to prop the\nstaggering pile by the application of large blocks on the outside, to\nprevent the wall being shattered and releasing the prisoners. But\nat last it yielded to the stronger hand of the Danes, whose efforts\nincreased with their peril; and those pent within could sally out with\nease. Then Frode bade the trumpet strike in, to summon the band that\nhad been posted in ambush; and these, roused by the note of the clanging\nbugle, caught the enemy in their own trap; for the King of the Britons,\nwith countless hosts of his men, was utterly destroyed. Thus the\nband helped Frode doubly, being both the salvation of his men and the\ndestruction of his enemies.\n\nMeantime the renown of the Danish bravery spread far, and moved the\nIrish to strew iron calthrops on the ground, in order to make their land\nharder to invade, and forbid access to their shores. Now the Irish use\narmour which is light and easy to procure. They crop the hair close with\nrazors, and shave all the hair off the back of the head, that they may\nnot be seized by it when they run away. They also turn the points of\ntheir spears towards the assailant, and deliberately point their sword\nagainst the pursuer; and they generally fling their lances behind their\nback, being more skilled at conquering by flight than by fighting.\nHence, when you fancy that the victory is yours, then is the moment of\ndanger. But Frode was wary and not rash in his pursuit of the foe who\nfled so treacherously, and he routed Kerwil (Cearbal), the leader of\nthe nation, in battle. Kerwil's brother survived, but lost heart\nfor resistance, and surrendered his country to the king (Frode), who\ndistributed among his soldiers the booty he had won, to show himself\nfree from all covetousness and excessive love of wealth, and only\nambitious to gain honour.\n\nAfter the triumphs in Britain and the spoiling of the Irish they\nwent back to Denmark; and for thirty years there was a pause from all\nwarfare. At this time the Danish name became famous over the whole\nworld almost for its extraordinary valour. Frode, therefore, desired to\nprolong and establish for ever the lustre of his empire, and made it\nhis first object to inflict severe treatment upon thefts and brigandage,\nfeeling these were domestic evils and intestine plagues, and that if the\nnations were rid of them they would come to enjoy a more tranquil life;\nso that no ill-will should mar and hinder the continual extention of\npeace. He also took care that the land should not be devoured by any\nplague at home when the enemy was at rest, and that intestine wickedness\nshould not encroach when there was peace abroad. At last he ordered that\nin Jutland, the chief district of his realm, a golden bracelet, very\nheavy, should be set up on the highways (as he had done before in the\ndistrict of Wik), wishing by this magnificent price to test the honesty\nwhich he had enacted. Now, though the minds of the dishonest were vexed\nwith the provocation it furnished, and the souls of the evil tempted,\nyet the unquestioned dread of danger prevailed. For so potent was the\nmajesty of Frode, that it guarded even gold that was thus exposed to\npillage, as though it were fast with bolts and bars. The strange\ndevice brought great glory upon its inventor. After dealing destruction\neverywhere, and gaining famous victories far and wide, he resolved\nto bestow quiet on all men, that the cheer of peace should follow the\nhorrors of war, and the end of slaughter might be the beginning of\nsafety. He further thought that for the same reason all men's property\nshould be secured to them by a protective decree, so that what had been\nsaved from a foreign enemy might not find a plunderer at home.\n\nAbout the same time, the Author of our general salvation, coming to the\nearth in order to save mortals, bore to put on the garb of mortality;\nat which time the fires of war were quenched, and all the lands were\nenjoying the calmest and most tranquil peace. It has been thought that\nthe peace then shed abroad so widely, so even and uninterrupted over the\nwhole world, attended not so much an earthly rule as that divine birth;\nand that it was a heavenly provision that this extraordinary gift of\ntime should be a witness to the presence of Him who created all times.\n\nMeantime a certain matron, skilled in sorcery, who trusted in her art\nmore than she feared the severity of the king, tempted the covetousness\nof her son to make a secret effort for the prize; promising him\nimpunity, since Frode was almost at death's door, his body failing, and\nthe remnant of his doting spirit feeble. To his mother's counsels\nhe objected the greatness of the peril; but she bade him take hope,\ndeclaring, that either a sea-cow should have a calf, or that the king's\nvengeance should be baulked by some other chance. By this speech she\nbanished her son's fears, and made him obey her advice. When the deed\nwas done, Frode, stung by the affront, rushed with the utmost heat and\nfury to raze the house of the matron, sending men on to arrest her and\nbring her with her children. This the woman foreknew, and deluded her\nenemies by a trick, changing from the shape of a woman into that of a\nmare. When Frode came up she took the shape of a sea-cow, and seemed to\nbe straying and grazing about the shore; and she also made her sons\nlook like calves of smaller size. This portent amazed the king, and he\nordered that they should be surrounded and cut off from returning to\nthe waters. Then he left the carriage, which he used because of the\nfeebleness of his aged body, and sat on the ground marvelling. But the\nmother, who had taken the shape of the larger beast, charged at the king\nwith outstretched tusk, and pierced one of his sides. The wound killed\nhim; and his end was unworthy of such majesty as his. His soldiers,\nthirsting to avenge his death, threw their spears and transfixed the\nmonsters, and saw, when they were killed, that they were the corpses of\nhuman beings with the heads of wild beasts: a circumstance which exposed\nthe trick more than anything.\n\nSo ended Frode, the most famous king in the whole world. The nobles,\nwhen he had been disembowelled, had his body kept embalmed for three\nyears, for they feared the provinces would rise if the king's end\nwere published. They wished his death to be concealed above all from\nforeigners, so that by the pretence that he was alive they might\npreserve the boundaries of the empire, which had been extended for\nso long; and that, on the strength of the ancient authority of their\ngeneral, they might exact the usual tribute from their subjects. So, the\nlifeless corpse was carried away by them in such a way that it seemed to\nbe taken, not in a funeral bier, but in a royal carriage, as if it were\na due and proper tribute from the soldiers to an infirm old man not in\nfull possession of his forces. Such splendour did his friends bestow\non him even in death. But when his limbs rotted, and were seized with\nextreme decay, and when the corruption could not be arrested, they\nburied his body with a royal funeral in a barrow near Waere, a bridge of\nZealand; declaring that Frode had desired to die and be buried in what\nwas thought the chief province of his kingdom.\n\n\n\nBOOK SIX.\n\nAfter the death of Frode, the Danes wrongly supposed that Fridleif,\nwho was being reared in Russia, had perished; and, thinking that the\nsovereignty halted for lack of an heir, and that it could no longer be\nkept on in the hands of the royal line, they considered that the sceptre\nwould be best deserved by the man who should affix to the yet fresh\ngrave of Frode a song of praise in his glorification, and commit the\nrenown of the dead king to after ages by a splendid memorial. Then one\nHIARN, very skilled in writing Danish poetry, wishing to give the fame\nof the hero some notable record of words, and tempted by the enormous\nprize, composed, after his own fashion, a barbarous stave. Its purport,\nexpressed in four lines, I have transcribed as follows:\n\n\"Frode, whom the Danes would have wished to live long, they bore long\nthrough their lands when he was dead. The great chief's body, with this\nturf heaped above it, bare earth covers under the lucid sky.\"\n\nWhen the composer of this song had uttered it, the Danes rewarded him\nwith the crown. Thus they gave a kingdom for an epitaph, and the weight\nof a whole empire was presented to a little string of letters. Slender\nexpense for so vast a guerdon! This huge payment for a little poem\nexceeded the glory of Caesar's recompense; for it was enough for the\ndivine Julius to pension with a township the writer and glorifier of\nthose conquests which he had achieved over the whole world. But now the\nspendthrift kindness of the populace squandered a kingdom on a churl.\nNay, not even Africanus, when he rewarded the records of his deed, rose\nto the munificence of the Danes. For there the wage of that laborious\nvolume was in mere gold, while here a few callow verses won a sceptre\nfor a peasant.\n\nAt the same time Erik, who held the governorship of Sweden, died of\ndisease; and his son Halfdan, who governed in his father's stead,\nalarmed by the many attacks of twelve brothers of Norwegian birth, and\npowerless to punish their violence, fled, hoping for reinforcements, to\nask aid of Fridleif, then sojourning in Russia. Approaching him with a\nsuppliant face, he lamented that he was himself shattered and bruised\nby a foreign foe, and brought a dismal plaint of his wrongs. From him\nFridleif heard the tidings of his father's death, and granting the aid\nhe sought, went to Norway in armed array. At this time the aforesaid\nbrothers, their allies forsaking them, built a very high rampart within\nan island surrounded by a swift stream, also extending their earthworks\nalong the level. Trusting to this refuge, they harried the neighborhood\nwith continual raids. For they built a bridge on which they used to get\nto the mainland when they left the island. This bridge was fastened to\nthe gate of the stronghold; and they worked it by the guidance of ropes,\nin such a way that it turned as if on some revolving hinge, and at one\ntime let them pass across the river; while at another, drawn back from\nabove by unseen cords, it helped to defend the entrance.\n\nThese warriors were of valiant temper, young and stalwart, of splendid\nbodily presence, renowned for victories over giants, full of trophies of\nconquered nations, and wealthy with spoil. I record the names of some\nof them--for the rest have perished in antiquity--Gerbiorn, Gunbiorn,\nArinbiorn, Stenbiorn, Esbiorn, Thorbiorn, and Biorn. Biorn is said to\nhave had a horse which was splendid and of exceeding speed, so that\nwhen all the rest were powerless to cross the river it alone stemmed the\nroaring eddy without weariness. This rapid comes down in so swift and\nsheer a volume that animals often lose all power of swimming in it, and\nperish. For, trickling from the topmost crests of the hills, it comes\ndown the steep sides, catches on the rocks, and is shattered, falling\ninto the deep valleys with a manifold clamour of waters; but, being\nstraightway rebuffed by the rocks that bar the way, it keeps the speed\nof its current ever at the same even pace. And so, along the whole\nlength of the channel, the waves are one turbid mass, and the white foam\nbrims over everywhere. But, after rolling out of the narrows between the\nrocks, it spreads abroad in a slacker and stiller flood, and turns into\nan island a rock that lies in its course. On either side of the rock\njuts out a sheer ridge, thick with divers trees, which screen the river\nfrom distant view. Biorn had also a dog of extraordinary fierceness,\na terribly vicious brute, dangerous for people to live with, which had\noften singly destroyed twelve men. But, since the tale is hearsay rather\nthan certainty, let good judges weigh its credit. This dog, as I have\nheard, was the favourite of the giant Offot (Un-foot), and used to watch\nhis herd amid the pastures.\n\nNow the warriors, who were always pillaging the neighbourhood, used\noften to commit great slaughters. Plundering houses, cutting down\ncattle, sacking everything, making great hauls of booty, rifling houses,\nthen burning them, massacring male and female promiscuously--these, and\nnot honest dealings, were their occupations. Fridleif surprised them\nwhile on a reckless raid, and drove them all back for refuge to the\nstronghold; he also seized the immensely powerful horse, whose rider, in\nthe haste of his panic, had left it on the hither side of the river in\norder to fly betimes; for he durst not take it with him over the bridge.\nThen Fridleif proclaimed that he would pay the weight of the dead body\nin gold to any man who slew one of those brothers. The hope of the prize\nstimulated some of the champions of the king; and yet they were fired\nnot so much with covetousness as with valour; so, going secretly to\nFridleif, they promised to attempt the task, vowing to sacrifice their\nlives if they did not bring home the severed heads of the robbers.\nFridleif praised their valour and their vows, but bidding the onlookers\nwait, went in the night to the river, satisfied with a single companion.\nFor, not to seem better provided with other men's valour than with his\nown, he determined to forestall their aid by his own courage. Thereupon\nhe crushed and killed his companion with a shower of flints, and flung\nhis bloodless corpse into the waves, having dressed it in his own\nclothes; which he stripped off, borrowing the cast-off garb of the\nother, so that when the corpse was seen it might look as if the king had\nperished. He further deliberately drew blood from the beast on which he\nhad ridden, and bespattered it, so that when it came back into camp he\nmight make them think he himself was dead. Then he set spur to his\nhorse and drove it into the midst of the eddies, crossed the river\nand alighted, and tried to climb over the rampart that screened the\nstronghold by steps set up against the mound. When he got over the top\nand could grasp the battlements with his hand, he quietly put his foot\ninside, and, without the knowledge of the watch, went lightly on tiptoe\nto the house into which the bandits had gone to carouse. And when he had\nreached its hall, he sat down under the porch overhanging the door. Now\nthe strength of their fastness made the warriors feel so safe that they\nwere tempted to a debauch; for they thought that the swiftly rushing\nriver made their garrison inaccessible, since it seemed impossible\neither to swim over or to cross in boats. For no part of the river\nallowed of fording.\n\nBiorn, moved by the revel, said that in his sleep he had seen a beast\ncome out of the waters, which spouted ghastly fire from its mouth,\nenveloping everything in a sheet of flame. Therefore the holes and\ncorners of the island should, he said, be searched; nor ought they to\ntrust so much to their position, as rashly to let overweening confidence\nbring them to utter ruin. No situation was so strong that the mere\nprotection of nature was enough for it without human effort. Moreover\nthey must take great care that the warning of his slumbers was not\nfollowed by a yet more gloomy and disastrous fulfilment. So they all\nsallied forth from the stronghold, and narrowly scanned the whole\ncircuit of the island; and finding the horse they surmised that Fridleif\nhad been drowned in the waters of the river. They received the horse\nwithin the gates with rejoicing, supposing that it had flung off its\nrider and swum over. But Biorn, still scared with the memory of the\nvisions of the night, advised them to keep watch, since it was not safe\nfor them yet to put aside suspicion of danger. Then he went to his room\nto rest, with the memory of his vision deeply stored in his heart.\n\nMeanwhile the horse, which Fridleif, in order to spread a belief in his\ndeath, had been loosed and besprinkled with blood (though only with that\nwhich lies between flesh and skin), burst all bedabbled into the camp of\nhis soldiers. They went straight to the river, and finding the carcase\nof the slave, took it for the body of the king; the hissing eddies\nhaving cast it on the bank, dressed in brave attire. Nothing helped\ntheir mistake so much as the swelling of the battered body; inasmuch as\nthe skin was torn and bruised with the flints, so that all the features\nwere blotted out, bloodless and wan. This exasperated the champions who\nhad just promised Fridleif to see that the robbers were extirpated:\nand they approached the perilous torrent, that they might not seem to\ntarnish the honour of their promise by a craven neglect of their vow.\nThe rest imitated their boldness, and with equal ardour went to the\nriver, ready to avenge their king or to endure the worst. When Fridleif\nsaw them he hastened to lower the bridge to the mainland; and when he\nhad got the champions he cut down the watch at the first attack. Thus\nhe went on to attack the rest and put them to the sword, all save Biorn;\nwhom he tended very carefully and cured of his wounds; whereupon, under\npledge of solemn oath, he made him his colleague, thinking it better to\nuse his services than to boast of his death. He also declared it would\nbe shameful if such a flower of bravery were plucked in his first youth\nand perished by an untimely death.\n\nNow the Danes had long ago had false tidings of Fridleif's death, and\nwhen they found that he was approaching, they sent men to fetch him,\nand ordered Hiarn to quit the sovereignty, because he was thought to\nbe holding it only on sufferance and carelessly. But he could not bring\nhimself to resign such an honour, and chose sooner to spend his life for\nglory than pass into the dim lot of common men. Therefore he resolved\nto fight for his present estate, that he might not have to resume his\nformer one stripped of his royal honours. Thus the land was estranged\nand vexed with the hasty commotion of civil strife; some were of Hiarn's\nparty, while others agreed to the claims of Fridleif, because of the\nvast services of Frode; and the voice of the commons was perplexed and\ndivided, some of them respecting things as they were, others the memory\nof the past. But regard for the memory of Frode weighed most, and its\nsweetness gave Fridleif the balance of popularity.\n\nMany wise men thought that a person of peasant rank should be removed\nfrom the sovereignty; since, contrary to the rights of birth, and only\nby the favour of fortune, he had reached an unhoped-for eminence; and\nin order that the unlawful occupant might not debar the rightful heir to\nthe office, Fridleif told the envoys of the Danes to return, and request\nHiarn either to resign the kingdom or to meet him in battle. Hiarn\nthought it more grievous than death to set lust of life before honour,\nand to seek safety at the cost of glory. So he met Fridleif in the\nfield, was crushed, and fled into Jutland, where, rallying a band, he\nagain attacked his conqueror. But his men were all consumed with the\nsword, and he fled unattended, as the island testifies which has taken\nits name from his (Hiarno). And so, feeling his lowly fortune, and\nseeing himself almost stripped of his forces by the double defeat, he\nturned his mind to craft, and went to Fridleif with his face\ndisguised, meaning to become intimate, and find an occasion to slay him\ntreacherously.\n\nHiarn was received by the king, hiding his purpose under the pretence\nof servitude. For, giving himself out as a salt-distiller, he performed\nbase offices among the servants who did the filthiest work. He used also\nto take the last place at meal-time, and he refrained from the baths,\nlest his multitude of scars should betray him if he stripped. The king,\nin order to ease his own suspicions, made him wash; and when he knew his\nenemy by the scars, he said: \"Tell me now, thou shameless bandit, how\nwouldst thou have dealt with me, if thou hadst found out plainly that\nI wished to murder thee?\" Hiarn, stupefied, said: \"Had I caught thee I\nwould have first challenged thee, and then fought thee, to give thee a\nbetter chance of wiping out thy reproach.\" Fridleif presently took\nhim at his word, challenged him and slew him, and buried his body in a\nbarrow that bears the dead man's name.\n\nSoon after FRIDLEIF was admonished by his people to think about\nmarrying, that he might prolong his line; but he maintained that the\nunmarried life was best, quoting his father Frode, on whom his wife's\nwantonness had brought great dishonour. At last, yielding to the\npersistent entreaties of all, he proceeded to send ambassadors to ask\nfor the daughter of Amund, King of Norway. One of these, named Frok, was\nswallowed by the waves in mid-voyage, and showed a strange portent at\nhis death. For when the closing flood of billows encompassed him,\nblood arose in the midst of the eddy, and the whole face of the sea was\nsteeped with an alien redness, so that the ocean, which a moment before\nwas foaming and white with tempest, was presently swollen with crimson\nwaves, and was seen to wear a colour foreign to its nature.\n\nAround implacably declined to consent to the wishes of the king, and\ntreated the legates shamefully, declaring that he spurned the embassy\nbecause the tyranny of Frode had of old borne so heavily upon Norway.\nBut Amund's daughter, Frogertha, not only looking to the birth of\nFridleif, but also honouring the glory of his deeds, began to upbraid\nher father, because he scorned a son-in-law whose nobility was perfect,\nbeing both sufficient in valour and flawless in birth. She added that\nthe portentous aspect of the sea, when the waves were suddenly turned\ninto blood, simply and solely signified the defeat of Norway, and was\na plain presage of the victory of Denmark. And when Fridleif sent a\nfurther embassy to ask for her, wishing to vanquish the refusal by\npersistency, Amund was indignant that a petition he had once denied\nshould be obstinately pressed, and hurried the envoys to death, wishing\nto offer a brutal check to the zeal of this brazen wooer. Fridleif heard\nnews of this outrage, and summoning Halfdan and Biorn, sailed round\nNorway. Amund, equipped with his native defences, put out his fleet\nagainst him. The firth into which both fleets had mustered is called\nFrokasund. Here Fridleif left the camp at night to reconnoitre; and,\nhearing an unusual kind of sound close to him as of brass being beaten,\nhe stood still and looked up, and heard the following song of three\nswans, who were crying above him:\n\n\"While Hythin sweeps the sea and cleaves the ravening tide, his serf\ndrinks out of gold and licks the cups of milk. Best is the estate of the\nslave on whom waits the heir, the king's son, for their lots are rashly\ninterchanged.\" Next, after the birds had sung, a belt fell from on high,\nwhich showed writing to interpret the song. For while the son of Hythin,\nthe King of Tellemark, was at his boyish play, a giant, assuming the\nusual appearance of men, had carried him off, and using him as an\noarsman (having taken his skiff over to the neighbouring shore), was\nthen sailing past Fridleif while he was occupied reconnoitering. But the\nking would not suffer him to use the service of the captive youth, and\nlonged to rob the spoiler of his prey. The youth warned him that he\nmust first use sharp reviling against the giant, promising that he would\nprove easy to attack, if only he were assailed with biting verse. Then\nFridleif began thus:\n\n\"Since thou art a giant of three bodies, invincible, and almost reachest\nheaven with thy crest, why does this silly sword bind thy thigh? Why\ndoth a broken spear gird thy huge side? Why, perchance, dost thou defend\nthy stalwart breast with a feeble sword, and forget the likeness of thy\nbodily stature, trusting in a short dagger, a petty weapon? Soon, soon\nwill I balk thy bold onset, when with blunted blade thou attemptest war.\nSince thou art thyself a timid beast, a lump lacking proper pith, thou\nart swept headlong like a flying shadow, having with a fair and famous\nbody got a heart that is unwarlike and unstable with fear, and a spirit\nquite unmatched to thy limbs. Hence thy frame totters, for thy goodly\npresence is faulty through the overthrow of thy soul, and thy nature in\nall her parts is at strife. Hence shall all tribute of praise quit\nthee, nor shalt thou be accounted famous among the brave, but shalt be\nreckoned among ranks obscure.\"\n\nWhen he had said this he lopped off a hand and foot of the giant, made\nhim fly, and set his prisoner free. Then he went straightway to the\ngiant's headland, took the treasure out of his cave, and carried it\naway. Rejoicing in these trophies, and employing the kidnapped youth\nto row him over the sea, he composed with cheery voice the following\nstrain:\n\n\"In the slaying of the swift monster we wielded our blood-stained swords\nand our crimsoned blade, whilst thou, Amund, lord of the Norwegian ruin,\nwert in deep slumber; and since blind night covers thee, without any\nlight of soul, thy valour has melted away and beguiled thee. But we\ncrushed a giant who lost use of his limbs and wealth, and we pierced\ninto the disorder of his dreary den. There we seized and plundered his\npiles of gold. And now with oars we sweep the wave-wandering main, and\njoyously return, rowing back to the shore our booty-laden ship; we fleet\nover the waves in a skiff that travels the sea; gaily let us furrow\nthose open waters, lest the dawn come and betray us to the foe. Lightly\ntherefore, and pulling our hardest, let us scour the sea, making for our\ncamp and fleet ere Titan raise his rosy head out of the clear waters;\nthat when fame noises the deed about, and Frogertha knows that the spoil\nhas been won with a gallant struggle, her heart may be stirred to be\nmore gentle to our prayer.\"\n\nOn the morrow there was a great muster of the forces, and Fridleif had\na bloody battle with Amund, fought partly by sea and partly by land. For\nnot only were the lines drawn up in the open country, but the warriors\nalso made an attack with their fleet. The battle which followed cost\nmuch blood. So Biorn, when his ranks gave back, unloosed his hound and\nsent it against the enemy; wishing to win with the biting of a dog the\nvictory which he could not achieve with the sword. The enemy were by\nthis means shamefully routed, for a square of the warriors ran away when\nattacked with its teeth.\n\nThere is no saying whether their flight was more dismal or more\ndisgraceful. Indeed, the army of the Northmen was a thing to blush for;\nfor an enemy crushed it by borrowing the aid of a brute. Nor was it\ntreacherous of Fridleif to recruit the failing valour of his men with\nthe aid of a dog. In this war Amund fell; and his servant Ane, surnamed\nthe Archer, challenged Fridleif to fight him; but Biorn, being a man of\nmeaner estate, not suffering the king to engage with a common fellow,\nattacked him himself. And when Biorn had bent his bow and was fitting\nthe arrow to the string, suddenly a dart sent by Ane pierced the top of\nthe cord. Soon another arrow came after it and struck amid the joints of\nhis fingers. A third followed, and fell on the arrow as it was laid to\nthe string. For Ane, who was most dexterous at shooting arrows from a\ndistance, had purposely only struck the weapon of his opponent, in order\nthat, by showing it was in his power to do likewise to his person, he\nmight recall the champion from his purpose. But Biorn abated none of\nhis valour for this, and, scorning bodily danger, entered the fray with\nheart and face so steadfast, that he seemed neither to yield anything\nto the skill of Ane, nor lay aside aught of his wonted courage. Thus\nhe would in nowise be made to swerve from his purpose, and dauntlessly\nventured on the battle. Both of them left it wounded; and fought another\nalso on Agdar Ness with an emulous thirst for glory.\n\nBy the death of Amund, Fridleif was freed from a most bitter foe, and\nobtained a deep and tranquil peace; whereupon he forced his savage\ntemper to the service of delight; and, transferring his ardour to love,\nequipped a fleet in order to seek the marriage which had once been\ndenied him. At last he set forth on his voyage; and his fleet being\nbecalmed, he invaded some villages to look for food; where, being\nreceived hospitably by a certain Grubb, and at last winning his daughter\nin marriage, he begat a son named Olaf. After some time had passed he\nalso won Frogertha; but, while going back to his own country, he had a\nbad voyage, and was driven on the shores of an unknown island. A certain\nman appeared to him in a vision, and instructed him to dig up a treasure\nthat was buried in the ground, and also to attack the dragon that\nguarded it, covering himself in an ox-hide to escape the poison;\nteaching him also to meet the envenomed fangs with a hide stretched over\nhis shield. Therefore, to test the vision, he attacked the snake as it\nrose out of the waves, and for a long time cast spears against its scaly\nside; in vain, for its hard and shelly body foiled the darts flung at\nit. But the snake, shaking its mass of coils, uprooted the trees which\nit brushed past by winding its tail about them. Moreover, by constantly\ndragging its body, it hollowed the ground down to the solid rock, and\nhad made a sheer bank on either hand, just as in some places we see\nhills parted by an intervening valley. So Fridleif, seeing that the\nupper part of the creature was proof against attack, assailed the\nlower side with his sword, and piercing the groin, drew blood from\nthe quivering beast. When it was dead, he unearthed the money from the\nunderground chamber and had it taken off in his ships.\n\nWhen the year had come to an end, he took great pains to reconcile Biorn\nand Ane, who had often challenged and fought one another, and made them\nexchange their hatred for friendship; and even entrusted to them his\nthree-year-old son, Olaf, to rear. But his mistress, Juritha, the mother\nof Olaf, he gave in marriage to Ane, whom he made one of his warriors;\nthinking that she would endure more calmly to be put away, if she wedded\nsuch a champion, and received his robust embrace instead of a king's.\n\nThe ancients were wont to consult the oracles of the Fates concerning\nthe destinies of their children. In this way Fridleif desired to search\ninto the fate of his son Olaf; and, after solemnly offering up his vows,\nhe went to the house of the gods in entreaty; where, looking into the\nchapel, he saw three maidens, sitting on three seats. The first of them\nwas of a benignant temper, and bestowed upon the boy abundant beauty\nand ample store of favour in the eyes of men. The second granted him\nthe gift of surpassing generosity. But the third, a woman of more\nmischievous temper and malignant disposition, scorning the unanimous\nkindness of her sisters, and likewise wishing to mar their gifts, marked\nthe future character of the boy with the slur of niggardliness. Thus the\nbenefits of the others were spoilt by the poison of a lamentable doom;\nand hence, by virtue of the twofold nature of these gifts Olaf got his\nsurname from the meanness which was mingled with his bounty. So it came\nabout that this blemish which found its way into the gift marred the\nwhole sweetness of its first benignity.\n\nWhen Fridleif had returned from Norway, and was traveling through\nSweden, he took on himself to act as ambassador, and sued successfully\nfor Hythin's daughter, whom he had once rescued from a monster, to\nbe the wife of Halfdan, he being still unwedded. Meantime his wife\nFrogertha bore a son FRODE, who afterwards got his surname from\nhis noble munificence. And thus Frode, because of the memory of his\ngrandsire's prosperity, which he recalled by his name, became from his\nvery cradle and earliest childhood such a darling of all men, that\nhe was not suffered even to step or stand on the ground, but was\ncontinually cherished in people's laps and kissed. Thus he was not\nassigned to one upbringer only, but was in a manner everybody's\nfosterling. And, after his father's death, while he was in his twelfth\nyear, Swerting and Hanef, the kings of Saxony, disowned his sway, and\ntried to rebel openly. He overcame them in battle, and imposed on the\nconquered peoples a poll-tax of a coin, which they were to pay as his\nslaves. For he showed himself so generous that he doubled the ancient\npay of the soldiers: a fashion of bounty which then was novel. For he\ndid not, as despots do, expose himself to the vulgar allurements of\nvice, but strove to covet ardently whatsoever he saw was nearest honour;\nto make his wealth public property; to surpass all other men in bounty,\nto forestall them all in offices of kindness; and, hardest of all, to\nconquer envy by virtue. By this means the youth soon won such favour\nwith all men, that he not only equalled in renown the honours of his\nforefathers, but surpassed the most ancient records of kings.\n\nAt the same time one Starkad, the son of Storwerk, escaped alone, either\nby force or fortune, from a wreck in which his friends perished, and\nwas received by Frode as his guest for his incredible excellence both of\nmind and body. And, after being for some little time his comrade, he was\ndressed in a better and more comely fashion every day, and was at last\ngiven a noble vessel, and bidden to ply the calling of a rover, with\nthe charge of guarding the sea. For nature had gifted him with a body of\nsuperhuman excellence; and his greatness of spirit equalled it, so that\nfolk thought him behind no man in valour. So far did his glory spread,\nthat the renown of his name and deeds continues famous even yet. He\nshone out among our own countrymen by his glorious roll of exploits, and\nhe had also won a most splendid record among all the provinces of the\nSwedes and Saxons. Tradition says that he was born originally in the\ncountry which borders Sweden on the east, where barbarous hordes of\nEsthonians and other nations now dwell far and wide. But a fabulous yet\ncommon rumour has invented tales about his birth which are contrary to\nreason and flatly incredible. For some relate that he was sprung from\ngiants, and betrayed his monstrous birth by an extraordinary number of\nhands, four of which, engendered by the superfluity of his nature, they\ndeclare that the god Thor tore off, shattering the framework of the\nsinews and wrenching from his whole body the monstrous bunches of\nfingers; so that he had but two left, and that his body, which had\nbefore swollen to the size of a giant's, and, by reason of its shapeless\ncrowd of limbs looked gigantic, was thenceforth chastened to a better\nappearance, and kept within the bounds of human shortness.\n\nFor there were of old certain men versed in sorcery, Thor, namely,\nand Odin, and many others, who were cunning in contriving marvellous\nsleights; and they, winning the minds of the simple, began to claim\nthe rank of gods. For, in particular, they ensnared Norway, Sweden\nand Denmark in the vainest credulity, and by prompting these lands to\nworship them, infected them with their imposture. The effects of their\ndeceit spread so far, that all other men adored a sort of divine power\nin them, and, thinking them either gods or in league with gods,\noffered up solemn prayers to these inventors of sorceries, and gave to\nblasphemous error the honour due to religion. Hence it has come about\nthat the holy days, in their regular course, are called among us by the\nnames of these men; for the ancient Latins are known to have named these\ndays severally, either after the titles of their own gods, or after the\nplanets, seven in number. But it can be plainly inferred from the mere\nnames of the holy days that the objects worshipped by our countrymen\nwere not the same as those whom the most ancient of the Romans called\nJove and Mercury, nor those to whom Greece and Latium paid idolatrous\nhomage. For the days, called among our countrymen Thors-day or\nOdins-day, the ancients termed severally the holy day of Jove or of\nMercury. If, therefore, according to the distinction implied in the\ninterpretation I have quoted, we take it that Thor is Jove and Odin\nMercury, it follows that Jove was the son of Mercury; that is, if the\nassertion of our countrymen holds, among whom it is told as a matter\nof common belief, that Thor was Odin's son. Therefore, when the Latins,\nbelieving to the contrary effect, declare that Mercury was sprung from\nJove, then, if their declaration is to stand, we are driven to consider\nthat Thor was not the same as Jove, and that Odin was also different\nfrom Mercury. Some say that the gods, whom our countrymen worshipped,\nshared only the title with those honoured by Greece or Latium, but that,\nbeing in a manner nearly equal to them in dignity, they borrowed from\nthem the worship as well as the name. This must be sufficient discourse\nupon the deities of Danish antiquity. I have expounded this briefly for\nthe general profit, that my readers may know clearly to what worship in\nits heathen superstition our country has bowed the knee. Now I will go\nback to my subject where I left it.\n\nAncient tradition says that Starkad, whom I mentioned above, offered the\nfirst-fruits of his deeds to the favour of the gods by slaying Wikar,\nthe king of the Norwegians. The affair, according to the version of some\npeople, happened as follows:--\n\nOdin once wished to slay Wikar by a grievous death; but, loth to do\nthe deed openly, he graced Starkad, who was already remarkable for his\nextraordinary size, not only with bravery, but also with skill in the\ncomposing of spells, that he might the more readily use his services to\naccomplish the destruction of the king. For that was how he hoped that\nStarkad would show himself grateful for the honour he paid him. For the\nsame reason he also endowed him with three spans of mortal life, that\nhe might be able to commit in them as many abominable deeds. So Odin\nresolved that Starkad's days should be prolonged by the following crime:\nStarkad presently went to Wikar and dwelt awhile in his company, hiding\ntreachery under homage. At last he went with him sea-roving. And in a\ncertain place they were troubled with prolonged and bitter storms; and\nwhen the winds checked their voyage so much that they had to lie still\nmost of the year, they thought that the gods must be appeased with human\nblood. When the lots were cast into the urn it so fell that the king was\nrequired for death as a victim. Then Starkad made a noose of withies and\nbound the king in it; saying that for a brief instant he should pay\nthe mere semblance of a penalty. But the tightness of the knot acted\naccording to its nature, and cut off his last breath as he hung. And\nwhile he was still quivering Starkad rent away with his steel the\nremnant of his life; thus disclosing his treachery when he ought to\nhave brought aid. I do not think that I need examine the version which\nrelates that the pliant withies, hardened with the sudden grip, acted\nlike a noose of iron.\n\nWhen Starkad had thus treacherously acted he took Wikar's ship and went\nto one Bemon, the most courageous of all the rovers of Denmark, in order\nto take up the life of a pirate. For Bemon's partner, named Frakk, weary\nof the toil of sea-roving, had lately withdrawn from partnership with\nhim, after first making a money-bargain. Now Starkad and Bemon were so\ncareful to keep temperate, that they are said never to have indulged\nin intoxicating drink, for fear that continence, the greatest bond of\nbravery, might be expelled by the power of wantonness. So when, after\noverthrowing provinces far and wide, they invaded Russia also in their\nlust for empire, the natives, trusting little in their walls or arms,\nbegan to bar the advance of the enemy with nails of uncommon sharpness,\nthat they might check their inroad, though they could not curb their\nonset in battle; and that the ground might secretly wound the soles of\nthe men whom their army shrank from confronting in the field. But not\neven such a barrier could serve to keep off the foe. The Danes were\ncunning enough to foil the pains of the Russians. For they straightway\nshod themselves with wooden clogs, and trod with unhurt steps upon the\npoints that lay beneath their soles. Now this iron thing is divided into\nfour spikes, which are so arranged that on whatsoever side chance may\ncast it, it stands steadily on three equal feet. Then they struck into\nthe pathless glades, where the woods were thickets, and expelled Flokk,\nthe chief of the Russians, from the mountain hiding-places into which\nhe had crept. And here they got so much booty, that there was not one of\nthem but went back to the fleet laden with gold and silver.\n\nNow when Bemon was dead, Starkad was summoned because of his valour by\nthe champions of Permland. And when he had done many noteworthy deeds\namong them, he went into the land of the Swedes, where he lived at\nleisure for seven years' space with the sons of Frey. At last he left\nthem and betook himself to Hakon, the tyrant of Denmark, because when\nstationed at Upsala, at the time of the sacrifices, he was disgusted by\nthe effeminate gestures and the clapping of the mimes on the stage, and\nby the unmanly clatter of the bells. Hence it is clear how far he kept\nhis soul from lasciviousness, not even enduring to look upon it. Thus\ndoes virtue withstand wantonness.\n\nStarkad took his fleet to the shore of Ireland with Hakon, in order that\neven the furthest kingdoms of the world might not be untouched by the\nDanish arms. The king of the island at this time was Hugleik, who,\nthough he had a well-filled treasury, was yet so prone to avarice, that\nonce, when he gave a pair of shoes which had been adorned by the hand\nof a careful craftsman, he took off the ties, and by thus removing the\nlatches turned his present into a slight. This unhandsome act blemished\nhis gift so much that he seemed to reap hatred for it instead of thanks.\nThus he used never to be generous to any respectable man, but to spend\nall his bounty upon mimes and jugglers. For so base a fellow was bound\nto keep friendly company with the base, and such a slough of vices to\nwheedle his partners in sin with pandering endearments.\n\nStill Hugleik had the friendship of Geigad and Swipdag, nobles of tried\nvalour, who, by the lustre of their warlike deeds, shone out among their\nunmanly companions like jewels embedded in ordure; these alone were\nfound to defend the riches of the king. When a battle began between\nHugleik and Hakon, the hordes of mimes, whose light-mindedness\nunsteadied their bodies, broke their ranks and scurried off in panic;\nand this shameful flight was their sole requital for all their king's\nbenefits. Then Geigad and Swipdag faced all those thousands of the enemy\nsingle-handed, and fought with such incredible courage, that they seemed\nto do the part not merely of two warriors, but of a whole army. Geigad,\nmoreover, dealt Hakon, who pressed him hard, such a wound in the breast\nthat he exposed the upper part of his liver. It was here that Starkad,\nwhile he was attacking Geigad with his sword, received a very sore wound\non the head; wherefore he afterwards related in a certain song that\na ghastlier wound had never befallen him at any time; for, though the\ndivisions of his gashed head were bound up by the surrounding outer\nskin, yet the livid unseen wound concealed a foul gangrene below.\n\nStarkad conquered, killed Hugleik and routed the Irish; and had the\nactors beaten whom chance made prisoner; thinking it better to order a\npack of buffoons to be ludicrously punished by the loss of their skins\nthan to command a more deadly punishment and take their lives. Thus\nhe visited with a disgraceful chastisement the baseborn throng\nof professional jugglers, and was content to punish them with the\ndisgusting flouts of the lash. Then the Danes ordered that the wealth of\nthe king should be brought out of the treasury in the city of Dublin and\npublicly pillaged. For so vast a treasure had been found that none took\nmuch pains to divide it strictly.\n\nAfter this, Starkad was commissioned, together with Win, the chief of\nthe Sclavs, to check the revolt of the East. They, having fought against\nthe armies of the Kurlanders, the Sembs, the Sangals, and, finally, all\nthe Easterlings, won splendid victories everywhere.\n\nA champion of great repute, named Wisin, settled upon a rock in Russia\nnamed Ana-fial, and harried both neighbouring and distant provinces with\nall kinds of outrage. This man used to blunt the edge of every weapon by\nmerely looking at it. He was made so bold in consequence, by having lost\nall fear of wounds, that he used to carry off the wives of distinguished\nmen and drag them to outrage before the eyes of their husbands. Starkad\nwas roused by the tale of this villainy, and went to Russia to destroy\nthe criminal; thinking nothing too hard to overcome, he challenged\nWisin, attacked him, made even his tricks useless to him, and slew him.\nFor Starkad covered his blade with a very fine skin, that it might not\nmet the eye of the sorcerer; and neither the power of his sleights\nnor his great strength were any help to Wisin, for he had to yield to\nStarkad. Then Starkad, trusting in his bodily strength, fought with\nand overcame a giant at Byzantium, reputed invincible, named Tanne, and\ndrove him to fly an outlaw to unknown quarters of the earth. Therefore,\nfinding that he was too mighty for any hard fate to overcome him, he\nwent to the country of Poland, and conquered in a duel a champion\nwhom our countrymen name Wasce; but the Teutons, arranging the letters\ndifferently, call him Wilzce.\n\nMeanwhile the Saxons began to attempt a revolt, and to consider\nparticularly how they could destroy Frode, who was unconquered in war,\nby some other way than an open conflict. Thinking that it would be best\ndone by a duel, they sent men to provoke the king with a challenge,\nknowing that he was always ready to court any hazard, and that his high\nspirit would not yield to any admonition whatever. They fancied that\nthis was the best time to attack him, because they knew that Starkad,\nwhose valour most men dreaded, was away on business. But while Frode\nhesitated, and said that he would talk with his friends about the\nanswer to be given, Starkad, who had just returned from his sea-roving,\nappeared, and blamed such a challenge, principally (he said) because it\nwas fitting for kings to fight only with their equals, and because\nthey should not take up arms against men of the people; but it was more\nfitting for himself, who was born in a lowlier station, to manage the\nbattle.\n\nThe Saxons approached Hame, who was accounted their most famous\nchampion, with many offers, and promised him that, if he would lend his\nservices for the duel they would pay him his own weight in gold.\nThe fighter was tempted by the money, and, with all the ovation of a\nmilitary procession, they attended him to the ground appointed for the\ncombat. Thereupon the Danes, decked in warlike array, led Starkad, who\nwas to represent his king, out to the duelling-ground. Hame, in his\nyouthful assurance, despised him as withered with age, and chose to\ngrapple rather than fight with an outworn old man. Attacking Starkad, he\nwould have flung him tottering to the earth, but that fortune, who would\nnot suffer the old man to be conquered, prevented him from being hurt.\nFor he is said to have been so crushed by the fist of Hame, as he dashed\non him, that he touched the earth with his chin, supporting himself on\nhis knees. But he made up nobly for his tottering; for, as soon as he\ncould raise his knee and free his hand to draw his sword, he clove Hame\nthrough the middle of the body. Many lands and sixty bondmen apiece were\nthe reward of the victory.\n\nAfter Hame was killed in this manner the sway of the Danes over the\nSaxons grew so insolent, that they were forced to pay every year a small\ntax for each of their limbs that was a cubit (ell) long, in token of\ntheir slavery. This Hanef could not bear, and he meditated war in his\ndesire to remove the tribute. Steadfast love of his country filled his\nheart every day with greater compassion for the oppressed; and, longing\nto spend his life for the freedom of his countrymen, he openly showed\na disposition to rebel. Frode took his forces over the Elbe, and killed\nhim near the village of Hanofra (Hanover), so named after Hanef. But\nSwerting, though he was equally moved by the distress of his countrymen,\nsaid nothing about the ills of his land, and revolved a plan for freedom\nwith a spirit yet more dogged than Hanef's. Men often doubt whether\nthis zeal was liker to vice or to virtue; but I certainly censure it as\ncriminal, because it was produced by a treacherous desire to revolt. It\nmay have seemed most expedient to seek the freedom of the country, but\nit was not lawful to strive after this freedom by craft and treachery.\nTherefore, since the deed of Swerting was far from honourable, neither\nwill it be called expedient; for it is nobler to attack openly him whom\nyou mean to attack, and to exhibit hatred in the light of day, than to\ndisguise a real wish to do harm under a spurious show of friendship. But\nthe gains of crime are inglorious, its fruits are brief and fading. For\neven as that soul is slippery, which hides its insolent treachery by\nstealthy arts, so is it right that whatsoever is akin to guilt should be\nfrail and fleeting. For guilt has been usually found to come home to its\nauthor; and rumour relates that such was the fate of Swerting. For he\nhad resolved to surprise the king under the pretence of a banquet, and\nburn him to death; but the king forestalled and slew him, though slain\nby him in return. Hence the crime of one proved the destruction of both;\nand thus, though the trick succeeded against the foe, it did not bestow\nimmunity on its author.\n\nFrode was succeeded by his son Ingild, whose soul was perverted\nfrom honour. He forsook the examples of his forefathers, and utterly\nenthralled himself to the lures of the most wanton profligacy. Thus\nhe had not a shadow of goodness and righteousness, but embraced vices\ninstead of virtue; he cut the sinews of self-control, neglected the\nduties of his kingly station, and sank into a filthy slave of riot.\nIndeed, he fostered everything that was adverse or ill-fitted to an\norderly life. He tainted the glories of his father and grandfather by\npractising the foulest lusts, and bedimmed the brightest honours of his\nancestors by most shameful deeds. For he was so prone to gluttony, that\nhe had no desire to avenge his father, or repel the aggressions of his\nfoes; and so, could he but gratify his gullet, he thought that decency\nand self-control need be observed in nothing. By idleness and sloth he\nstained his glorious lineage, living a loose and sensual life; and his\nsoul, so degenerate, so far perverted and astray from the steps of his\nfathers, he loved to plunge into most abominable gulfs of foulness.\nFowl-fatteners, scullions, frying-pans, countless cook-houses, different\ncooks to roast or spice the banquet--the choosing of these stood to him\nfor glory. As to arms, soldiering, and wars, he could endure neither\nto train himself to them, nor to let others practise them. Thus he cast\naway all the ambitions of a man and aspired to those of women; for\nhis incontinent itching of palate stirred in him love of every\nkitchen-stench. Ever breathing of his debauch, and stripped of every rag\nof soberness, with his foul breath he belched the undigested filth in\nhis belly. He was as infamous in wantonness as Frode was illustrious in\nwar. So utterly had his spirit been enfeebled by the untimely seductions\nof gluttony. Starkad was so disgusted at the excess of Ingild, that he\nforsook his friendship, and sought the fellowship of Halfdan, the King\nof Swedes, preferring work to idleness. Thus he could not bear so\nmuch as to countenance excessive indulgence. Now the sons of Swerting,\nfearing that they would have to pay to Ingild the penalty of their\nfather's crime, were fain to forestall his vengeance by a gift, and gave\nhim their sister in marriage. Antiquity relates that she bore him sons,\nFrode, Fridleif, Ingild, and Olaf (whom some say was the son of Ingild's\nsister).\n\nIngild's sister Helga had been led by amorous wooing to return the\nflame of a certain low-born goldsmith, who was apt for soft words, and\nfurnished with divers of the little gifts which best charm a woman's\nwishes. For since the death of the king there had been none to honour\nthe virtues of the father by attention to the child; she had lacked\nprotection, and had no guardians. When Starkad had learnt this from the\nrepeated tales of travellers, he could not bear to let the wantonness of\nthe smith pass unpunished. For he was always heedful to bear kindness in\nmind, and as ready to punish arrogance. So he hastened to chastise\nsuch bold and enormous insolence, wishing to repay the orphan ward the\nbenefits he had of old received from Frode. Then he travelled through\nSweden, went into the house of the smith, and posted himself near the\nthreshold muffling his face in a cap to avoid discovery. The smith, who\nhad not learnt the lesson that \"strong hands are sometimes found under a\nmean garment\", reviled him, and bade him quickly leave the house, saying\nthat he should have the last broken victuals among the crowd of paupers.\nBut the old man, whose ingrained self-control lent him patience, was\nnevertheless fain to rest there, and gradually study the wantonness of\nhis host. For his reason was stronger than his impetuosity, and curbed\nhis increasing rage. Then the smith approached the girl with open\nshamelessness, and cast himself in her lap, offering the hair of his\nhead to be combed out by her maidenly hands.\n\nAlso he thrust forward his loin cloth, and required her help in picking\nout the fleas; and exacted from this woman of lordly lineage that\nshe should not blush to put her sweet fingers in a foul apron. Then,\nbelieving that he was free to have his pleasure, he ventured to put his\nlonging palms within her gown and to set his unsteady hands close to her\nbreast. But she, looking narrowly, was aware of the presence of the old\nman whom she once had known, and felt ashamed. She spurned the wanton\nand libidinous fingering, and repulsed the unchaste hands, telling the\nman also that he had need of arms, and urging him to cease his lewd\nsport.\n\nStarkad, who had sat down by the door, with the hat muffling his head,\nhad already become so deeply enraged at this sight, that he could not\nfind patience to hold his hand any longer, but put away his covering and\nclapped his right hand to his sword to draw it. Then the smith, whose\nonly skill was in lewdness, faltered with sudden alarm, and finding that\nit had come to fighting, gave up all hope of defending himself, and saw\nin flight the only remedy for his need. Thus it was as hard to break out\nof the door, of which the enemy held the approach, as it was grievous to\nawait the smiter within the house. At last necessity forced him to put\nan end to his delay, and he judged that a hazard wherein there lay but\nthe smallest chance of safety was more desirable than sure and manifest\ndanger. Also, hard as it was to fly, the danger being so close, yet he\ndesired flight because it seemed to bring him aid, and to be the nearer\nway to safety; and he cast aside delay, which seemed to be an evil\nbringing not the smallest help, but perhaps irretrievable ruin. But just\nas he gained the threshold, the old man watching at the door smote him\nthrough the hams, and there, half dead, he tottered and fell. For the\nsmiter thought he ought carefully to avoid lending his illustrious hands\nto the death of a vile cinder-blower, and considered that ignominy would\npunish his shameless passion worse than death. Thus some men think\nthat he who suffers misfortune is worse punished than he who is slain\noutright. Thus it was brought about, that the maiden, who had never had\nparents to tend her, came to behave like a woman of well-trained nature,\nand did the part, as it were, of a zealous guardian to herself. And when\nStarkad, looking round, saw that the household sorrowed over the late\nloss of their master, he heaped shame on the wounded man with more\ninvective, and thus began to mock:\n\n\"Why is the house silent and aghast? What makes this new grief? Or where\nnow rest that doting husband whom the steel has just punished for his\nshameful love? Keeps he still aught of his pride and lazy wantonness?\nHolds he to his quest, glows his lust as hot as before? Let him while\naway an hour with me in converse, and allay with friendly words my\nhatred of yesterday. Let your visage come forth with better cheer; let\nnot lamentation resound in the house, or suffer the faces to become\ndulled with sorrow.\n\n\"Wishing to know who burned with love for the maiden, and was deeply\nenamoured of my beloved ward, I put on a cap, lest my familiar face\nmight betray me. Then comes in that wanton smith, with lewd steps,\nbending his thighs this way and that with studied gesture, and likewise\nmaking eyes as he ducked all ways. His covering was a mantle fringed\nwith beaver, his sandals were inlaid with gems, his cloak was decked\nwith gold. Gorgeous ribbons bound his plaited hair, and a many-coloured\nband drew tight his straying locks. Hence grew a sluggish and puffed-up\ntemper; he fancied that wealth was birth, and money forefathers, and\nreckoned his fortune more by riches than by blood. Hence came pride unto\nhim, and arrogance led to fine attire. For the wretch began to think\nthat his dress made him equal to the high-born; he, the cinder-blower,\nwho hunts the winds with hides, and puffs with constant draught, who\nrakes the ashes with his fingers, and often by drawing back the bellows\ntakes in the air, and with a little fan makes a breath and kindles the\nsmouldering fires! Then he goes to the lap of the girl, and leaning\nclose, says, `Maiden, comb my hair and catch the skipping fleas, and\nremove what stings my skin.' Then he sat and spread his arms that\nsweated under the gold, lolling on the smooth cushion and leaning back\non his elbow, wishing to flaunt his adornment, just as a barking brute\nunfolds the gathered coils of its twisted tail. But she knew me, and\nbegan to check her lover and rebuff his wanton hands; and, declaring\nthat it was I, she said, `Refrain thy fingers, check thy promptings,\ntake heed to appease the old man sitting close by the doors. The sport\nwill turn to sorrow. I think Starkad is here, and his slow gaze scans\nthy doings.' The smith answered: `Turn not pale at the peaceful raven\nand the ragged old man; never has that mighty one whom thou fearest\nstooped to such common and base attire. The strong man loves shining\nraiment, and looks for clothes to match his courage.' Then I uncovered\nand drew my sword, and as the smith fled I clove his privy parts; his\nhams were laid open, cut away from the bone; they showed his entrails.\nPresently I rise and crush the girl's mouth with my fist, and draw blood\nfrom her bruised nostril. Then her lips, used to evil laughter, were wet\nwith tears mingled with blood, and foolish love paid for all the sins\nit committed with soft eyes. Over is the sport of the hapless woman who\nrushed on, blind with desire, like a maddened mare, and makes her\nlust the grave of her beauty. Thou deservest to be sold for a price to\nforeign peoples and to grind at the mill, unless blood pressed from thy\nbreasts prove thee falsely accused, and thy nipple's lack of milk clear\nthee of the crime. Howbeit, I think thee free from this fault; yet bear\nnot tokens of suspicion, nor lay thyself open to lying tongues, nor give\nthyself to the chattering populace to gird at. Rumour hurts many, and a\nlying slander often harms. A little word deceives the thoughts of common\nmen. Respect thy grandsires, honour thy fathers, forget not thy parents,\nvalue thy forefathers; let thy flesh and blood keep its fame. What\nmadness came on thee? And thou, shameless smith, what fate drove thee in\nthy lust to attempt a high-born race? Or who sped thee, maiden, worthy\nof the lordliest pillows, to loves obscure? Tell me, how durst thou\ntaste with thy rosy lips a mouth reeking of ashes, or endure on thy\nbreast hands filthy with charcoal, or bring close to thy side the arms\nthat turn the live coals over, and put the palms hardened with the use\nof the tongs to thy pure cheeks, and embrace the head sprinkled with\nembers, taking it to thy bright arms?\n\n\"I remember how smiths differ from one another, for once they smote me.\nAll share alike the name of their calling, but the hearts beneath are\ndifferent in temper. I judge those best who weld warriors' swords and\nspears for the battle, whose temper shows their courage, who betoken\ntheir hearts by the sternness of their calling, whose work declares\ntheir prowess. There are also some to whom the hollow mould yields\nbronze, as they make the likeness of divers things in molten gold, who\nsmelt the veins and recast the metal. But Nature has fashioned these of\na softer temper, and has crushed with cowardice the hands which she\nhas gifted with rare skill. Often such men, while the heat of the blast\nmelts the bronze that is poured in the mould, craftily filch flakes of\ngold from the lumps, when the vessel thirsts after the metal they have\nstolen.\"\n\nSo speaking, Starkad got as much pleasure from his words as from his\nworks, and went back to Halfdan, embracing his service with the closest\nfriendship, and never ceasing from the exercise of war; so that he\nweaned his mind from delights, and vexed it with incessant application\nto arms.\n\nNow Ingild had two sisters, Helga and Asa; Helga was of full age to\nmarry, while Asa was younger and unripe for wedlock. Then Helge the\nNorwegian was moved with desire to ask for Helga for his wife, and\nembarked. Now he had equipped his vessel so luxuriously that he had\nlordly sails decked with gold, held up also on gilded masts, and tied\nwith crimson ropes. When he arrived Ingild promised to grant him his\nwish if, to test his reputation publicly, he would first venture to meet\nin battle the champions pitted against him. Helge did not flinch at the\nterms; he answered that he would most gladly abide by the compact.\nAnd so the troth-plight of the future marriage was most ceremoniously\nsolemnized.\n\nA story is remembered that there had grown up at the same time, on the\nIsle of Zealand, the nine sons of a certain prince, all highly gifted\nwith strength and valour, the eldest of whom was Anganty. This last was\na rival suitor for the same maiden; and when he saw that the match\nwhich he had been denied was promised to Helge, he challenged him to\na struggle, wishing to fight away his vexation. Helge agreed to the\nproposed combat. The hour of the fight was appointed for the wedding-day\nby the common wish of both. For any man who, being challenged, refused\nto fight, used to be covered with disgrace in the sight of all men. Thus\nHelge was tortured on the one side by the shame of refusing the battle,\non the other by the dread of waging it. For he thought himself attacked\nunfairly and counter to the universal laws of combat, as he had\napparently undertaken to fight nine men single-handed. While he was\nthus reflecting his betrothed told him that he would need help, and\ncounselled him to refrain from the battle, wherein it seemed he would\nencounter only death and disgrace, especially as he had not stipulated\nfor any definite limit to the number of those who were to be his\nopponents. He should therefore avoid the peril, and consult his safety\nby appealing to Starkad, who was sojourning among the Swedes; since it\nwas his way to help the distressed, and often to interpose successfully\nto retrieve some dismal mischance.\n\nThen Helge, who liked the counsel thus given very well, took a small\nescort and went into Sweden; and when he reached its most famous city,\nUpsala, he forbore to enter, but sent in a messenger who was to invite\nStarkad to the wedding of Frode's daughter, after first greeting him\nrespectfully to try him. This courtesy stung Starkad like an insult. He\nlooked sternly on the youth, and said, \"That had he not had his beloved\nFrode named in his instructions, he should have paid dearly for his\nsenseless mission. He must think that Starkad, like some buffoon or\ntrencherman, was accustomed to rush off to the reek of a distant kitchen\nfor the sake of a richer diet.\" Helge, when his servant had told him\nthis, greeted the old man in the name of Frode's daughter, and asked him\nto share a battle which he had accepted upon being challenged, saying\nthat he was not equal to it by himself, the terms of the agreement being\nsuch as to leave the number of his adversaries uncertain. Starkad, when\nhe had heard the time and place of the combat, not only received the\nsuppliant well, but also encouraged him with the offer of aid, and told\nhim to go back to Denmark with his companions, telling him that he would\nfind his way to him by a short and secret path. Helge departed, and if\nwe may trust report, Starkad, by sheer speed of foot, travelled in one\nday's journeying over as great a space as those who went before him are\nsaid to have accomplished in twelve; so that both parties, by a chance\nmeeting, reached their journey's end, the palace of Ingild, at the very\nsame time. Here Starkad passed, just as the servants did, along the\ntables filled with guests; and the aforementioned nine, howling horribly\nwith repulsive gestures, and running about as if they were on the stage,\nencouraged one another to the battle. Some say that they barked like\nfurious dogs at the champion as he approached. Starkad rebuked them for\nmaking themselves look ridiculous with such an unnatural visage, and for\nclowning with wide grinning cheeks; for from this, he declared, soft and\neffeminate profligates derived their wanton incontinence. When Starkad\nwas asked banteringly by the nine whether he had valour enough to fight,\nhe answered that doubtless he was strong enough to meet, not merely one,\nbut any number that might come against him. And when the nine heard this\nthey understood that this was the man whom they had heard would come\nto the succour of Helge from afar. Starkad also, to protect the\nbride-chamber with a more diligent guard, voluntarily took charge of the\nwatch; and, drawing back the doors of the bedroom, barred them with\na sword instead of a bolt, meaning to post himself so as to give\nundisturbed quiet to their bridal.\n\nWhen Helge woke, and, shaking off the torpor of sleep, remembered his\npledge, he thought of buckling on his armour. But, seeing that a little\nof the darkness of night yet remained, and wishing to wait for the hour\nof dawn, he began to ponder the perilous business at hand, when sleep\nstole on him and sweetly seized him, so that he took himself back to\nbed laden with slumber. Starkad, coming in on him at daybreak, saw him\nlocked asleep in the arms of his wife, and would not suffer him to be\nvexed with a sudden shock, or summoned from his quiet slumbers; lest\nhe should seem to usurp the duty of wakening him and breaking upon the\nsweetness of so new a union, all because of cowardice. He thought it,\ntherefore, more handsome to meet the peril alone than to gain a comrade\nby disturbing the pleasure of another. So he quietly retraced his steps,\nand scorning his enemies, entered the field which in our tongue is\ncalled Roliung, and finding a seat under the slope of a certain hill,\nhe exposed himself to wind and snow. Then, as though the gentle airs of\nspring weather were breathing upon him, he put off his cloak, and set to\npicking out the fleas. He also cast on the briars a purple mantle which\nHelga had lately given him, that no clothing might seem to lend him\nshelter against the raging shafts of hail. Then the champions came and\nclimbed the hill on the opposite side; and, seeking a spot sheltered\nfrom the winds wherein to sit, they lit a fire and drove off the cold.\nAt last, not seeing Starkad, they sent a man to the crest of the hill,\nto watch his coming more clearly, as from a watch-tower. This man\nclimbed to the top of the lofty mountain, and saw, on its sloping side,\nan old man covered shoulder-high with the snow that showered down. He\nasked him if he was the man who was to fight according to the promise.\nStarkad declared that he was. Then the rest came up and asked him\nwhether he had resolved to meet them all at once or one by one. But he\nsaid, \"Whenever a surly pack of curs yelps at me, I commonly send them\nflying all at once, and not in turn.\" Thus he let them know that he\nwould rather fight with-them all together than one by one, thinking that\nhis enemies should be spurned with words first and deeds afterwards.\n\nThe fight began furiously almost immediately, and he felled six of them\nwithout receiving any wound in return; and though the remaining three\nwounded him so hard in seventeen places that most of his bowels gushed\nout of his belly, he slew them notwithstanding, like their brethren.\nDisembowelled, with failing strength, he suffered from dreadful straits\nof thirst, and, crawling on his knees in his desire to find a draught,\nhe longed for water from the streamlet that ran close by. But when he\nsaw it was tainted with gore he was disgusted at the look of the water,\nand refrained from its infected draught. For Anganty had been struck\ndown in the waves of the river, and had dyed its course so deep with his\nred blood that it seemed now to flow not with water, but with some ruddy\nliquid. So Starkad thought it nobler that his bodily strength should\nfail than that he should borrow strength from so foul a beverage.\nTherefore, his force being all but spent, he wriggled on his knees, up\nto a rock that happened to be lying near, and for some little while lay\nleaning against it. A hollow in its surface is still to be seen, just as\nif his weight as he lay had marked it with a distinct impression of\nhis body. But I think this appearance is due to human handiwork, for it\nseems to pass all belief that the hard and uncleavable rock should so\nimitate the softness of wax, as, merely by the contact of a man leaning\non it, to present the appearance of a man having sat there, and assume\nconcavity for ever.\n\nA certain man, who chanced to be passing by in a cart, saw Starkad\nwounded almost all over his body. Equally aghast and amazed, he turned\nand drove closer, asking what reward he should have if he were to tend\nand heal his wounds. But Starkad would rather be tortured by grievous\nwounds than use the service of a man of base estate, and first asked\nhis birth and calling. The man said that his profession was that of a\nsergeant. Starkad, not content with despising him, also spurned him with\nrevilings, because, neglecting all honourable business, he followed the\ncalling of a hanger-on; and because he had tarnished his whole career\nwith ill repute, thinking the losses of the poor his own gains;\nsuffering none to be innocent, ready to inflict wrongful accusation\nupon all men, most delighted at any lamentable turn in the fortunes of\nanother; and toiling most at his own design, namely of treacherously\nspying out all men's doings, and seeking some traitorous occasion to\ncensure the character of the innocent.\n\nAs this first man departed, another came up, promising aid and remedies.\nLike the last comer, he was bidden to declare his condition; and he\nsaid that he had a certain man's handmaid to wife, and was doing peasant\nservice to her master in order to set her free. Starkad refused to\naccept his help, because he had married in a shameful way by taking a\nslave to his embrace. Had he had a shred of virtue he should at least\nhave disdained to be intimate with the slave of another, but should have\nenjoyed some freeborn partner of his bed. What a mighty man, then, must\nwe deem Starkad, who, when enveloped in the most deadly perils, showed\nhimself as great in refusing aid as in receiving wounds!\n\nWhen this man departed a woman chanced to approach and walk past the\nold man. She came up to him in order to wipe his wounds, but was first\nbidden to declare what was her birth and calling. She said that she was\na handmaid used to grinding at the mill. Starkad then asked her if she\nhad children; and when he was told that she had a female child, he told\nher to go home and give the breast to her squalling daughter; for he\nthought it most uncomely that he should borrow help from a woman of the\nlowest degree. Moreover, he knew that she could nourish her own flesh\nand blood with milk better than she could minister to the wounds of a\nstranger.\n\nAs the woman was departing, a young man came riding up in a cart. He saw\nthe old man, and drew near to minister to his wounds. On being asked who\nhe was, he said his father was a labourer, and added that he was used\nto the labours of a peasant. Starkad praised his origin, and pronounced\nthat his calling was also most worthy of honour; for, he said, such men\nsought a livelihood by honourable traffic in their labour, inasmuch as\nthey knew not of any gain, save what they had earned by the sweat\nof their brow. He also thought that a country life was justly to be\npreferred even to the most splendid riches; for the most wholesome\nfruits of it seemed to be born and reared in the shelter of a middle\nestate, halfway between magnificence and squalor. But he did not wish\nto pass the kindness of the youth unrequited, and rewarded the esteem\nhe had shown him with the mantle he had cast among the thorns. So the\npeasant's son approached, replaced the parts of his belly that had been\ntorn away, and bound up with a plait of withies the mass of intestines\nthat had fallen out. Then he took the old man to his car, and with the\nmost zealous respect carried him away to the palace.\n\nMeantime Helga, in language betokening the greatest wariness, began to\ninstruct her husband, saying that she knew that Starkad, as soon as\nhe came back from conquering the champions, would punish him for his\nabsence, thinking that he had inclined more to sloth and lust than to\nhis promise to fight as appointed. Therefore he must withstand Starkad\nboldly, because he always spared the brave but loathed the coward. Helge\nrespected equally her prophecy and her counsel, and braced his soul\nand body with a glow of valorous enterprise. Starkad, when he had been\ndriven to the palace, heedless of the pain of his wounds, leaped swiftly\nout of the cart, and just like a man who was well from top to toe, burst\ninto the bridal-chamber, shattering the doors with his fist. Then Helge\nleapt from his bed, and, as he had been taught by the counsel of his\nwife, plunged his blade full at Starkad's forehead. And since he seemed\nto be meditating a second blow, and to be about to make another thrust\nwith his sword, Helga flew quickly from the couch, caught up a shield,\nand, by interposing it, saved the old man from impending destruction;\nfor, notwithstanding, Helge with a stronger stroke of his blade smote\nthe shield right through to the boss. Thus the praiseworthy wit of the\nwoman aided her friend, and her hand saved him whom her counsel had\ninjured; for she protected the old man by her deed, as well as her\nhusband by her warning. Starkad was induced by this to let Helge go\nscot-free; saying that a man whose ready and assured courage so surely\nbetokened manliness, ought to be spared; for he vowed that a man ill\ndeserved death whose brave spirit was graced with such a dogged will to\nresist.\n\nStarkad went back to Sweden before his wounds had been treated with\nmedicine, or covered with a single scar. Halfdan had been killed by his\nrivals; and Starkad, after quelling certain rebels, set up Siward as the\nheir to his father's sovereignty. With him he sojourned a long time; but\nwhen he heard--for the rumour spread--that Ingild, the son of Frode (who\nhad been treacherously slain), was perversely minded, and instead\nof punishing his father's murderers, bestowed upon them kindness and\nfriendship, he was vexed with stinging wrath at so dreadful a crime.\nAnd, resenting that a youth of such great parts should have renounced\nhis descent from his glorious father, he hung on his shoulders a mighty\nmass of charcoal, as though it were some costly burden, and made his\nway to Denmark. When asked by those he met why he was taking along so\nunusual a load, he said that he would sharpen the dull wits of King\nIngild to a point by bits of charcoal. So he accomplished a swift and\nheadlong journey, as though at a single breath, by a short and speedy\ntrack; and at last, becoming the guest of Ingild, he went up, as his\ncustom was, in to the seat appointed for the great men; for he had been\nused to occupy the highest post of distinction with the kings of the\nlast generation.\n\nWhen the queen came in, and saw him covered over with filth and clad\nin the mean, patched clothes of a peasant, the ugliness of her guest's\ndress made her judge him with little heed; and, measuring the man by the\nclothes, she reproached him with crassness of wit, because he had gone\nbefore greater men in taking his place at table, and had assumed a seat\nthat was too good for his boorish attire. She bade him quit the place,\nthat he might not touch the cushions with his dress, which was fouler\nthan it should have been. For she put down to crassness and brazenness\nwhat Starkad only did from proper pride; she knew not that on a high\nseat of honour the mind sometimes shines brighter than the raiment. The\nspirited old man obeyed, though vexed at the rebuff, and with marvellous\nself-control choked down the insult which his bravery so ill deserved;\nuttering at this disgrace he had received neither word nor groan. But\nhe could not long bear to hide the bitterness of his anger in silence.\nRising, and retreating to the furthest end of the palace, he flung his\nbody against the walls; and strong as they were, he so battered them\nwith the shock, that the beams quaked mightily; and he nearly brought\nthe house down in a crash. Thus, stung not only with his rebuff, but\nwith the shame of having poverty cast in his teeth, he unsheathed\nhis wrath against the insulting speech of the queen with inexorable\nsternness.\n\nIngild, on his return from hunting, scanned him closely, and, when\nhe noticed that he neither looked cheerfully about, nor paid him the\nrespect of rising, saw by the sternness written on his brow that it was\nStarkad. For when he noted his hands horny with fighting, his scars in\nfront, the force and fire of his eye, he perceived that a man whose\nbody was seamed with so many traces of wounds had no weakling soul.\nHe therefore rebuked his wife, and charged her roundly to put away her\nhaughty tempers, and to soothe and soften with kind words and gentle\noffices the man she had reviled; to comfort him with food and drink,\nand refresh him with kindly converse; saying, that this man had been\nappointed his tutor by his father long ago, and had been a most tender\nguardian of his childhood. Then, learning too late the temper of the old\nman, she turned her harshness into gentleness, and respectfully waited\non him whom she had rebuffed and railed at with bitter revilings.\nThe angry hostess changed her part, and became the most fawning of\nflatterers. She wished to check his anger with her attentiveness; and\nher fault was the less, inasmuch as she was so quick in ministering\nto him after she had been chidden. But she paid dearly for it, for she\npresently beheld stained with the blood of her brethren the place where\nshe had flouted and rebuffed the brave old man from his seat.\n\nNow, in the evening, Ingild took his meal with the sons of Swerting,\nand fell to a magnificent feast, loading the tables with the profusest\ndishes. With friendly invitation he kept the old man back from leaving\nthe revel too early; as though the delights of elaborate dainties could\nhave undermined that staunch and sturdy virtue! But when Starkad had set\neyes on these things, he scorned so wanton a use of them; and, not to\ngive way a whit to foreign fashions, he steeled his appetite against\nthese tempting delicacies with the self-restraint which was his greatest\nstrength. He would not suffer his repute as a soldier to be impaired\nby the allurements of an orgy. For his valour loved thrift, and was a\nstranger to all superfluity of food, and averse to feasting in excess.\nFor his was a courage which never at any moment had time to make luxury\nof aught account, and always forewent pleasure to pay due heed to\nvirtue. So, when he saw that the antique character of self-restraint,\nand all good old customs, were being corrupted by new-fangled luxury\nand sumptuosity, he wished to be provided with a morsel fitter for a\npeasant, and scorned the costly and lavish feast.\n\nSpurning profuse indulgence in food, Starkad took some smoky and rather\nrancid fare, appeasing his hunger with a bitter relish because more\nsimply; and being unwilling to enfeeble his true valour with the tainted\nsweetness of sophisticated foreign dainties, or break the rule of\nantique plainness by such strange idolatries of the belly. He was also\nvery wroth that they should go, to the extravagance of having the same\nmeat both roasted and boiled at the same meal; for he considered an\neatable which was steeped in the vapours of the kitchen, and which the\nskill of the cook rubbed over with many kinds of flavours, in the light\nof a monstrosity.\n\nUnlike Starkad Ingild flung the example of his ancestors to the winds,\nand gave himself freer licence of innovation in the fashions of the\ntable than the custom of his fathers allowed. For when he had once\nabandoned himself to the manners of Teutonland, he did not blush to\nyield to its unmanly wantonness. No slight incentives to debauchery have\nflowed down our country's throat from that sink of a land. Hence came\nmagnificent dishes, sumptuous kitchens, the base service of cooks, and\nall sorts of abominable sausages. Hence came our adoption, wandering\nfrom the ways of our fathers, of a more dissolute dress. Thus our\ncountry, which cherished self-restraint as its native quality, has\ngone begging to our neighbours for luxury; whose allurements so charmed\nIngild, that he did not think it shameful to requite wrongs with\nkindness; nor did the grievous murder of his father make him heave one\nsigh of bitterness when it crossed his mind.\n\nBut the queen would not depart without effecting her purpose. Thinking\nthat presents would be the best way to banish the old man's anger, she\ntook off her own head a band of marvellous handiwork, and put it in his\nlap as he supped: desiring to buy his favour since she could not blunt\nhis courage. But Starkad, whose bitter resentment was not yet abated,\nflung it back in the face of the giver, thinking that in such a gift\nthere was more scorn than respect. And he was wise not to put this\nstrange ornament of female dress upon the head that was all bescarred\nand used to the helmet; for he knew that the locks of a man ought not to\nwear a woman's head-band. Thus he avenged slight with slight, and repaid\nwith retorted scorn the disdain he had received; thereby bearing himself\nwell-nigh as nobly in avenging his disgrace as he had borne himself in\nenduring it.\n\nTo the soul of Starkad reverence for Frode was grappled with hooks of\nlove. Drawn to him by deeds of bounty, countless kindnesses, he could\nnot be wheedled into giving up his purpose of revenge by any sort of\nalluring complaisance. Even now, when Frode was no more, he was eager\nto pay the gratitude due to his benefits, and to requite the kindness\nof the dead, whose loving disposition and generous friendship he had\nexperienced while he lived. For he bore graven so deeply in his heart\nthe grievous picture of Frode's murder, that his honour for that most\nfamous captain could never be plucked from the inmost chamber of his\nsoul; and therefore he did not hesitate to rank his ancient friendship\nbefore the present kindness. Besides, when he recalled the previous\naffront, he could not thank the complaisance that followed; he could not\nput aside the disgraceful wound to his self-respect. For the memory of\nbenefits or injuries ever sticks more firmly in the minds of brave\nmen than in those of weaklings. For he had not the habits of those who\nfollow their friends in prosperity and quit them in adversity, who pay\nmore regard to fortune than to looks, and sit closer to their own gain\nthan to charity toward others.\n\nBut the woman held to her purpose, seeing that even so she could not win\nthe old man to convivial mirth. Continuing with yet more lavish courtesy\nher efforts to soothe him, and to heap more honours on the guest, she\nbade a piper strike up, and started music to melt his unbending rage.\nFor she wanted to unnerve his stubborn nature by means of cunning\nsounds. But the cajolery of pipe or string was just as powerless to\nenfeeble that dogged warrior. When he heard it, he felt that the respect\npaid him savoured more of pretence than of love. Hence the crestfallen\nperformer seemed to be playing to a statue rather than a man, and learnt\nthat it is vain for buffoons to assail with, their tricks a settled and\nweighty sternness, and that a mighty mass cannot be shaken with the\nidle puffing of the lips. For Starkad had set his face so firmly in his\nstubborn wrath, that he seemed not a whit easier to move than ever. For\nthe inflexibility which he owed his vows was not softened either by the\nstrain of the lute or the enticements of the palate; and he thought that\nmore respect should be paid to his strenuous and manly purpose than to\nthe tickling of the ears or the lures of the feast. Accordingly he flung\nthe bone, which he had stripped in eating the meat, in the face of the\nharlequin, and drove the wind violently out of his puffed cheeks, so\nthat they collapsed. By this he showed how his austerity loathed the\nclatter of the stage; for his ears were stopped with anger and open to\nno influence of delight. This reward, befitting an actor, punished\nan unseemly performance with a shameful wage. For Starkad excellently\njudged the man's deserts, and bestowed a shankbone for the piper to pipe\non, requiting his soft service with a hard fee. None could say whether\nthe actor piped or wept the louder; he showed by his bitter flood of\ntears how little place bravery has in the breasts of the dissolute. For\nthe fellow was a mere minion of pleasure, and had never learnt to bear\nthe assaults of calamity. This man's hurt was ominous of the carnage\nthat was to follow at the feast. Right well did Starkad's spirit,\nheedful of sternness, hold with stubborn gravity to steadfast revenge;\nfor he was as much disgusted at the lute as others were delighted,\nand repaid the unwelcome service by insultingly flinging a bone; thus\navowing that he owed a greater debt to the glorious dust of his mighty\nfriend than to his shameless and infamous ward.\n\nBut when Starkad saw that the slayers of Frode were in high favour\nwith the king, his stern glances expressed the mighty wrath which he\nharboured, and his face betrayed what he felt. The visible fury of his\ngaze betokened the secret tempest in his heart. At last, when Ingild\ntried to appease him with royal fare, he spurned the dainty. Satisfied\nwith cheap and common food, he utterly spurned outlandish delicacies;\nhe was used to plain diet, and would not pamper his palate with any\ndelightful flavour. When he was asked why he had refused the generous\nattention of the king with such a clouded brow, he said that he had come\nto Denmark to find the son of Frode, not a man who crammed his proud\nand gluttonous stomach with rich elaborate feasts. For the Teuton\nextravagance which the king favoured had led him, in his longing for the\npleasures of abundance, to set to the fire again, for roasting, dishes\nwhich had been already boiled. Thereupon he could not forbear from\nattacking Ingild's character, but poured out the whole bitterness of\nhis reproaches on his head. He condemned his unfilial spirit, because\nhe gaped with repletion and vented his squeamishness in filthy hawkings;\nbecause, following the lures of the Saxons, he strayed and departed far\nfrom soberness; because he was so lacking in manhood as not to pursue\neven the faintest shadow of it. But, declared Starkad, he bore the\nheaviest load of infamy, because, even when he first began to see\nservice, he forgot to avenge his father, to whose butchers, forsaking\nthe law of nature, he was kind and attentive. Men whose deserts were\nmost vile he welcomed with loving affection; and not only did he let\nthose go scot-free, whom he should have punished most sharply, but he\neven judged them fit persons to live with and entertain at his table,\nwhereas he should rather have put them to death. Hereupon Starkad is\nalso said to have sung as follows:\n\n\"Let the unwarlike youth yield to the aged, let him honour all the years\nof him that is old. When a man is brave, let none reproach the number of\nhis days.\n\n\"Though the hair of the ancient whiten with age, their valour stays\nstill the same; nor shall the lapse of time have power to weaken their\nmanly heart.\n\n\"I am elbowed away by the offensive guest, who taints with vice his\noutward show of goodness, whilst he is the slave of his belly and\nprefers his daily dainties to anything.\n\n\"When I was counted as a comrade of Frode, I ever sat in the midst of\nwarriors on a high seat in the hall, and I was the first of the princes\nto take my meal.\n\n\"Now, the lot of a nobler age is reversed; I am shut in a corner, I am\nlike the fish that seeks shelter as it wanders to and fro hidden in the\nwaters.\n\n\"I, who used surely in the former age to lie back on a couch handsomely\nspread, am now thrust among the hindmost and driven from the crowded\nhall.\n\n\"Perchance I had been driven on my back at the doors, had not the wall\nstruck my side and turned me back, and had not the beam, in the way made\nit hard for me to fly when I was thrust forth.\n\n\"I am baited with the jeers of the court-folk; I am not received as\na guest should be; I am girded at with harsh gibing, and stung with\nbabbling taunts.\n\n\"I am a stranger, and would gladly know what news are spread abroad by\nbusy rumour; what is the course of events; what the order of the land;\nwhat is doing in your country.\n\n\"Thou, Ingild, buried in sin, why dost thou tarry in the task of\navenging thy father? Wilt thou think tranquilly of the slaughter of thy\nrighteous sire?\n\n\"Why dost thou, sluggard, think only of feasting, and lean thy belly\nback in ease, more effeminate than harlots? Is the avenging of thy\nslaughtered father a little thing to thee?\n\n\"When last I left thee, Frode, I learned by my prophetic soul that thou,\nmightiest of kings, wouldst surely perish by the sword of enemies.\n\n\"And while I travelled long in the land, a warning groan rose in my\nsoul, which augured that thereafter I was never to see thee more.\n\n\"Wo is me, that then I was far away, harrying the farthest peoples of\nthe earth, when the traitorous guest aimed craftily at the throat of his\nking.\n\n\"Else I would either have shown myself the avenger of my lord, or\nhave shared his fate and fallen where he fell, and would joyfully have\nfollowed the blessed king in one and the same death.\n\n\"I have not come to indulge in gluttonous feasting, the sin whereof I\nwill strive to chastise; nor will I take mine ease, nor the delights of\nthe fat belly.\n\n\"No famous king has ever set me before in the middle by the strangers. I\nhave been wont to sit in the highest seats among friends.\n\n\"I have come from Sweden, travelling over wide lands, thinking that I\nshould be rewarded, if only I had the joy to find the son of my beloved\nFrode.\n\n\"But I sought a brave man, and I have come to a glutton, a king who is\nthe slave of his belly and of vice, whose liking has been turned back\ntowards wantonness by filthy pleasure.\n\n\"Famous is the speech men think that Halfdan spoke: he warned us it\nwould soon come to pass that an understanding father should beget a\nwitless son.\n\n\"Though the heir be deemed degenerate, I will not suffer the wealth of\nmighty Frode to profit strangers or to be made public like plunder.\"\n\nAt these words the queen trembled, and she took from her head the ribbon\nwith which she happened, in woman's fashion, to be adorning her hair,\nand proffered it to the enraged old man, as though she could avert his\nanger with a gift. Starkad in anger flung it back most ignominiously in\nthe face of the giver, and began again in a loud voice:\n\n\"Take hence, I pray thee, thy woman's gift, and set back thy headgear on\nthy head; no brave man assumes the chaplets that befit Love only.\n\n\"For it is amiss that the hair of men that are ready for battle should\nbe bound back with wreathed gold; such attire is right for the throngs\nof the soft and effeminate.\n\n\"But take this gift to thy husband, who loves luxury, whose finger\nitches, while he turns over the rump and handles the flesh of the bird\nroasted brown.\n\n\"The flighty and skittish wife of Ingild longs to observe the fashions\nof the Teutons; she prepares the orgy and makes ready the artificial\ndainties.\n\n\"For she tickles the palate with a new-fangled feast; she pursues the\nzest of an unknown flavour, raging to load all the tables with dishes\nyet more richly than before.\n\n\"She gives her lord wine to drink in bowls, pondering all things with\nzealous preparation; she bids the cooked meats be roasted, and intends\nthem for a second fire.\n\n\"Wantonly she feeds her husband like a hog; a shameless whore,\ntrusting....\n\n\"She roasts the boiled, and recooks the roasted meats, planning the meal\nwith spendthrift extravagance, careless of right and wrong, practising\nsin, a foul woman.\n\n\"Wanton in arrogance, a soldier of Love, longing for dainties, she\nabjures the fair ways of self-control, and also provides devices for\ngluttony.\n\n\"With craving stomach she desires turnip strained in a smooth pan, cakes\nwith thin juice, and shellfish in rows.\n\n\"I do not remember the Great Frode putting his hand to the sinews of\nbirds, or tearing the rump of a cooked fowl with crooked thumb.\n\n\"What former king could have been so gluttonous as to stir the stinking\nfilthy flesh, or rummage in the foul back of a bird with plucking\nfingers?\n\n\"The food of valiant men is raw; no need, methinks, of sumptuous tables\nfor those whose stubborn souls are bent on warfare.\n\n\"It had been fitter for thee to have torn the stiff beard, biting hard\nwith thy teeth, than greedily to have drained the bowl of milk with thy\nwide mouth.\n\n\"We fled from the offence of the sumptuous kitchen; we stayed our\nstomach with rancid fare; few in the old days loved cooked juices.\n\n\"A dish with no sauce of herbs gave us the flesh of rams and swine. We\npartook temperately, tainting nothing with bold excess.\n\n\"Thou who now lickest the milk-white fat, put on, prithee, the spirit of\na man; remember Frode, and avenge thy father's death.\n\n\"The worthless and cowardly heart shall perish, and shall not parry the\nthrust of death by flight, though it bury itself in a valley, or crouch\nin darkling dens.\n\n\"Once we were eleven princes, devoted followers of King Hakon, and here\nGeigad sat above Helge in the order of the meal.\n\n\"Geigad used to appease the first pangs of hunger with a dry rump of\nham; and plenty of hard crust quelled the craving of his stomach.\n\n\"No one asked for a sickly morsel; all took their food in common; the\nmeal of mighty men cost but slight display.\n\n\"The commons shunned foreign victual, and the greatest lusted not for a\nfeast; even the king remembered to live temperately at little cost.\n\n\"Scorning to look at the mead, he drank the fermented juice of Ceres; he\nshrank not from the use of undercooked meats, and hated the roast.\n\n\"The board used to stand with slight display, a modest salt-cellar\nshowed the measure of its cost; lest the wise ways of antiquity should\nin any wise be changed by foreign usage.\n\n\"Of old, no man put flagons or mixing-bowls on the tables; the steward\nfilled the cup from the butt, and there was no abundance of adorned\nvessels.\n\n\"No one who honoured past ages put the smooth wine-jars beside the\ntankards, and of old no bedizened lackey heaped the platter with\ndainties.\n\n\"Nor did the vainglorious host deck the meal with little salt-shell\nor smooth cup; but all has been now abolished in shameful wise by the\nnew-fangled manners.\n\n\"Who would ever have borne to take money in ransom for the death of a\nlost parent, or to have asked a foe for a gift to atone for the murder\nof a father?\n\n\"What strong heir or well-starred son would have sat side by side with\nsuch as these, letting a shameful bargain utterly unnerve the warrior?\n\n\"Wherefore, when the honours of kings are sung, and bards relate the\nvictories of captains, I hide my face for shame in my mantle, sick at\nheart.\n\n\"For nothing shines in thy trophies, worthy to be recorded by the pen;\nno heir of Frode is named in the roll of the honourable.\n\n\"Why dost thou vex me with insolent gaze, thou who honourest the foe\nguilty of thy father's blood, and art thought only to take thy vengeance\nwith loaves and warm soup?\n\n\"When men speak well of the avengers of crimes, then long thou to lose\nthy quick power of hearing, that thy impious spirit may not be ashamed.\n\n\"For oft has the virtue of another vexed a heart that knows its guilt,\nand the malice in the breast is abashed by the fair report of the good.\n\n\"Though thou go to the East, or live sequestered in the countries of\nthe West, or whether, driven thence, thou seek the midmost place of the\nearth;\n\n\"Whether thou revisit the cold quarter of the heaven where the pole is\nto be seen, and carries on the sphere with its swift spin, and looks\ndown upon the neighbouring Bear;\n\n\"Shame shall accompany thee far, and shall smite thy countenance with\nheavy disgrace, when the united assembly of the great kings is taking\npastime.\n\n\"Since everlasting dishonour awaits thee, thou canst not come amidst\nthe ranks of the famous; and in every clime thou shalt pass thy days in\ninfamy.\n\n\"The fates have given Frode an offspring born into the world when gods\nwere adverse, whose desires have been enthralled by crime and ignoble\nlust.\n\n\"Even as in a ship all things foul gather to the filthy hollow of the\nbilge, even so hath a flood of vices poured into Ingild.\n\n\"Therefore, in terror of thy shame being published, thou shalt lie\ncrushed in the corners of the land, sluggish on thy foul hearth, and\nnever to be seen in the array of the famous.\n\n\"Then shalt thou shake thy beard at thine evil fate, kept down by the\ntaunts of thy mistresses, when thy paramour galls thy ear with her\nquerulous cries.\n\n\"Since chill fear retards thy soul, and thou dreadest to become the\navenger of thy sire, thou art utterly degenerate, and thy ways are like\na slave's.\n\n\"It would have needed scant preparation to destroy thee; even as if a\nman should catch and cut the throat of a kid, or slit the weazand of a\nsoft sheep and butcher it.\n\n\"Behold, a son of the tyrant Swerting shall take the inheritance of\nDenmark after thee; he whose slothful sister thou keepest in infamous\nunion.\n\n\"Whilst thou delightest to honour thy bride, laden with gems and shining\nin gold apparel, we burn with all indignation that is linked with shame,\nlamenting thy infamies.\n\n\"When thou art stirred by furious lust, our mind is troubled, and\nrecalls the fashion of ancient times, and bids us grieve sorely.\n\n\"For we rate otherwise than thou the crime of the foes whom now thou\nholdest in honour; wherefore the face of this age is a burden to me,\nremembering the ancient ways.\n\n\"I would crave no greater blessing, O Frode, if I might see those guilty\nof thy murder duly punished for such a crime.\"\n\nNow he prevailed so well by this stirring counsel, that his reproach\nserved like a flint wherewith to strike a blazing flame of valour in the\nsoul that had been chill and slack. For the king had at first heard\nthe song inattentively; but, stirred by the earnest admonition of\nhis guardian, he conceived in his heart a tardy fire of revenge; and,\nforgetting the reveller, he changed into the foeman. At last he leapt up\nfrom where he lay, and poured the whole flood of his anger on those at\ntable with him; insomuch that he unsheathed his sword upon the sons of\nSwerting with bloody ruthlessness, and aimed with drawn blade at the\nthroats of those whose gullets he had pampered with the pleasures of the\ntable. These men he forthwith slew; and by so doing he drowned the\nholy rites of the table in blood. He sundered the feeble bond of their\nleague, and exchanged a shameful revel for enormous cruelty; the host\nbecame the foe, and that vilest slave of excess the bloodthirsty agent\nof revenge. For the vigorous pleading of his counsellor bred a breath of\ncourage in his soft and unmanly youth; it drew out his valour from its\nlurking-place, and renewed it, and so fashioned it that the authors of a\nmost grievous murder were punished even as they deserved. For the young\nman's valour had been not quenched, but only in exile, and the aid of\nan old man had drawn it out into the light; and it accomplished a deed\nwhich was all the greater for its tardiness; for it was somewhat nobler\nto steep the cups in blood than in wine. What a spirit, then, must we\nthink that old man had, who by his eloquent adjuration expelled from\nthat king's mind its infinite sin, and who, bursting the bonds of\niniquity, implanted a most effectual seed of virtue. Starkad aided the\nking with equal achievements; and not only showed the most complete\ncourage in his own person, but summoned back that which had been rooted\nout of the heart of another. When the deed was done, he thus begun:\n\n\"King Ingild, farewell; thy heart, full of valour, hath now shown a deed\nof daring. The spirit that reigns in thy body is revealed by its fair\nbeginning; nor did there lack deep counsel in thy heart, though thou\nwert silent till this hour; for thou dost redress by thy bravery what\ndelay had lost, and redeemest the sloth of thy spirit by mighty valour.\nCome now, let us rout the rest, and let none escape the peril which\nall alike deserve. Let the crime come home to the culprit; let the sin\nreturn and crush its contriver.\n\n\"Let the servants take up in a car the bodies of the slain, and let the\nattendant quickly bear out the carcases. Justly shall they lack the\nlast rites; they are unworthy to be covered with a mound; let no funeral\nprocession or pyre suffer them the holy honour of a barrow; let them be\nscattered to rot in the fields, to be consumed by the beaks of birds;\nlet them taint the country all about with their deadly corruption.\n\n\"Do thou too, king, if thou hast any wit, flee thy savage bride, lest\nthe she-wolf bring forth a litter like herself, and a beast spring from\nthee that shall hurt its own father.\n\n\"Tell me, Rote, continual derider of cowards, thinkest thou that we have\navenged Frode enough, when we have spent seven deaths on the vengeance\nof one? Lo, those are borne out dead who paid homage not to thy sway in\ndeed, but only in show, and though obsequious they planned treachery.\nBut I always cherished this hope, that noble fathers have noble\noffspring, who will follow in their character the lot which they\nreceived by their birth. Therefore, Ingild, better now than in time past\ndost thou deserve to be called lord of Leire and of Denmark.\n\n\"When, O King Hakon, I was a beardless youth, and followed thy leading\nand command in warfare, I hated luxury and wanton souls, and practiced\nonly wars. Training body and mind together, I banished every unholy\nthing from my soul, and shunned the pleasures of the belly, loving\ndeeds of prowess. For those that followed the calling of arms had rough\nclothing and common gear and short slumbers and scanty rest. Toil drove\nease far away, and the time ran by at scanty cost. Not as with some men\nnow, the light of whose reason is obscured by insatiate greed with its\nblind maw. Some one of these clad in a covering of curiously wrought\nraiment effeminately guides the fleet-footed (steed), and unknots his\ndishevelled locks, and lets his hair fly abroad loosely.\n\n\"He loves to plead often in the court, and to covet a base pittance, and\nwith this pursuit he comforts his sluggish life, doing with venal tongue\nthe business entrusted to him.\n\n\"He outrages the laws by force, he makes armed assault upon men's\nrights, he tramples on the innocent, he feeds on the wealth of others,\nhe practices debauchery and gluttony, he vexes good fellowship with\nbiting jeers, and goes after harlots as a hoe after the grass.\n\n\"The coward falls when battles are lulled in peace. Though he who fears\ndeath lie in the heart of the valley, no mantlet shall shelter him. His\nfinal fate carries off every living man; doom is not to be averted by\nskulking. But I, who have shaken the whole world with my slaughters,\nshall I enjoy a peaceful death? Shall I be taken up to the stars in a\nquiet end? Shall I die in my bed without a wound?\"\n\n\n\nBOOK SEVEN.\n\nWe are told by historians of old, that Ingild had four sons, of whom\nthree perished in war, while OLAF alone reigned after his father; but\nsome say that Olaf was the son of Ingild's sister, though this opinion\nis doubtful. Posterity has but an uncertain knowledge of his deeds,\nwhich are dim with the dust of antiquity; nothing but the last counsel\nof his wisdom has been rescued by tradition. For when he was in the last\ngrip of death he took thought for his sons FRODE and HARALD, and bade\nthem have royal sway, one over the land and the other over the sea, and\nreceive these several powers, not in prolonged possession, but in yearly\nrotation. Thus their share in the rule was made equal; but Frode, who\nwas the first to have control of the affairs of the sea, earned disgrace\nfrom his continual defeats in roving. His calamity was due to his\nsailors being newly married, and preferring nuptial joys at home to the\ntoils of foreign warfare. After a time Harald, the younger son, received\nthe rule of the sea, and chose soldiers who were unmarried, fearing to\nbe baffled like his brother. Fortune favoured his choice; for he was as\nglorious a rover as his brother was inglorious; and this earned him his\nbrother's hatred. Moreover, their queens, Signe and Ulfhild, one of\nwhom was the daughter of Siward, King of Sweden, the other of Karl, the\ngovernor of Gothland, were continually wrangling as to which was the\nnobler, and broke up the mutual fellowship of their husbands. Hence\nHarald and Frode, when their common household was thus shattered,\ndivided up the goods they held in common, and gave more heed to the\nwrangling altercations of the women than to the duties of brotherly\naffection.\n\nMoreover, Frode, judging that his brother's glory was a disgrace to\nhimself and brought him into contempt, ordered one of his household to\nput him to death secretly; for he saw that the man of whom he had the\nadvantage in years was surpassing him in courage. When the deed\nwas done, he had the agent of his treachery privily slain, lest the\naccomplice should betray the crime. Then, in order to gain the credit of\ninnocence and escape the brand of crime, he ordered a full inquiry to be\nmade into the mischance that had cut off his brother so suddenly. But he\ncould not manage, by all his arts, to escape silent condemnation in the\nthoughts of the common people. He afterwards asked Karl, \"Who had killed\nHarald?\" and Karl replied that it was deceitful in him to ask a question\nabout something which he knew quite well. These words earned him his\ndeath; for Frode thought that he had reproached him covertly with\nfratricide.\n\nAfter this, the lives of Harald and Halfdan, the sons of Harald by Signe\nthe daughter of Karl, were attempted by their uncle. But the guardians\ndevised a cunning method of saving their wards. For they cut off the\nclaws of wolves and tied them to the soles of their feet; and then\nmade them run along many times so as to harrow up the mud near their\ndwelling, as well as the ground (then covered with, snow), and give the\nappearance of an attack by wild beasts. Then they killed the children\nof some bond-women, tore their bodies into little pieces, and scattered\ntheir mangled limbs all about. So when the youths were looked for in\nvain, the scattered limbs were found, the tracks of the beasts were\npointed out, and the ground was seen besmeared with blood. It was\nbelieved that the boys had been devoured by ravening wolves; and hardly\nanyone was suffered to doubt so plain a proof that they were mangled.\nThe belief in this spectacle served to protect the wards. They were\npresently shut up by their guardians in a hollow oak, so that no trace\nof their being alive should get abroad, and were fed for a long time\nunder pretence that they were dogs; and were even called by hounds'\nnames, to prevent any belief getting abroad that they were hiding. (1)\n\nFrode alone refused to believe in their death; and he went and inquired\nof a woman skilled in divination where they were hid. So potent were\nher spells, that she seemed able, at any distance, to perceive anything,\nhowever intricately locked away, and to summon it out to light. She\ndeclared that one Ragnar had secretly undertaken to rear them, and had\ncalled them by the names of dogs to cover the matter. When the young\nmen found themselves dragged from their hiding by the awful force of\nher spells, and brought before the eyes of the enchantress, loth to be\nbetrayed by this terrible and imperious compulsion, they flung into her\nlap a shower of gold which they had received from their guardians. When\nshe had taken the gift, she suddenly feigned death, and fell like one\nlifeless. Her servants asked the reason why she fell so suddenly; and\nshe declared that the refuge of the sons of Harald was inscrutable;\nfor their wondrous might qualified even the most awful effects of her\nspells. Thus she was content with a slight benefit, and could not\nbear to await a greater reward at the king's hands. After this Ragnar,\nfinding that the belief concerning himself and his wards was becoming\nrife in common talk, took them, both away into Funen. Here he was taken\nby Frode, and confessed that he had put the young men in safe keeping;\nand he prayed the king to spare the wards whom he had made fatherless,\nand not to think it a piece of good fortune to be guilty of two\nunnatural murders. By this speech he changed the king's cruelty into\nshame; and he promised that if they attempted any plots in their own\nland, he would give information to the king. Thus he gained safety for\nhis wards, and lived many years in freedom from terror.\n\nWhen the boys grew up, they went to Zealand, and were bidden by their\nfriends to avenge their father. They vowed that they and their uncle\nshould not both live out the year. When Ragnar found this out, he went\nby night to the palace, prompted by the recollection of his covenant,\nand announced that he was come privily to tell the king something he had\npromised. But the king was asleep, and he would not suffer them to wake\nhim up, because Frode had been used to punish any disturbance of his\nrest with the sword. So mighty a matter was it thought of old to break\nthe slumbers of a king by untimely intrusion. Frode heard this from the\nsentries in the morning; and when he perceived that Ragnar had come\nto tell him of the treachery, he gathered together his soldiers, and\nresolved to forestall deceit by ruthless measures. Harald's sons had\nno help for it but to feign madness. For when they found themselves\nsuddenly attacked, they began to behave like maniacs, as if they were\ndistraught. And when Frode thought that they were possessed, he gave\nup his purpose, thinking it shameful to attack with the sword those who\nseemed to be turning the sword against themselves. But he was burned\nto death by them on the following night, and was punished as befitted a\nfratricide. For they attacked the palace, and first crushing the queen\nwith a mass of stones and then, having set fire to the house, they\nforced Frode to crawl into a narrow cave that had been cut out long\nbefore, and into the dark recesses of tunnels. Here he lurked in hiding\nand perished, stifled by the reek and smoke.\n\nAfter Frode was killed, HALFDAN reigned over his country about three\nyears, and then, handing over his sovereignty to his brother Harald as\ndeputy, went roving, and attacked and ravaged Oland and the neighbouring\nisles, which are severed from contact with Sweden by a winding sound.\nHere in the winter he beached and entrenched his ships, and spent three\nyears on the expedition. After this he attacked Sweden, and destroyed\nits king in the field. Afterwards he prepared to meet the king's\ngrandson Erik, the son of his own uncle Frode, in battle; and when he\nheard that Erik's champion, Hakon, was skillful in blunting swords with\nhis spells, he fashioned, to use for clubbing, a huge mace studded with\niron knobs, as if he would prevail by the strength of wood over the\npower of sorcery. Then--for he was conspicuous beyond all others for his\nbravery--amid the hottest charges of the enemy, he covered his head with\nhis helmet, and, without a shield, poised his club, and with the help\nof both hands whirled it against the bulwark of shields before him. No\nobstacle was so stout but it was crushed to pieces by the blow of the\nmass that smote it. Thus he overthrew the champion, who ran against him\nin the battle, with a violent stroke of his weapon. But he was conquered\nnotwithstanding, and fled away into Helsingland, where he went to one\nWitolf (who had served of old with Harald), to seek tendance for his\nwounds. This man had spent most of his life in camp; but at last, after\nthe grievous end of his general, he had retreated into this lonely\ndistrict, where he lived the life of a peasant, and rested from the\npursuits of war. Often struck himself by the missiles of the enemy, he\nhad gained no slight skill in leechcraft by constantly tending his own\nwounds. But if anyone came with flatteries to seek his aid, instead of\ncuring him he was accustomed to give him something that would secretly\ninjure him, thinking it somewhat nobler to threaten than to wheedle for\nbenefits. When the soldiers of Erik menaced his house, in their desire\nto take Halfdan, he so robbed them of the power of sight that they could\nneither perceive the house nor trace it with certainty, though it was\nclose to them. So utterly had their eyesight been dulled by a decisive\nmist.\n\nWhen Halfdan had by this man's help regained his full strength, he\nsummoned Thore, a champion of notable capacity, and proclaimed war\nagainst Erik. But when the forces were led out on the other side, and\nhe saw that Erik was superior in numbers, he hid a part of his army, and\ninstructed it to lie in ambush among the bushes by the wayside, in order\nto destroy the enemy by an ambuscade as he marched through the narrow\npart of the path. Erik foresaw this, having reconnoitred his means of\nadvancing, and thought he must withdraw for fear, if he advanced along\nthe track he had intended, of being hard-pressed by the tricks of the\nenemy among the steep windings of the hills. They therefore joined\nbattle, force against force, in a deep valley, inclosed all round by\nlofty mountain ridges. Here Halfdan, when he saw the line of his\nmen wavering, climbed with Thore up a crag covered with stones and,\nuprooting boulders, rolled them down upon the enemy below; and the\nweight of these as they fell crushed the line that was drawn up in the\nlower position. Thus he regained with stones the victory which he\nhad lost with arms. For this deed of prowess he received the name of\nBiargramm (\"rock strong\"), a word which seems to have been compounded\nfrom the name of his fierceness and of the mountains. He soon gained so\nmuch esteem for this among the Swedes that he was thought to be the son\nof the great Thor, and the people bestowed divine honours upon him, and\njudged him worthy of public libation.\n\nBut the souls of the conquered find it hard to rest, and the insolence\nof the beaten ever struggles towards the forbidden thing. So it came to\npass that Erik, in his desire to repair the losses incurred in flight,\nattacked the districts subject to Halfdan. Even Denmark he did not\nexempt from this harsh treatment; for he thought it a most worthy deed\nto assail the country of the man who had caused him to be driven from\nhis own. And so, being more anxious to inflict injury than to repel it,\nhe set Sweden free from the arms of the enemy. When Halfdan heard that\nhis brother Harald had been beaten by Erik in three battles, and slain\nin the fourth, he was afraid of losing his empire; he had to quit the\nland of the Swedes and go back to his own country. Thus Erik regained\nthe kingdom of Sweden all the more quickly, that he quitted it so\nlightly. Had fortune wished to favour him in keeping his kingdom as much\nas she had in regaining it, she would in nowise have given him into\nthe hand of Halfdan. This capture was made in the following way: When\nHalfdan had gone back into Sweden, he hid his fleet craftily, and went\nto meet Erik with two vessels. Erik attacked him with ten; and Halfdan,\nsailing through sundry winding channels, stole back to his concealed\nforces. Erik pursued him too far, and the Danish fleet came out on\nthe sea. Thus Erik was surrounded; but he rejected the life, which was\noffered him under condition of thraldom. He could not bear to think more\nof the light of day than liberty, and chose to die rather than serve;\nlest he should seem to love life so well as to turn from a slave into\na freeman; and that he might not court with new-born obeisance the man\nwhom fortune had just before made only his equal. So little knows virtue\nhow to buy life with dishonour. Wherefore he was put in chains, and\nbanished to a place haunted by wild beasts; an end unworthy of that\nlofty spirit.\n\nHalfdan had thus become sovereign of both kingdoms, and graced his fame\nwith a triple degree of honour. For he was skillful and eloquent in\ncomposing poems in the fashion of his country; and he was no less\nnotable as a valorous champion than as a powerful king. But when he\nheard that two active rovers, Toke and Anund, were threatening the\nsurrounding districts, he attacked and routed them in a sea-fight. For\nthe ancients thought that nothing was more desirable than glory which\nwas gained, not by brilliancy of wealth, but by address in arms.\nAccordingly, the most famous men of old were so minded as to love\nseditions, to renew quarrels, to loathe ease, to prefer fighting to\npeace, to be rated by their valour and not by their wealth, to find\ntheir greatest delight in battles, and their least in banquetings.\n\nBut Halfdan was not long to seek for a rival. A certain Siwald, of\nmost illustrious birth, related with lamentation in the assembly of the\nSwedes the death of Frode and his queen; and inspired in almost all of\nthem such a hatred of Halfdan, that the vote of the majority granted him\npermission to revolt. Nor was he content with the mere goodwill of their\nvoices, but so won the heart of the commons by his crafty canvassing\nthat he induced almost all of them to set with their hands the royal\nemblem on his head. Siwald had seven sons, who were such clever\nsorcerers that often, inspired with the force of sudden frenzy, they\nwould roar savagely, bite their shields, swallow hot coals, and go\nthrough any fire that could be piled up; and their frantic passion could\nonly be checked by the rigour of chains, or propitiated by slaughter\nof men. With such a frenzy did their own sanguinary temper, or else the\nfury of demons, inspire them.\n\nWhen Halfdan had heard of these things while busy roving, he said it\nwas right that his soldiers, who had hitherto spent their rage upon\nforeigners, should now smite with the steel the flesh of their own\ncountrymen, and that they who had been used to labour to extend their\nrealm should now avenge its wrongful seizure. On Halfdan approaching,\nSiwald sent him ambassadors and requested him, if he was as great in act\nas in renown, to meet himself and his sons in single combat, and save\nthe general peril by his own. When the other answered, that a combat\ncould not lawfully be fought by more than two men, Siwald said, that\nit was no wonder that a childless bachelor should refuse the proffered\nconflict, since his nature was void of heat, and had struck a\ndisgraceful frost into his soul and body. Children, he added, were not\ndifferent from the man who begot them, since they drew from him their\ncommon principle of birth. Thus he and his sons were to be accounted\nas one person, for nature seemed in a manner to have bestowed on them\na single body. Halfdan, stung with this shameful affront, accepted\nthe challenge; meaning to wipe out with noble deeds of valour such an\ninsulting taunt upon his celibacy. And while he chanced to be walking\nthrough a shady woodland, he plucked up by the roots all oak that stuck\nin his path, and, by simply stripping it of its branches, made it look\nlike a stout club. Having this trusty weapon, he composed a short song\nas follows:\n\n\"Behold! The rough burden which I bear with straining crest, shall unto\ncrests bring wounds and destruction. Never shall any weapon of leafy\nwood crush the Goths with direr augury. It shall shatter the towering\nstrength of the knotty neck, and shall bruise the hollow temples with\nthe mass of timber. The club which shall quell the wild madness of\nthe land shall be no less fatal to the Swedes. Breaking bones, and\nbrandished about the mangled limbs of warriors, the stock I have\nwrenched off shall crush the backs of the wicked, crush the hearths of\nour kindred, shed the blood of our countrymen, and be a destructive pest\nupon our land.\"\n\nWhen he had said this, he attacked Siwald and his seven sons, and\ndestroyed them, their force and bravery being useless against the\nenormous mass of his club.\n\nAt this time one Hardbeen, who came from Helsingland, gloried in\nkidnapping and ravishing princesses, and used to kill any man who\nhindered him in his lusts. He preferred high matches to those that were\nlowly; and the more illustrious the victims he could violate, the more\nnoble he thought himself. No man escaped unpunished who durst measure\nhimself with Hardbeen in valour. He was so huge, that his stature\nreached the measure of nine ells. He had twelve champions dwelling with\nhim, whose business it was to rise up and to restrain his fury with the\naid of bonds, whenever the rage came on him that foreboded of battle.\nThese men asked Halfdan to attack Hardbeen and his champions man by man;\nand he not only promised to fight, but assured himself the victory with\nmost confident words. When Hardbeen heard this, a demoniacal frenzy\nsuddenly took him; he furiously bit and devoured the edges of his\nshield; he kept gulping down fiery coals; he snatched live embers in his\nmouth and let them pass down into his entrails; he rushed through the\nperils of crackling fires; and at last, when he had raved through every\nsort of madness, he turned his sword with raging hand against the hearts\nof six of his champions. It is doubtful whether this madness came from\nthirst for battle or natural ferocity. Then with the remaining band\nof his champions he attacked Halfdan, who crushed him with a hammer of\nwondrous size, so that he lost both victory and life; paying the\npenalty both to Halfdan, whom he had challenged, and to the kings whose\noffspring he had violently ravished.\n\nFortune never seemed satisfied with the trying of Halfdan's strength,\nand used to offer him unexpected occasions for fighting. It so happened\nthat Egther, a Finlander, was harrying the Swedes on a roving raid.\nHalfdan, having found that he had three ships, attacked him with the\nsame number. Night closed the battle, so that he could not conquer him;\nbut he challenged Egther next day, fought with and overthrew him. He\nnext heard that Grim, a champion of immense strength, was suing, under\nthreats of a duel, for Thorhild, the daughter of the chief Hather, and\nthat her father had proclaimed that he who put the champion out of the\nway should have her. Halfdan, though he had reached old age a bachelor,\nwas stirred by the promise of the chief as much as by the insolence of\nthe champion, and went to Norway. When he entered it, he blotted out\nevery mark by which he could be recognized, disguising his face with\nsplashes of dirt; and when he came to the spot of the battle, drew his\nsword first. And when he knew that it had been blunted by the glance of\nthe enemy, he cast it on the ground, drew another from the sheath, with\nwhich he attacked Grim, cutting through the meshes on the edge of his\ncuirass, as well as the lower part of his shield. Grim wondered at the\ndeed, and said, \"I cannot remember an old man who fought more keenly;\"\nand, instantly drawing his sword, he pierced through and shattered the\ntarget that was opposed to his blade. But as his right arm tarried on\nthe stroke, Halfdan, without wavering, met and smote it swiftly with his\nsword. The other, notwithstanding, clasped his sword with his left hand,\nand cut through the thigh of the striker, revenging the mangling of\nhis own body with a slight wound. Halfdan, now conqueror, allowed the\nconquered man to ransom the remnant of his life with a sum of money;\nhe would not be thought shamefully to rob a maimed man, who could not\nfight, of the pitiful remainder of his days. By this deed he showed\nhimself almost as great in saving as in conquering his enemy. As a\nprize for this victory he won Thorhild in marriage, and had by her a\nson Asmund, from whom the kings of Norway treasure the honour of being\ndescended; retracing the regular succession of their line down from\nHalfdan.\n\nAfter this, Ebbe, a rover of common birth, was so confident of his\nvalour, that he was moved to aspire to a splendid marriage. He was\na suitor for Sigrid, the daughter of Yngwin, King of the Goths, and\nmoreover demanded half the Gothic kingdom for her dowry. Halfdan was\nconsulted whether the match should be entertained, and advised that\na feigned consent should be given, promising that he would baulk the\nmarriage. He also gave instructions that a seat should be allotted to\nhimself among the places of the guests at table. Yngwin approved the\nadvice; and Halfdan, utterly defacing the dignity of his royal presence\nwith an unsightly and alien disguise, and coming by night on the wedding\nfeast, alarmed those who met him; for they marvelled at the coming of a\nman of such superhuman stature.\n\nWhen Halfdan entered the palace, he looked round on all and asked, who\nwas he that had taken the place next to the king? Upon Ebbe replying\nthat the future son-in-law of the king was next to his side, Halfdan\nasked him, in the most passionate language, what madness, or what\ndemons, had brought him to such wantonness, as to make bold to unite his\ncontemptible and filthy race with a splendid and illustrious line, or to\ndare to lay his peasant finger upon the royal family: and, not content\neven with such a claim, to aspire, as it seemed, to a share even in the\nkingdom of another. Then he bade Ebbe fight him, saying that he must get\nthe victory before he got his wish. The other answered that the night\nwas the time to fight with monsters, but the day the time with men;\nbut Halfdan, to prevent him shirking the battle by pleading the hour,\ndeclared that the moon was shining with the brightness of daylight.\nThus he forced Ebbe to fight, and felled him, turning the banquet into a\nspectacle, and the wedding into a funeral.\n\nSome years passed, and Halfdan went back to his own country, and\nbeing childless he bequeathed the royal wealth by will to Yngwin, and\nappointed him king. YNGWIN was afterwards overthrown in war by a rival\nnamed Ragnald, and he left a son SIWALD.\n\nSiwald's daughter, Sigrid, was of such excellent modesty, that though a\ngreat concourse of suitors wooed her for her beauty, it seemed as if she\ncould not be brought to look at one of them. Confident in this power of\nself-restraint, she asked her father for a husband who by the sweetness\nof his blandishments should be able to get a look back from her. For in\nold time among us the self-restraint of the maidens was a great subduer\nof wanton looks, lest the soundness of the soul should be infected by\nthe licence of the eyes; and women desired to avouch the purity of their\nhearts by the modesty of their faces. Then one Ottar, the son of Ebb,\nkindled with confidence in the greatness either of his own achievements,\nor of his courtesy and eloquent address, stubbornly and ardently desired\nto woo the maiden. And though he strove with all the force of his wit to\nsoften her gaze, no device whatever could move her downcast eyes; and,\nmarvelling at her persistence in her indomitable rigour, he departed.\n\nA giant desired the same thing, but, finding himself equally foiled, he\nsuborned a woman; and she, pretending friendship for the girl, served\nher for a while as her handmaid, and at last enticed her far from her\nfather's house, by cunningly going out of the way; then the giant rushed\nupon her and bore her off into the closest fastnesses of a ledge on\nthe mountain. Others think that he disguised himself as a woman,\ntreacherously continued his devices so as to draw the girl away from her\nown house, and in the end carried her off. When Ottar heard of this, he\nransacked the recesses of the mountain in search of the maiden, found\nher, slew the giant, and bore her off. But the assiduous giant had bound\nback the locks of the maiden, tightly twisting her hair in such a way\nthat the matted mass of tresses was held in a kind of curled bundle; nor\nwas it easy for anyone to unravel their plaited tangle, without using\nthe steel. Again, he tried with divers allurements to provoke the maiden\nto look at him; and when he had long laid vain siege to her listless\neyes, he abandoned his quest, since his purpose turned out so little to\nhis liking. But he could not bring himself to violate the girl, loth\nto defile with ignoble intercourse one of illustrious birth. She then\nwandered long, and sped through divers desert and circuitous paths, and\nhappened to come to the hut of a certain huge woman of the woods, who\nset her to the task of pasturing her goats. Again Ottar granted her his\naid to set her free, and again he tried to move her, addressing her in\nthis fashion: \"Wouldst thou rather hearken to my counsels, and embrace\nme even as I desire, than be here and tend the flock of rank goats?\n\n\"Spurn the hand of thy wicked mistress, and flee hastily from thy\ncruel taskmistress, that thou mayst go back with me to the ships of thy\nfriends and live in freedom.\n\n\"Quit the care of the sheep entrusted to thee; scorn to drive the steps\nof the goats; share my bed, and fitly reward my prayers.\n\n\"O thou whom I have sought with such pains, turn again thy listless\nbeams; for a little while--it is an easy gesture--lift thy modest face.\n\n\"I will take thee hence, and set thee by the house of thy father, and\nunite thee joyfully with thy loving mother, if but once thou wilt show\nme thine eyes stirred with soft desires.\n\n\"Thou, whom I have borne so oft from the prisons of the giants, pay thou\nsome due favour to my toil of old; pity my hard endeavours, and be stern\nno more.\n\n\"For why art thou become so distraught and brainsick, that thou wilt\nchoose to tend the flock of another, and be counted among the servants\nof monsters, sooner than encourage our marriage-troth with fitting and\nequal consent?\"\n\nBut she, that she might not suffer the constancy of her chaste mind to\nfalter by looking at the world without, restrained her gaze, keeping her\nlids immovably rigid. How modest, then, must we think, were the women of\nthat age, when, under the strongest provocations of their lovers, they\ncould not be brought to make the slightest motion of their eyes! So when\nOttar found that even by the merits of his double service he could not\nstir the maiden's gaze towards him, he went back to the fleet, wearied\nout with shame and chagrin. Sigrid, in her old fashion, ran far away\nover the rocks, and chanced to stray in her wanderings to the abode of\nEbb; where, ashamed of her nakedness and distress, she pretended to be\na daughter of paupers. The mother of Ottar saw that this woman, though\nbestained and faded, and covered with a meagre cloak, was the scion of\nsome noble stock; and took her, and with honourable courtesy kept her\nby her side in a distinguished seat. For the beauty of the maiden was\na sign that betrayed her birth, and her telltale features echoed her\nlineage. Ottar saw her, and asked why she hid her face in her robe.\nAlso, in order to test her mind more surely, he feigned that a woman was\nabout to become his wife, and, as he went up into the bride-bed, gave\nSigrid the torch to hold. The lights had almost burnt down, and she\nwas hard put to it by the flame coming closer; but she showed such an\nexample of endurance that she was seen to hold her hand motionless, and\nmight have been thought to feel no annoyance from the heat. For the\nfire within mastered the fire without, and the glow of her longing soul\ndeadened the burn of her scorched skin. At last Ottar bade her look to\nher hand. Then, modestly lifting her eyes, she turned her calm gaze upon\nhim; and straightway, the pretended marriage being put away, went up\nunto the bride-bed to be his wife. Siwald afterwards seized Ottar, and\nthought that he ought to be hanged for defiling his daughter.\n\nBut Sigrid at once explained how she had happened to be carried away,\nand not only brought Ottar back into the king's favour, but also induced\nher father himself to marry Ottar's sister. After this a battle was\nfought between Siwald and Ragnald in Zealand, warriors of picked valour\nbeing chosen on both sides. For three days they slaughtered one another;\nbut so great was the bravery of both sides, that it was doubtful how\nthe victory would go. Then Ottar, whether seized with weariness at\nthe prolonged battle, or with desire of glory, broke, despising death,\nthrough the thickest of the foe, cut down Ragnald among the bravest\nof his soldiers, and won the Danes a sudden victory. This battle was\nnotable for the cowardice of the greatest nobles. For the whole mass\nfell into such a panic, that forty of the bravest of the Swedes are said\nto have turned and fled. The chief of these, Starkad, had been used to\ntremble at no fortune, however cruel, and no danger, however great. But\nsome strange terror stole upon him, and he chose to follow the flight of\nhis friends rather than to despise it. I should think that he was filled\nwith this alarm by the power of heaven, that he might not think himself\ncourageous beyond the measure of human valour. Thus the prosperity of\nmankind is wont ever to be incomplete. Then all these warriors embraced\nthe service of King Hakon, the mightiest of the rovers, like remnants of\nthe war drifting to him.\n\nAfter this Siwald was succeeded by his son SIGAR, who had sons Siwald,\nAlf, and Alger, and a daughter Signe. All excelled the rest in spirit\nand beauty, and devoted himself to the business of a rover. Such a grace\nwas shed on his hair, which had a wonderful dazzling glow, that his\nlocks seemed to shine silvery. At the same time Siward, the king of the\nGoths, is said to have had two sons, Wemund and Osten, and a daughter\nAlfhild, who showed almost from her cradle such faithfulness to modesty\nthat she continually kept her face muffled in her robe, lest she should\ncause her beauty to provoke the passion of another. Her father banished\nher into very close keeping, and gave her a viper and a snake to rear,\nwishing to defend her chastity by the protection of these reptiles\nwhen they came to grow up. For it would have been hard to pry into her\nchamber when it was barred by so dangerous a bolt. He also enacted that\nif any man tried to enter it, and failed, he must straightway yield his\nhead to be taken off and impaled on a stake. The terror which was thus\nattached to wantonness chastened the heated spirits of the young men.\n\nAlf, the son of Sigar, thinking that peril of the attempt only made it\nnobler, declared himself a wooer, and went to subdue the beasts that\nkept watch beside the room of the maiden; inasmuch as, according to the\ndecree, the embraces of the maiden were the prize of their subduer. Alf\ncovered his body with a blood-stained hide in order to make them more\nfrantic against him. Girt with this, as soon as he had entered the doors\nof the enclosure, he took a piece of red-hot steel in the tongs, and\nplunged it into the yawning throat of the viper, which he laid dead.\nThen he flung his spear full into the gaping mouth of the snake as it\nwound and writhed forward, and destroyed it. And when he demanded the\ngage which was attached to victory by the terms of the covenant, Siward\nanswered that he would accept that man only for his daughter's husband\nof whom she made a free and decided choice. None but the girl's mother\nwas stiff against the wooer's suit; and she privately spoke to her\ndaughter in order to search her mind. The daughter warmly praised her\nsuitor for his valour; whereon the mother upbraided her sharply, that\nher chastity should be unstrung, and she be captivated by charming\nlooks; and because, forgetting to judge his virtue, she cast the gaze of\na wanton mind upon the flattering lures of beauty. Thus Alfhild was led\nto despise the young Dane; whereupon she exchanged woman's for man's\nattire, and, no longer the most modest of maidens, began the life of a\nwarlike rover.\n\nEnrolling in her service many maidens who were of the same mind, she\nhappened to come to a spot where a band of rovers were lamenting the\ndeath of their captain, who had been lost in war; they made her their\nrover captain for her beauty, and she did deeds beyond the valour of\nwoman. Alf made many toilsome voyages in pursuit of her, and in winter\nhappened to come on a fleet of the Blacmen. The waters were at this time\nfrozen hard, and the ships were caught in such a mass of ice that they\ncould not get on by the most violent rowing. But the continued frost\npromised the prisoners a safer way of advance; and Alf ordered his men\nto try the frozen surface of the sea in their brogues, after they had\ntaken off their slippery shoes, so that they could run over the level\nice more steadily. The Blacmen supposed that they were taking to flight\nwith all the nimbleness of their heels, and began to fight them, but\ntheir steps tottered exceedingly and they gave back, the slippery\nsurface under their soles making their footing uncertain. But the Danes\ncrossed the frozen sea with safer steps, and foiled the feeble advance\nof the enemy, whom they conquered, and then turned and sailed to\nFinland. Here they chanced to enter a rather narrow gulf, and, on\nsending a few men to reconnoitre, they learnt that the harbour was being\nheld by a few ships. For Alfhild had gone before them with her fleet\ninto the same narrows. And when she saw the strange ships afar off, she\nrowed in swift haste forward to encounter them, thinking it better to\nattack the foe than to await them. Alf's men were against attacking\nso many ships with so few; but he replied that it would be shameful\nif anyone should report to Alfhild that his desire to advance could be\nchecked by a few ships in the path; for he said that their record of\nhonours ought not to be tarnished by such a trifle.\n\nThe Danes wondered whence their enemies got such grace of bodily beauty\nand such supple limbs. So, when they began the sea-fight, the young\nman Alf leapt on Alfhild's prow, and advanced towards the stern,\nslaughtering all that withstood him. His comrade Borgar struck off\nAlfhild's helmet, and, seeing the smoothness of her chin, saw that he\nmust fight with kisses and not with arms; that the cruel spears must be\nput away, and the enemy handled with gentler dealings. So Alf rejoiced\nthat the woman whom he had sought over land and sea in the face of so\nmany dangers was now beyond all expectation in his power; whereupon he\ntook hold of her eagerly, and made her change her man's apparel for\na woman's; and afterwards begot on her a daughter, Gurid. Also Borgar\nwedded the attendant of Alfhild, Groa, and had by her a son, Harald, to\nwhom the following age gave the surname Hyldeland.\n\nAnd that no one may wonder that this sex laboured at warfare, I will\nmake a brief digression, in order to give a short account of the estate\nand character of such women. There were once women among the Danes who\ndressed themselves to look like men, and devoted almost every instant\nof their lives to the pursuit of war, that they might not suffer their\nvalour to be unstrung or dulled by the infection of luxury. For they\nabhorred all dainty living, and used to harden their minds and\nbodies with toil and endurance. They put away all the softness and\nlightmindedness of women, and inured their womanish spirit to masculine\nruthlessness. They sought, moreover, so zealously to be skilled in\nwarfare, that they might have been thought to have unsexed themselves.\nThose especially, who had either force of character or tall and comely\npersons, used to enter on this kind of life. These women, therefore\n(just as if they had forgotten their natural estate, and preferred\nsternness to soft words), offered war rather than kisses, and would\nrather taste blood than busses, and went about the business of arms more\nthan that of amours. They devoted those hands to the lance which they\nshould rather have applied to the loom. They assailed men with their\nspears whom they could have melted with their looks, they thought of\ndeath and not of dalliance. Now I will cease to wander, and will go back\nto my theme.\n\nIn the early spring, Alf and Alger, who had gone back to sea-roving,\nwere exploring the sea in various directions, when they lighted with\na hundred ships upon Helwin, Hagbard, and Hamund, sons of the kinglet\nHamund. These they attacked and only the twilight stayed their\nblood-wearied hands; and in the night the soldiers were ordered to keep\ntruce. On the morrow this was ratified for good by a mutual oath; for\nsuch loss had been suffered on both sides in the battle of the day\nbefore that they had no force left to fight again. Thus, exhausted bye\nquality of valour, they were driven perforce to make peace. About the\nsame time Hildigisl, a Teuton Of noble birth, relying on his looks and\nhis rank, sued for Signe, the daughter of Sigar. But she scorned him,\nchiefly for his insignificance, inasmuch as he was not brave, but wished\nto adorn his fortunes with the courage of other people. But this woman\nwas inclined to love Hakon, chiefly for the high renown of his great\ndeeds. For she thought more of the brave than the feeble; she admired\nnotable deeds more than looks, knowing that every allurement of beauty\nis mere dross when reckoned against simple valour, and cannot weigh\nequal with it in the balance. For there are maids that are more charmed\nby the fame than by the face of their lovers; who go not by the looks,\nbut by the mind, and whom naught but regard for a man's spirit can\nkindle to pledge their own troth. Now Hagbard, going to Denmark with the\nsons of Sigar, gained speech of their sister without their knowledge,\nand in the end induced her to pledge her word to him that she would\nsecretly become his mistress. Afterwards, when the waiting-women\nhappened to be comparing the honourable deeds of the nobles, she\npreferred Hakon to Hildigisl, declaring that the latter had nothing to\npraise but his looks, while in the case of the other a wrinkled visage\nwas outweighed by a choice spirit. Not content with this plain kind of\npraise, she is said to have sung as follows:\n\n\"This man lacks fairness, but shines with foremost courage, measuring\nhis features by his force.\n\n\"For the lofty soul redeems the shortcoming of harsh looks, and conquers\nthe body's blemish.\n\n\"His look flashes with spirit, his face, notable in its very harshness,\ndelights in fierceness.\n\n\"He who strictly judges character praises not the mind for the fair hue,\nbut rather the complexion for the mind.\n\n\"This man is not prized for beauty, but for brave daring and war-won\nhonour.\n\n\"While the other is commended by his comely head and radiant countenance\nand crest of lustrous locks.\n\n\"Vile is the empty grace of beauty, self-confounded the deceptive pride\nof comeliness.\n\n\"Valour and looks are swayed by different inclinations: one lasts on,\nthe other perishes.\n\n\"Empty red and white brings in vice, and is frittered away little by\nlittle by the lightly gliding years;\n\n\"But courage plants firmer the hearts devoted to it, and does not slip\nand straightway fall.\n\n\"The voice of the multitude is beguiled by outward good, and forsakes\nthe rule of right;\n\n\"But I praise virtue at a higher rate, and scorn the grace of\ncomeliness.\"\n\nThis utterance fell on the ears of the bystanders in such a way, that\nthey thought she praised Hagbard under the name of Hakon. And Hildigisl,\nvexed that she preferred Hagbard to himself, bribed a certain blind man,\nBolwis, to bring the sons of Sigar and the sons of Hamund to turn their\nfriendship into hatred. For King Sigar had been used to transact almost\nall affairs by the advice of two old men, one of whom was Bolwis. The\ntemper of these two men was so different, that one used to reconcile\nfolk who were at feud, while the other loved to sunder in hatred those\nwho were bound by friendship, and by estranging folk to fan pestilent\nquarrels.\n\nSo Bolwis began by reviling the sons of Hamund to the sons of Sigar, in\nlying slanders, declaring that they never used to preserve the bonds of\nfellowship loyally, and that they must be restrained by war rather than\nby league. Thus the alliance of the young men was broken through; and\nwhile Hagbard was far away, the sons of Sigar, Alf and Alger, made an\nattack, and Helwin and Hamund were destroyed by the harbour which is\ncalled Hamund's Bay. Hagbard then came up with fresh forces to avenge\nhis brothers, and destroyed them in battle. Hildigisl slunk off with a\nspear through both buttocks, which was the occasion for a jeer at the\nTeutons, since the ugliness of the blow did not fail to brand it with\ndisgrace.\n\nAfterwards Hagbard dressed himself in woman's attire, and, as though he\nhad not wronged Sigar's daughter by slaying her brothers, went back to\nher alone, trusting in the promise he had from her, and feeling more\nsafe in her loyalty than alarmed by reason of his own misdeed. Thus does\nlust despise peril. And, not to lack a pretext for his journey, he gave\nhimself out as a fighting-maid of Hakon, saying that he took an embassy\nfrom him to Sigar. And when he was taken to bed at night among the\nhandmaids, and the woman who washed his feet were wiping them, they\nasked him why he had such hairy legs, and why his hands were not at all\nsoft to touch, he answered:\n\n\"What wonder that the soft hollow of my foot should harden, and that\nlong hairs should stay on my shaggy leg, when the sand has so often\nsmitten my soles beneath, and the briars have caught me in mid-step?\n\n\"Now I scour the forest with leaping, now the waters with running. Now\nthe sea, now the earth, now the wave is my path.\n\n\"Nor could my breast, shut in bonds of steel, and wont to be beaten with\nlance and missile, ever have been soft to the touch, as with you who are\ncovered by the mantle or the smooth gown.\n\n\"Not the distaff or the wool-frails, but spears dripping from the\nslaughter, have served for our handling.\"\n\nSigne did not hesitate to back up his words with like dissembling, and\nreplied that it was natural that hands which dealt more in wounds than\nwools, and in battle than in tasks of the house should show the hardness\nthat befitted their service; and that, unenfeebled with the pliable\nsoftness of women, they should not feel smooth to the touch of others.\nFor they were hardened partly by the toils of war, partly by the habit\nof seafaring. For, said she, the warlike handmaid of Hakon did not\ndeal in woman's business, but had been wont to bring her right hand\nblood-stained with hurling spears and flinging missiles. It was no\nwonder, therefore, if her soles were hardened by the immense journeys\nshe had gone; and that, when the shores she had scoured so often had\nbruised them with their rough and broken shingle, they should toughen\nin a horny stiffness, and should not feel soft to the touch like theirs,\nwhose steps never strayed, but who were forever cooped within the\nconfines of the palace. Hagbard received her as his bedfellow, under\nplea that he was to have the couch of honour; and, amid their converse\nof mutual delight, he addressed her slowly in such words as these:\n\n\"If thy father takes me and gives me to bitter death, wilt thou\never, when I am dead, forget so strong a troth, and again seek the\nmarriage-plight?\n\n\"For if the chance should fall that way, I can hope for no room for\npardon; nor will the father who is to avenge his sons spare or have\npity.\n\n\"For I stripped thy brothers of their power on the sea and slew them;\nand now, unknown to thy father, as though I had done naught before\ncounter to his will, I hold thee in the couch we share.\n\n\"Say, then, my one love, what manner of wish wilt thou show when thou\nlackest the accustomed embrace?\"\n\nSigne answered:\n\n\"Trust me, dear; I wish to die with thee, if fate brings thy turn to\nperish first, and not to prolong my span of life at all, when once\ndismal death has cast thee to the tomb.\n\n\"For if thou chance to close thy eyes for ever, a victim to the maddened\nattack of the men-at-arms;--by whatsoever doom thy breath be cut off,\nby sword or disease, by sea or soil, I forswear every wanton and corrupt\nflame, and vow myself to a death like thine; that they who were bound by\none marriage-union may be embraced in one and the same punishment. Nor\nwill I quit this man, though I am to feel the pains of death; I have\nresolved he is worthy of my love who gathered the first kisses of my\nmouth, and had the first fruits of my delicate youth. I think that no\nvow will be surer than this, if speech of woman have any loyalty at\nall.\"\n\nThis speech so quickened the spirit of Hagbard, that he found more\npleasure in her promise than peril in his own going away (to his death).\nThe serving-women betrayed him; and when Sigar's men-at-arms attacked\nhim, he defended himself long and stubbornly, and slew many of them in\nthe doorway. But at last he was taken, and brought before the assembly,\nand found the voices of the people divided over him. For very many said\nthat he should be punished for so great an offence; but Bilwis, the\nbrother of Bolwis, and others, conceived a better judgment, and advised\nthat it would be better to use his stout service than to deal with him\ntoo ruthlessly. Then Bolwis came forward and declared that it was evil\nadvice which urged the king to pardon when he ought to take vengeance,\nand to soften with unworthy compassion his righteous impulse to anger.\nFor how could Sigar, in the case of this man, feel any desire to spare\nor pity him, when he had not only robbed him of the double comfort of\nhis sons, but had also bestained him with the insult of deflowering\nhis daughter? The greater part of the assembly voted for this opinion;\nHagbard was condemned, and a gallows-tree planted to receive him. Hence\nit came about that he who at first had hardly one sinister voice against\nhim was punished with general harshness. Soon after the queen handed him\na cup, and, bidding him assuage his thirst, vexed him with threats after\nthis manner:\n\n\"Now, insolent Hagbard, whom the whole assembly has pronounced worthy of\ndeath, now to quench thy thirst thou shalt give thy lips liquor to drink\nin a cup of horn.\n\n\"Wherefore cast away fear, and, at this last hour of thy life, taste\nwith bold lips the deadly goblet;\n\n\"That, having drunk it, thou mayst presently land by the dwellings of\nthose below, passing into the sequestered palace of stern Dis, giving\nthy body to the gibbet and thy spirit to Orcus.\"\n\nThen the young man took the cup offered him, and is said to have made\nanswer as follows:\n\n\"With this hand, wherewith I cut off thy twin sons, I will take my last\ntaste, yea the draught of the last drink.\n\n\"Now not unavenged shall I go to the Elysian regions, not unchastising\nto the stern ghosts. For these men have first been shut in the dens of\nTartarus by a slaughter wrought by my endeavours. This right hand was\nwet with blood that was yours, this hand robbed thy children of the\nyears of their youth, children whom thy womb brought to light; but\nthe deadly sword spared it not then. Infamous woman, raving in spirit,\nhapless, childless mother, no years shall restore to thee the lost, no\ntime and no day whatsoever shall save thy child from the starkness of\ndeath, or redeem him!\"\n\nThus he avenged the queen's threats of death by taunting her with the\nyouths whom he had slain; and, flinging back the cup at her, drenched\nher face with the sprinkled wine.\n\nMeantime Signe asked her weeping women whether they could endure to bear\nher company in the things which she purposed. They promised that they\nwould carry out and perform themselves whatsoever their mistress should\ncome to wish, and their promise was loyally kept. Then, drowned in\ntears, she said that she wished to follow in death the only partner of\nher bed that she had ever had; and ordered that, as soon as the signal\nhad been given from a place of watch, torches should be put to the room,\nthen that halters should be made out of their robes; and to these they\nshould proffer their throats to be strangled, thrusting away the support\nto the feet. They agreed, and that they might blench the less at death,\nshe gave them a draught of wine. After this Hagbard was led to the hill,\nwhich afterwards took its name from him, to be hanged. Then, to test\nthe loyalty of his true love, he told the executioners to hang up his\nmantle, saying that it would be a pleasure to him if he could see the\nlikeness of his approaching death rehearsed in some way. The request\nwas granted; and the watcher on the outlook, thinking that the thing\nwas being done to Hagbard, reported what she saw to the maidens who were\nshut within the palace. They quickly fired the house, and thrusting away\nthe wooden support under their feet, gave their necks to the noose to\nbe writhen. So Hagbard, when he saw the palace wrapped in fire, and the\nfamiliar chamber blazing, said that he felt more joy from the loyalty of\nhis mistress than sorrow at his approaching death. He also charged the\nbystanders to do him to death, witnessing how little he made of his doom\nby a song like this:\n\n\"Swiftly, O warriors! Let me be caught and lifted into the air. Sweet, O\nmy bride! Is it for me to die when thou hast gone.\n\n\"I perceive the crackling and the house ruddy with flames; and the love,\nlong-promised, declares our troth.\n\n\"Behold, thy covenant is fulfilled with no doubtful vows, since thou\nsharest my life and my destruction.\n\n\"We shall have one end, one bond after our troth, and somewhere our\nfirst love will live on.\n\n\"Happy am I, that have deserved to have joy of such a consort, and not\nto go basely alone to the gods of Tartarus!\n\n\"Then let the knot gripe the midst of the throat; nought but pleasure\nthe last doom shall bring,\n\n\"Since there remains a sure hope of the renewal of love, and a death\nwhich will soon have joys of its own.\n\n\"Either country is sweet; in both worlds shall be held in honour the\nrepose of our souls together, our equal truth in love,\n\n\"For, see now, I welcome the doom before me; since not even among the\nshades does very love suffer the embrace of its partner to perish.\" And\nas he spoke the executioners strangled him. And, that none may think\nthat all traces of antiquity have utterly disappeared, a proof of the\naforesaid event is afforded by local marks yet existing; for the killing\nof Hagbard gave his name to the stead; and not far from the town of\nSigar there is a place to be seen, where a mound a little above the\nlevel, with the appearance of a swelling in the ground, looks like an\nancient homestead. Moreover, a man told Absalon that he had seen a beam\nfound in the spot, which a countryman struck with his ploughshare as he\nburrowed into the clods.\n\nHakon, the son of Hamund, heard of this; but when he was seen to be on\nthe point of turning his arms from the Irish against the Danes in\norder to avenge his brother, Hakon the Zealander, the son of Wigar, and\nStarkad deserted him. They had been his allies from the death of Ragnald\nup to that hour: one, because he was moved by regard for friendship,\nthe other by regard for his birth; so that different reasons made both\ndesire the same thing.\n\nNow patriotism diverted Hakon (of Zealand) from attacking his country;\nfor it was apparent that he was going to fight his own people, while all\nthe rest warred with foreigners. But Starkad forbore to become the foe\nof the aged Sigar, whose hospitality he had enjoyed, lest he should be\nthought to wrong one who deserved well of him. For some men pay\nsuch respect to hospitality that, if they can remember ever to have\nexperienced kindly offices from folk, they cannot be thought to inflict\nany annoyance on them. But Hakon thought the death of his brother a\nworse loss than the defection of his champions; and, gathering his fleet\ninto the haven called Herwig in Danish, and in Latin Hosts' Bight, he\ndrew up his men, and posted his line of foot-soldiers in the spot where\nthe town built by Esbern now defends with its fortifications those who\ndwell hard by, and repels the approach of barbarous savages. Then\nhe divided his forces in three, and sent on two-thirds of his ships,\nappointing a few men to row to the river Susa. This force was to advance\non a dangerous voyage along its winding reaches, and to help those on\nfoot if necessary. He marched in person by land with the remainder,\nadvancing chiefly over wooded country to escape notice. Part of this\npath, which was once closed up with thick woods, is now land ready for\nthe plough, and fringed with a scanty scrub. And, in order that when\nthey got out into the plain they might not lack the shelter of trees,\nhe told them to cut and carry branches. Also, that nothing might burden\ntheir rapid march, he bade them cast away some of their clothes, as\nwell as their scabbards; and carry their swords naked. In memory of this\nevent he left the mountain and the ford a perpetual name. Thus by his\nnight march he eluded two pickets of sentries; but when he came upon\nthe third, a scout, observing the marvellous event, went to the\nsleeping-room of Sigar, saying that he brought news of a portentous\nthing; for he saw leaves and shrubs like men walking. Then the king\nasked him how far off was the advancing forest; and when he heard that\nit was near, he added that this prodigy boded his own death. Hence\nthe marsh where the shrubs were cut down was styled in common parlance\nDeadly Marsh. Therefore, fearing the narrow passages, he left the town,\nand went to a level spot which was more open, there to meet the enemy\nin battle. Sigar fought unsuccessfully, and was crushed and slain at the\nspot that is called in common speech Walbrunna, but in Latin the Spring\nof Corpses or Carnage. Then Hakon used his conquest to cruel purpose,\nand followed up his good fortune so wickedly, that he lusted for an\nindiscriminate massacre, and thought no forbearance should be shown to\nrank or sex. Nor did he yield to any regard for compassion or shame,\nbut stained his sword in the blood of women, and attacked mothers and\nchildren in one general and ruthless slaughter.\n\nSIWALD, the son of Sigar, had thus far stayed under his father's roof.\nBut when he heard of this, he mustered an army in order to have his\nvengeance. So Hakon, alarmed at the gathering of such numbers, went back\nwith a third of his army to his fleet at Herwig, and planned to depart\nby sea. But his colleague, Hakon, surnamed the Proud, thought that he\nought himself to feel more confidence at the late victory than fear at\nthe absence of Hakon; and, preferring death to flight, tried to defend\nthe remainder of the army. So he drew back his camp for a little, and\nfor a long time waited near the town of Axelsted, for the arrival of the\nfleet, blaming his friends for their tardy coming. For the fleet that\nhad been sent into the river had not yet come to anchor in the appointed\nharbour. Now the killing of Sigar and the love of Siwald were stirring\nthe temper of the people one and all, so that both sexes devoted\nthemselves to war, and you would have thought that the battle did not\nlack the aid of women.\n\nOn the morrow Hakon and Siwald met in an encounter and fought two whole\ndays. The combat was most frightful; both generals fell; and victory\ngraced the remnants of the Danes. But, in the night after the battle,\nthe fleet, having penetrated the Susa, reached the appointed haven. It\nwas once possible to row along this river; but its bed is now choked\nwith solid substances, and is so narrowed by its straits that\nfew vessels can get in, being prevented by its sluggishness and\ncontractedness. At daybreak, when the sailors saw the corpses of their\nfriends, they heaped up, in order to bury the general, a barrow of\nnotable size, which is famous to this day, and is commonly named Hakon's\nHowe.\n\nBut Borgar, with Skanian chivalry suddenly came up and slaughtered a\nmultitude of them. When the enemy were destroyed, he manned their ships,\nwhich now lacked their rowers, and hastily, with breathless speed,\npursued the son of Hamund. He encountered him, and ill-fortune befell\nHakon, who fled in hasty panic with three ships to the country of the\nScots, where, after two years had gone by, he died.\n\nAll these perilous wars and fortunes had so exhausted the royal line\namong the Danes, that it was found to be reduced to GURID alone, the\ndaughter of Alf, and granddaughter of Sigar. And when the Danes saw\nthemselves deprived of their usual high-born sovereigns, they committed\nthe kingdom to men of the people, and appointed rulers out of the\ncommons, assigning to Ostmar the regency of Skaane, and that of Zealand\nto Hunding; on Hane they conferred the lordship of Funen; while in the\nhands of Rorik and Hather they put the supreme power of Jutland, the\nauthority being divided. Therefore, that it may not be unknown from what\nfather sprang the succeeding line of kings, some matters come to my mind\nwhich must be glanced at for a while in a needful digression.\n\nThey say that Gunnar, the bravest of the Swedes, was once at feud with\nNorway for the most weighty reasons, and that he was granted liberty to\nattack it, but that he turned this liberty into licence by the greatest\nperils, and fell, in the first of the raids he planned, upon the\ndistrict of Jather, which he put partly to the sword and partly to the\nflames. Forbearing to plunder, he rejoiced only in passing through the\npaths that were covered with corpses, and the blood-stained ways.\nOther men used to abstain from bloodshed, and love pillage more than\nslaughter; but he preferred bloodthirstiness to booty, and liked best\nto wreak his deadly pleasure by slaughtering men. His cruelty drove\nthe islanders to forestall the impending danger by a public submission.\nMoreover, Ragnald, the King of the Northmen, now in extreme age, when he\nheard how the tyrant busied himself, had a cave made and shut up in\nit his daughter Drota, giving her due attendance, and providing her\nmaintenance for a long time. Also he committed to the cave some swords\nwhich had been adorned with the choicest smith-craft, besides the royal\nhousehold gear; so that he might not leave the enemy to capture and use\nthe sword, which he saw that he could not wield himself. And, to prevent\nthe cave being noticed by its height, he levelled the hump down to the\nfirmer ground. Then he set out to war; but being unable with his aged\nlimbs to go down into battle, he leaned on the shoulders of his escort\nand walked forth propped by the steps of others. So he perished in the\nbattle, where he fought with more ardour than success, and left his\ncountry a sore matter for shame.\n\nFor Gunnar, in order to punish the cowardice of the conquered race by\nterms of extraordinary baseness, had a dog set over them as a governor.\nWhat can we suppose to have been his object in this action, unless it\nwere to make a haughty nation feel that their arrogance was being more\nsignally punished when they bowed their stubborn heads before a yapping\nhound? To let no insult be lacking, he appointed governors to look after\npublic and private affairs in its name; and he appointed separate ranks\nof nobles to keep continual and steadfast watch over it. He also\nenacted that if any one of the courtiers thought it contemptible to do\nallegiance to their chief, and omitted offering most respectful homage\nto its various goings and comings as it ran hither and thither, he\nshould be punished with loss of his limbs. Also Gunnar imposed on the\nnation a double tribute, one to be paid out of the autumn harvest, the\nother in the spring. Thus he burst the bubble conceit of the Norwegians,\nto make them feel clearly how their pride was gone, when they saw it\nforced to do homage to a dog.\n\nWhen he heard that the king's daughter was shut up in some distant\nhiding-place, Gunnar strained his wits in every nerve to track her\nout. Hence, while he was himself conducting the search with others, his\ndoubtful ear caught the distant sound of a subterranean hum. Then he\nwent on slowly, and recognized a human voice with greater certainty. He\nordered the ground underfoot to be dug down to the solid rock; and\nwhen the cave was suddenly laid open, he saw the winding tunnels. The\nservants were slain as they tried to guard the now uncovered entrance\nto the cave, and the girl was dragged out of the hole, together with the\nbooty therein concealed. With great foresight, she had consigned at\nany rate her father's swords to the protection of a more secret place.\nGunnar forced her to submit to his will, and she bore a son Hildiger.\nThis man was such a rival to his father in cruelty, that he was ever\nthirsting to kill, and was bent on nothing but the destruction of men,\npanting with a boundless lust for bloodshed. Outlawed by his father\non account of his unbearable ruthlessness, and soon after presented by\nAlver with a government, he spent his whole life in arms, visiting\nhis neighbours with wars and slaughters; nor did he, in his estate of\nbanishment, relax his accustomed savagery a whir, but would not change\nhis spirit with his habitation.\n\nMeanwhile Borgar, finding that Gunnar had married Drota, the daughter of\nRagnald, by violence, took from him both life and wife, and wedded Drota\nhimself. She was not an unwilling bride; she thought it right for her to\nembrace the avenger of her parent. For the daughter mourned her father,\nand could never bring herself to submit with any pleasure to his\nmurderer. This woman and Borgar had a son Halfdan, who through all his\nearly youth was believed to be stupid, but whose later years proved\nillustrious for the most glorious deeds, and famous for the highest\nqualities that can grace life. Once, when a stripling, he mocked in\nboyish fashion at a champion of noble repute, who smote him with a\nbuffet; whereupon Halfdan attacked him with the staff he was carrying\nand killed him. This deed was an omen of his future honours; he had\nhitherto been held in scorn, but henceforth throughout his life he had\nthe highest honour and glory. The affair, indeed, was a prophecy of the\ngreatness of his deeds in war.\n\nAt this period, Rothe, a Ruthenian rover, almost destroyed our country\nwith his rapine and cruelty. His harshness was so notable that, while\nother men spared their prisoners utter nakedness, he did not think\nit uncomely to strip of their coverings even the privy parts of their\nbodies; wherefore we are wont to this day to call all severe and\nmonstrous acts of rapine Rothe-Ran (Rothe's Robbery). He used also\nsometimes to inflict the following kind of torture: Fastening the men's\nright feet firmly to the earth, he tied the left feet to boughs for\nthe purpose that when these should spring back the body would be rent\nasunder. Hane, Prince of Funen, wishing to win honour and glory, tried\nto attack this man with his sea-forces, but took to flight with one\nattendant. It was in reproach of him that the proverb arose: \"The cock\n(Hane) fights better on its own dunghill.\" Then Borgar, who could not\nbear to see his countrymen perishing any longer, encountered Rothe.\nTogether they fought and together they perished. It is said that in this\nbattle Halfdan was sorely stricken, and was for some time feeble with\nthe wounds he had received. One of these was inflicted conspicuously\non his mouth, and its scar was so manifest that it remained as an open\nblotch when all the other wounds were healed; for the crushed portion of\nthe lip was so ulcerated by the swelling, that the flesh would not grow\nout again and mend the noisome gash. This circumstance fixed on him a\nmost insulting nickname,... although wounds in the front of the body\ncommonly bring praise and not ignominy. So spiteful a colour does the\nbelief of the vulgar sometimes put upon men's virtues.\n\nMeanwhile Gurid, the daughter of Alf, seeing that the royal line was\nreduced to herself alone, and having no equal in birth whom she could\nmarry, proclaimed a vow imposing chastity on herself, thinking it better\nto have no husband than to take one from the commons. Moreover, to\nescape outrage, she guarded her room with a chosen band of champions.\nOnce Halfdan happened to come to see her. The champions, whose brother\nhe had himself slain in his boyhood, were away. He told her that she\nought to loose her virgin zone, and exchange her austere chastity for\ndeeds of love; that she ought not to give in so much to her inclination\nfor modesty as to be too proud to make a match, and so by her service\nrepair the fallen monarchy. So he bade her look on himself, who was\nof eminently illustrious birth, in the light of a husband, since it\nappeared that she would only admit pleasure for the reason he had named.\nGurid answered that she could not bring her mind to ally the remnants of\nthe royal line to a man of meaner rank. Not content with reproaching\nhis obscure birth, she also taunted his unsightly countenance. Halfdan\nrejoined that she brought against him two faults: one that his blood was\nnot illustrious enough; another, that he was blemished with a cracked\nlip whose scar had never healed. Therefore he would not come back to ask\nfor her before he had wiped away both marks of shame by winning glory in\nwar.\n\nHalfdan entreated her to suffer no man to be privy to her bed until she\nheard certain tidings either of his return or his death. The champions,\nwhom he had bereaved of their brother long ago, were angry that he had\nspoken to Gurid, and tried to ride after him as he went away. When\nhe saw it, he told his comrades to go into ambush, and said he would\nencounter the champions alone. His followers lingered, and thought it\nshameful to obey his orders, but he drove them off with threats, saying\nthat Gurid should not find that fear had made him refuse to fight.\nPresently he cut down an oak-tree and fashioned it into a club, fought\nthe twelve single-handed, and killed them. After their destruction, not\ncontent with the honours of so splendid an action, and meaning to do one\nyet greater, he got from his mother the swords of his grandfather, one\nof which was called Lyusing.... and the other Hwyting, after the sheen\nof its well-whetted point. But when he heard that war was raging between\nAlver, the King of Sweden, and the Ruthenians (Russians), he instantly\nwent to Russia, offered help to the natives, and was received by all\nwith the utmost honour. Alver was not far off, there being only a little\nground to cross to cover the distance between the two. Alver's soldier\nHildiger, the son of Gunnar, challenged the champions of the Ruthenians\nto fight him; but when he saw that Halfdan was put up against him,\nthough knowing well that he was Halfdan's brother, he let natural\nfeeling prevail over courage, and said that he, who was famous for the\ndestruction of seventy champions, would not fight with an untried\nman. Therefore he told him to measure himself in enterprises of lesser\nmoment, and thenceforth to follow pursuits fitted to his strength. He\nmade this announcement not from distrust in his own courage, but in\norder to preserve his uprightness; for he was not only very valiant, but\nalso skilled at blunting the sword with spells. For when he remembered\nthat Halfdan's father had slain his own, he was moved by two\nfeelings--the desire to avenge his father, and his love for his brother.\nHe therefore thought it better to retire from the challenge than to be\nguilty of a very great crime. Halfdan demanded another champion in\nhis place, slew him when he appeared, and was soon awarded the palm\nof valour even by the voice of the enemy, being accounted by public\nacclamation the bravest of all. On the next day he asked for two men to\nfight with, and slew them both. On the third day he subdued three; on\nthe fourth he overcame four who met him; and on the fifth he asked for\nfive.\n\nWhen Halfdan conquered these, and when the eighth day had been reached\nwith an equal increase in the combatants and in the victory, he laid low\neleven who attacked him at once. Hildiger, seeing that his own record of\nhonours was equalled by the greatness of Halfdan's deeds could not bear\nto decline to meet him any longer. And when he felt that Halfdan had\ndealt him a deadly wound with a sword wrapped in rags, he threw away his\narms, and, lying on the earth, addressed his brother as follows:\n\n\"It is pleasing to pass an hour away in mutual talk; and, while the\nsword rests, to sit a little on the ground and while away the time by\nspeaking in turn, and keep ourselves in good heart. Time is left for our\npurpose; our two destinies have a different lot; one is surely doomed to\ndie by a fatal weird, while triumph and glory and all the good of living\nawait the other in better years. Thus our omens differ, and our portions\nare distinguished. Thou art a son of the Danish land, I of the country\nof Sweden. Once, Drota thy mother had her breast swell for thee; she\nbore me, and by her I am thy foster-brother. Lo now, there perishes\na righteous offspring, who had the heart to fight with savage spears;\nbrothers born of a shining race charge and bring death on one another;\nwhile they long for the height of power, they lose their days, and,\nhaving now received a fatal mischief in their desire for a sceptre, they\nwill go to Styx in a common death. Fast by my head stands my Swedish\nshield, which is adorned with (as) a fresh mirror of diverse chasing,\nand ringed with layers of marvellous fretwork. There a picture of really\nhues shows slain nobles and conquered champions, and the wars also and\nthe notable deed of my right hand. In the midst is to be seen, painted\nin bright relief, the figure of my son, whom this hand bereft of his\nspan of life. He was our only heir, the only thought of his father's\nmind, and given to his mother with comfort from above. An evil lot,\nwhich heaps years of ill-fortune on the joyous, chokes mirth in\nmourning, and troubles our destiny. For it is lamentable and wretched\nto drag out a downcast life, to draw breath through dismal days and to\nchafe at foreboding. But whatsoever things are bound by the prophetic\norder of the fates, whatsoever are shadowed in the secrets of the divine\nplan, whatsoever are foreseen and fixed in the course of the destinies,\nno change of what is transient shall cancel these things.\"\n\nWhen he had thus spoken, Halfdan condemned Hildiger for sloth in avowing\nso late their bond of brotherhood; he declared he had kept silence that\nhe might not be thought a coward for refusing to fight, or a villain\nif he fought; and while intent on these words of excuse, he died.\nBut report had given out among the Danes that Hildiger had overthrown\nHalfdan. After this, Siwar, a Saxon of very high birth, began to be a\nsuitor for Gurid, the only survivor of the royal blood among the Danes.\nSecretly she preferred Halfdan to him, and imposed on her wooer the\ncondition that he should not ask her in marriage till he had united into\none body the kingdom of the Danes, which was now torn limb from limb,\nand restored by arms what had been wrongfully taken from her. Siwar made\na vain attempt to do this; but as he bribed all the guardians, she was\nat last granted to him in betrothal. Halfdan heard of this in Russia\nthrough traders, and voyaged so hard that he arrived before the time of\nthe wedding-rites. On their first day, before he went to the palace, he\ngave orders that his men should not stir from the watches appointed them\ntill their ears caught the clash of the steel in the distance. Unknown\nto the guests, he came and stood before the maiden, and, that he\nmight not reveal his meaning to too many by bare and common speech, he\ncomposed a dark and ambiguous song as follows:\n\n\"As I left my father's sceptre, I had no fear of the wiles of woman's\ndevice nor of female subtlety.\n\n\"When I overthrew, one and two, three and four, and soon five, and next\nsix, then seven, and also eight, yea eleven single-handed, triumphant in\nbattle.\n\n\"But neither did I then think that I was to be shamed with the taint of\ndisgrace, with thy frailness to thy word and thy beguiling pledges.\"\n\nGurid answered: \"My soul wavered in suspense, with slender power over\nevents, and shifted about with restless fickleness. The report of thee\nwas so fleeting, so doubtful, borne on uncertain stories, and parched by\ndoubting heart. I feared that the years of thy youth had perished by\nthe sword. Could I withstand singly my elders and governors, when they\nforbade me to refuse that thing, and pressed me to become a wife? My\nlove and my flame are both yet unchanged, they shall be mate and match\nto thine; nor has my troth been disturbed, but shall have faithful\napproach to thee.\n\n\"For my promise has not yet beguiled thee at all, though I, being alone,\ncould not reject the counsel of such manifold persuasion, nor oppose\ntheir stern bidding in the matter of my consent to the marriage bond.\"\n\nBefore the maiden had finished her answer, Halfdan had already run his\nsword through the bridegroom. Not content with having killed one man, he\nmassacred most of the guests. Staggering tipsily backwards, the Saxons\nran at him, but his servants came up and slaughtered them. After this\nHALFDAN took Gurid to wife. But finding in her the fault of barrenness,\nand desiring much to have offspring, he went to Upsala in order to\nprocure fruitfulness for her; and being told in answer, that he must\nmake atonement to the shades of his brother if he would raise up\nchildren, he obeyed the oracle, and was comforted by gaining his desire.\nFor he had a son by Gurid, to whom he gave the name of Harald. Under his\ntitle Halfdan tried to restore the kingdom of the Danes to its ancient\nestate, as it was torn asunder by the injuries of the chiefs; but, while\nfighting in Zealand, he attacked Wesete, a very famous champion, in\nbattle, and was slain. Gurid was at the battle in man's attire, from\nlove for her son. She saw the event; the young man fought hotly, but\nhis companions fled; and she took him on her shoulders to a neighbouring\nwood. Weariness, more than anything else, kept the enemy from pursuing\nhim; but one of them shot him as he hung, with an arrow, through the\nhinder parts, and Harald thought that his mother's care brought him more\nshame than help.\n\nHARALD, being of great beauty and unusual size, and surpassing those of\nhis age in strength and stature, received such favour from Odin (whose\noracle was thought to have been the cause of his birth), that steel\ncould not injure his perfect soundness. The result was, that shafts\nwhich wounded others were disabled from doing him any harm. Nor was the\nboon unrequited; for he is reported to have promised to Odin all the\nsouls which his sword cast out of their bodies. He also had his father's\ndeeds recorded for a memorial by craftsmen on a rock in Bleking, whereof\nI have made mention.\n\nAfter this, hearing that Wesete was to hold his wedding in Skaane, he\nwent to the feast disguised as a beggar; and when all were sunken in\nwine and sleep, he battered the bride-chamber with a beam. But Wesete,\nwithout inflicting a wound, so beat his mouth with a cudgel, that he\ntook out two teeth; but two grinders unexpectedly broke out afterwards\nand repaired their loss: an event which earned him the name of\nHyldetand, which some declare he obtained on account of a prominent row\nof teeth. Here he slew Wesete, and got the sovereignty of Skaane. Next\nhe attacked and killed Hather in Jutland; and his fall is marked by the\nlasting name of the town. After this he overthrew Hunding and Rorik,\nseized Leire, and reunited the dismembered realm of Denmark into its\noriginal shape. Then he found that Asmund, the King of the Wikars, had\nbeen deprived of his throne by his elder sister; and, angered by such\npresumption on the part of a woman, went to Norway with a single ship,\nwhile the war was still undecided, to help him. The battle began; and,\nclothed in a purple cloak, with a coif broidered with gold, and with his\nhair bound up, he went against the enemy trusting not in arms, but in\nhis silent certainty of his luck, insomuch that he seemed dressed more\nfor a feast than a fray. But his spirit did not match his attire.\nFor, though unarmed and only adorned with his emblems of royalty, he\noutstripped the rest who bore arms, and exposed himself, lightly-armed\nas he was, to the hottest perils of the battle. For the shafts aimed\nagainst him lost all power to hurt, as if their points had been blunted.\nWhen the other side saw him fighting unarmed, they made an attack, and\nwere forced for very shame into assailing him more hotly. But Harald,\nwhole in body, either put them to the sword, or made them take to\nflight; and thus he overthrew the sister of Asmund, and restored him his\nkingdom. When Asmund offered him the prizes of victory, he said that the\nreward of glory was enough by itself; and demeaned himself as greatly\nin refusing the gifts as he had in earning them. By this he made all men\nadmire his self-restraint as much as his valour; and declared that the\nvictory should give him a harvest not of gold but glory.\n\nMeantime Alver, the King of the Swedes, died leaving sons Olaf, Ing,\nand Ingild. One of these, Ing, dissatisfied with the honours his father\nbequeathed him, declared war with the Danes in order to extend his\nempire. And when Harald wished to inquire of oracles how this war would\nend, an old man of great height, but lacking one eye, and clad also in a\nhairy mantle, appeared before him, and declared that he was called Odin,\nand was versed in the practice of warfare; and he gave him the most\nuseful instruction how to divide up his army in the field. Now he told\nhim, whenever he was going to make war with his land-forces, to divide\nhis whole army into three squadrons, each of which he was to pack into\ntwenty ranks; the centre squadron, however, he was to extend further\nthan the rest by the number of twenty men. This squadron he was also to\narrange in the form of the point of a cone or pyramid, and to make the\nwings on either side slant off obliquely from it. He was to compose the\nsuccessive ranks of each squadron in the following way: the front should\nbegin with two men, and the number in each succeeding rank should only\nincrease by one; he was, in fact, to post a rank of three in the second\nline, four in the third, and so on behind. And thus, when the men\nmustered, all the succeeding ranks were to be manned at the same rate\nof proportion, until the end of (the edge that made) the junction of men\ncame down to the wings; each wing was to be drawn up in ten lines from\nthat point. Likewise after these squadrons he was to put the young men,\nequipped with lances, and behind these to set the company of aged men,\nwho would support their comrades with what one might call a veteran\nvalour if they faltered; next, a skilful reckoner should attach wings of\nslingers to stand behind the ranks of their fellows and attack the enemy\nfrom a distance with missiles. After these he was to enroll men of any\nage or rank indiscriminately, without heed of their estate. Moreover, he\nwas to draw up the rear like the vanguard, in three separated divisions,\nand arranged in ranks similarly proportioned. The back of this, joining\non to the body in front would protect it by facing in the opposite\ndirection. But if a sea-battle happened to occur, he should withdraw a\nportion of his fleet, which when he began the intended engagement, was\nto cruise round that of the enemy, wheeling to and fro continually.\nEquipped with this system of warfare, he forestalled matters in Sweden,\nand killed Ing and Olaf as they were making ready to fight. Their\nbrother Ingild sent messengers to beg a truce, on pretence of his\nill-health. Harald granted his request, that his own valour, which had\nlearnt to spare distress, might not triumph over a man in the hour\nof lowliness and dejection. When Ingild afterwards provoked Harald\nby wrongfully ravishing his sister, Harald vexed him with long and\nindecisive war, but then took him into his friendship, thinking it\nbetter to have him for ally than for enemy.\n\nAfter this he heard that Olaf, King of the Thronds, had to fight with\nthe maidens Stikla and Rusila for the kingdom. Much angered at this\narrogance on the part of women, he went to Olaf unobserved, put on dress\nwhich concealed the length of his teeth, and attacked the maidens. He\noverthrew them both, leaving to two harbours a name akin to theirs. It\nwas then that he gave a notable exhibition of valour; for defended\nonly by a shirt under his shoulders, he fronted the spears with unarmed\nbreast.\n\nWhen Olaf offered Harald the prize of victory, he rejected the gift,\nthus leaving it a question whether he had shown a greater example of\nbravery or self-control. Then he attacked a champion of the Frisian\nnation, named Ubbe, who was ravaging the borders of Jutland and\ndestroying numbers of the common people; and when Harald could not\nsubdue him to his arms, he charged his soldiers to grip him with their\nhands, throw him on the ground, and to bind him while thus overpowered.\nThus he only overcame the man and mastered him by a shameful kind of\nattack, though a little before he thought he would inflict a heavy\ndefeat on him. But Harald gave him his sister in marriage, and thus\ngained him for his soldier.\n\nHarald made tributaries of the nations that lay along the Rhine, levying\ntroops from the bravest of that race. With these forces he conquered\nSclavonia in war, and caused its generals, Duk and Dal, because of their\nbravery, to be captured, and not killed. These men he took to serve with\nhim, and, after overcoming Aquitania, soon went to Britain, where he\noverthrew the King of the Humbrians, and enrolled the smartest of the\nwarriors he had conquered, the chief of whom was esteemed to be Orm,\nsurnamed the Briton. The fame of these deeds brought champions from\ndivers parts of the world, whom he formed into a band of mercenaries.\nStrengthened by their numbers, he kept down insurrections in all\nkingdoms by the terror of his name, so that he took out of their rulers\nall courage to fight with one another. Moreover, no man durst assume any\nsovereignty on the sea without his consent; for of old the state of the\nDanes had the joint lordship of land and sea.\n\nMeantime Ingild died in Sweden, leaving only a very little son, Ring,\nwhom he had by the sister of Harald. Harald gave the boy guardians, and\nput him over his father's kingdom. Thus, when he had overcome princes\nand provinces, he passed fifty years in peace. To save the minds of his\nsoldiers from being melted into sloth by this inaction, he decreed that\nthey should assiduously learn from the champions the way of parrying\nand dealing blows. Some of these were skilled in a remarkable manner of\nfighting, and used to smite the eyebrow on the enemy's forehead with an\ninfallible stroke; but if any man, on receiving the blow, blinked for\nfear, twitching his eyebrow, he was at once expelled the court and\ndismissed the service.\n\nAt this time Ole, the son of Siward and of Harald's sister, came to\nDenmark from the land of Norway in the desire to see his uncle. Since it\nis known that he had the first place among the followers of Harald, and\nthat after the Swedish war he came to the throne of Denmark, it bears\nsomewhat on the subject to relate the traditions of his deeds. Ole,\nthen, when he had passed his tenth to his fifteenth year with his\nfather, showed incredible proofs of his brilliant gifts both of mind and\nbody. Moreover, he was so savage of countenance that his eyes were like\nthe arms of other men against the enemy, and he terrified the bravest\nwith his stern and flashing glance. He heard the tidings that Gunn,\nruler of Tellemark, with his son Grim, was haunting as a robber the\nforest of Etha-scog, which was thick with underbrush and full of gloomy\nglens. The offence moved his anger; then he asked his father for a\nhorse, a dog, and such armour as could be got, and cursed his youth,\nwhich was suffering the right season for valour to slip sluggishly away.\nHe got what he asked, and explored the aforesaid wood very narrowly. He\nsaw the footsteps of a man printed deep on the snow; for the rime was\nblemished by the steps, and betrayed the robber's progress. Thus guided,\nhe went over a hill, and came on a very great river. This effaced the\nhuman tracks he had seen before, and he determined that he must cross.\nBut the mere mass of water, whose waves ran down in a headlong torrent,\nseemed to forbid all crossing; for it was full of hidden reefs, and the\nwhole length of its channel was turbid with a kind of whirl of foam.\nYet all fear of danger was banished from Ole's mind by his impatience\nto make haste. So valour conquered fear, and rashness scorned peril;\nthinking nothing hard to do if it were only to his mind, he crossed\nthe hissing eddies on horseback. When he had passed these, he came upon\ndefiles surrounded on all sides with swamps, the interior of which was\nbarred from easy approach by the pinnacle of a bank in front. He took\nhis horse over this, and saw an enclosure with a number of stalls. Out\nof this he turned many horses, and was minded to put in his own, when\na certain Tok, a servant of Gunn, angry that a stranger should wax so\ninsolent, attacked him fiercely; but Ole foiled his assailant by simply\nopposing his shield. Thinking it a shame to slay the fellow with the\nsword, he seized him, shattered him limb by limb, and flung him across\ninto the house whence he had issued in his haste. This insult quickly\naroused Gunn and Grim: they ran out by different side-doors, and charged\nOle both at once, despising his age and strength. He wounded them\nfatally; and, when their bodily powers were quite spent, Grim, who could\nscarce muster a final gasp, and whose force was almost utterly gone,\nwith his last pants composed this song:\n\n\"Though we be weak in frame, and the loss of blood has drained our\nstrength; since the life-breath, now drawn out by my wound, scarce\nquivers softly in my pierced breast:\n\n\"I counsel that we should make the battle of our last hour glorious\nwith dauntless deeds, that none may say that a combat has anywhere been\nbravelier waged or harder fought;\n\n\"And that our wild strife while we bore arms may, when our weary flesh\nhas found rest in the tomb, win us the wage of immortal fame.\n\n\"Let our first stroke crush the shoulder-blades of the foe, let our\nsteel cut off both his hands; so that, when Stygian Pluto has taken us,\na like doom may fall on Ole also, and a common death tremble over three,\nand one urn cover the ashes of three.\"\n\nHere Grim ended. But his father, rivalling his indomitable spirit, and\nwishing to give some exhortation in answer to his son's valiant speech,\nthus began:\n\n\"What though our veins be wholly bloodless, and in our frail body the\nlife be brief, yet our last fight be so strong and strenuous that it\nsuffer not the praise of us to be brief also.\n\n\"Therefore aim the javelin first at the shoulders and arms of the foe,\nso that the work of his hands may be weakened; and thus when we are\ngone three shall receive a common sepulchre, and one urn alike for three\nshall cover our united dust.\"\n\nWhen he had said this, both of them, resting on their knees (for the\napproach of death had drained their strength), made a desperate effort\nto fight Ole hand to hand, in order that, before they perished, they\nmight slay their enemy also; counting death as nothing if only they\nmight envelope their slayer in a common fall. Ole slew one of them with\nhis sword, the other with his hound. But even he gained no bloodless\nvictory; for though he had been hitherto unscathed, now at last he\nreceived a wound in front. His dog diligently licked him over, and he\nregained his bodily strength: and soon, to publish sure news of his\nvictory, he hung the bodies of the robbers upon gibbets in wide view.\nMoreover, he took the stronghold, and put in secret keeping all the\nbooty he found there, in reserve for future use.\n\nAt this time the arrogant wantonness of the brothers Skate and Hiale\nwaxed so high that they would take virgins of notable beauty from\ntheir parents and ravish them. Hence it came about that they formed the\npurpose of seizing Esa, the daughter of Olaf, prince of the Werms;\nand bade her father, if he would not have her serve the passion of a\nstranger, fight either in person, or by some deputy, in defence of his\nchild. When Ole had news of this, he rejoiced in the chance of a battle,\nand borrowing the attire of a peasant, went to the dwelling of Olaf.\nHe received one of the lowest places at table; and when he saw the\nhousehold of the king in sorrow, he called the king's son closer to him,\nand asked why they all wore so lamentable a face. The other answered,\nthat unless someone quickly interposed to protect them, his sister's\nchastity would soon be outraged by some ferocious champions. Ole next\nasked him what reward would be received by the man who devoted his life\nfor the maiden. Olaf, on his son asking him about this matter, said that\nhis daughter should go to the man who fought for her: and these words,\nmore than anything, made Ole long to encounter the danger.\n\nNow the maiden was wont to go from one guest to another in order to scan\ntheir faces narrowly, holding out a light that she might have a surer\nview of the dress and character of those who were entertained. It is\nalso believed that she divined their lineage from the lines and features\nof the face, and could discern any man's birth by sheer shrewdness of\nvision. When she stood and fixed the scrutiny of her gaze upon Olaf,\nshe was stricken with the strange awfulness of his eyes, and fell almost\nlifeless. But when her strength came slowly back, and her breath went\nand came more freely, she again tried to look at the young man, but\nsuddenly slipped and fell forward, as though distraught. A third time\nalso she strove to lift her closed and downcast gaze, but suddenly\ntottered and fell, unable not only to move her eyes, but even to control\nher feet; so much can strength be palsied by amazement. When Olaf saw\nit, he asked her why she had fallen so often. She averred that she was\nstricken by the savage gaze of the guest; that he was born of kings; and\nshe declared that if he could baulk the will of the ravishers, he was\nwell worthy of her arms. Then all of them asked Ole, who was keeping\nhis face muffled in a hat, to fling off his covering, and let them see\nsomething by which to learn his features. Then, bidding them all lay\naside their grief, and keep their heart far from sorrow, he uncovered\nhis brow; and he drew the eyes of all upon him in marvel at his great\nbeauty. For his locks were golden and the hair of his head was radiant;\nbut he kept the lids close over his pupils, that they might not terrify\nthe beholders.\n\nAll were heartened with the hope of better things; the guests seemed to\ndance and the courtiers to leap for joy; the deepest melancholy seemed\nto be scattered by an outburst of cheerfulness. Thus hope relieved their\nfears; the banquet wore a new face, and nothing was the same, or\nlike what it had been before. So the kindly promise of a single guest\ndispelled the universal terror. Meanwhile Hiale and Skate came up\nwith ten servants, meaning to carry off the maiden then and there, and\ndisturbed all the place with their noisy shouts. They called on the king\nto give battle, unless he produced his daughter instantly. Ole at once\nmet their frenzy with the promise to fight, adding the condition that\nno one should stealthily attack an opponent in the rear, but should only\ncombat in the battle face to face. Then, with his sword called Logthi,\nhe felled them all, single-handed--an achievement beyond his years. The\nground for the battle was found on an isle in the middle of a swamp,\nnot far from which is a stead that serves to memorise this slaughter,\nbearing the names of the brothers Hiale and Skate together.\n\nSo the girl was given him as prize of the combat, and bore him a son\nOmund. Then he gained his father-in-law's leave to revisit his father.\nBut when he heard that his country was being attacked by Thore, with\nthe help of Toste Sacrificer, and Leotar, surnamed.... he went to fight\nthem, content with a single servant, who was dressed as a woman. When\nhe was near the house of Thore, he concealed his own and his attendant's\nswords in hollowed staves. And when he entered the palace, he disguised\nhis true countenance, and feigned to be a man broken with age. He said\nthat with Siward he had been king of the beggars, but that he was now in\nexile, having been stubbornly driven forth by the hatred of the king's\nson Ole. Presently many of the courtiers greeted him with the name of\nking, and began to kneel and offer him their hands in mockery. He told\nthem to bear out in deeds what they had done in jest; and, plucking out\nthe swords which he and his man kept shut in their staves, attacked the\nking. So some aided Ole, taking it more as jest than earnest, and would\nnot be false to the loyalty which they mockingly yielded him; but most\nof them, breaking their idle vow, took the side of Thore. Thus arose an\ninternecine and undecided fray. At last Thore was overwhelmed and slain\nby the arms of his own folk, as much as by these of his guests; and\nLeotar, wounded to the death, and judging that his conqueror, Ole, was\nas keen in mind as he was valorous in deeds, gave him the name of the\nVigorous, and prophesied that he should perish by the same kind of trick\nas he had used with Thore; for, without question he should fall by the\ntreachery of his own house. And, as he spoke, he suddenly passed away.\nThus we can see that the last speech of the dying man expressed by its\nshrewd divination the end that should come upon his conqueror.\n\nAfter these deeds Ole did not go back to his father till he had restored\npeace to his house. His father gave him the command of the sea, and he\ndestroyed seventy sea-kings in a naval battle. The most distinguished\namong these were Birwil and Hwirwil, Thorwil, Nef and Onef, Redward (?),\nRand and Erand (?). By the honour and glory of this exploit he excited\nmany champions, whose whole heart's desire was for bravery, to join\nin alliance with him. He also enrolled into a bodyguard the wild young\nwarriors who were kindled with a passion for glory. Among these he\nreceived Starkad with the greatest honour, and cherished him with more\nfriendship than profit. Thus fortified, he checked, by the greatness of\nhis name, the wantonness of the neighbouring kings, in that he took from\nthem all their forces and all liking and heart for mutual warfare.\n\nAfter this he went to Harald, who made him commander of the sea; and at\nlast he was transferred to the service of Ring. At this time one Brun\nwas the sole partner and confidant of all Harald's councils. To this man\nboth Harald and Ring, whenever they needed a secret messenger, used to\nentrust their commissions. This degree of intimacy he obtained because\nhe had been reared and fostered with them. But Brun, amid the toils of\nhis constant journeys to and fro, was drowned in a certain river; and\nOdin, disguised under his name and looks, shook the close union of the\nkings by his treacherous embassage; and he sowed strife so guilefully\nthat he engendered in men, who were bound by friendship and blood,\na bitter mutual hate, which seemed unappeasable except by war. Their\ndissensions first grew up silently; at last both sides betrayed their\nleanings, and their secret malice burst into the light of day. So they\ndeclared their feuds, and seven years passed in collecting the materials\nof war. Some say that Harald secretly sought occasions to destroy\nhimself, not being moved by malice or jealousy for the crown, but by a\ndeliberate and voluntary effort. His old age and his cruelty made him a\nburden to his subjects; he preferred the sword to the pangs of disease,\nand liked better to lay down his life in the battle-field than in his\nbed, that he might have an end in harmony with the deeds of his past\nlife. Thus, to make his death more illustrious, and go to the nether\nworld in a larger company, he longed to summon many men to share his\nend; and he therefore of his own will prepared for war, in order to make\nfood for future slaughter. For these reasons, being seized with as great\na thirst to die himself as to kill others, and wishing the massacre on\nboth sides to be equal, he furnished both sides with equal resources;\nbut let Ring have a somewhat stronger force, preferring he should\nconquer and survive him.\n\n\n     ENDNOTES:\n     (1)  A parallel is the Lionel-Lancelot story of children saved by\n     being turned into dogs.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK EIGHT.\n\nSTARKAD was the first to set in order in Danish speech the history of\nthe Swedish war, a conflict whereof he was himself a mighty pillar; the\nsaid history being rather an oral than a written tradition. He set forth\nand arranged the course of this war in the mother tongue according to\nthe fashion of our country; but I purpose to put it into Latin, and will\nfirst recount the most illustrious princes on either side. For I have\nfelt no desire to include the multitude, which are even past exact\nnumbering. And my pen shall relate first those on the side of Harald,\nand presently those who served under Ring.\n\nNow the most famous of the captains that mustered to Harald are\nacknowledged to have been Sweyn and Sambar (Sam?), Ambar and Elli; Rati\nof Funen, Salgard and Roe (Hrothgar), whom his long beard distinguished\nby a nickname. Besides these, Skalk the Scanian, and Alf the son of Agg;\nto whom are joined Olwir the Broad, and Gnepie the Old. Besides these\nthere was Gardh, founder of the town Stang. To these are added the\nkinsfolk or bound followers of Harald: Blend (Blaeng?), the dweller\nin furthest Thule, (1) and Brand, whose surname was Crumb (Bitling?).\nAllied with these were Thorguy, with Thorwig, Tatar (Teit), and Hialte.\nThese men voyaged to Leire with bodies armed for war; but they were also\nmighty in excellence of wit, and their trained courage matched their\ngreat stature; for they had skill in discharging arrows both from bow\nand catapult, and at fighting their foe as they commonly did, man to\nman; and also at readily stringing together verse in the speech of their\ncountry: so zealously had they trained mind and body alike. Now out of\nLeire came Hortar (Hjort) and Borrhy (Borgar or Borgny), and also Belgi\nand Beigad, to whom were added Bari and Toli. Now out of the town of\nSle, under the captains Hetha (Heid) and Wisna, with Hakon Cut-cheek\ncame Tummi the Sailmaker. On these captains, who had the bodies of\nwomen, nature bestowed the souls of men. Webiorg was also inspired with\nthe same spirit, and was attended by Bo (Bui) Bramason and Brat the\nJute, thirsting for war. In the same throng came Orm of England, Ubbe\nthe Frisian, Ari the One-eyed, and Alf Gotar. Next in the count came Dal\nthe Fat and Duk the Sclav; Wisna, a woman, filled with sternness, and\na skilled warrior, was guarded by a band of Sclavs: her chief followers\nwere Barri and Gnizli. But the rest of the same company had their bodies\ncovered by little shields, and used very long swords and targets of\nskiey hue, which, in time of war, they either cast behind their backs or\ngave over to the baggage-bearers; while they cast away all protection to\ntheir breasts, and exposed their bodies to every peril, offering battle\nwith drawn swords. The most illustrious of these were Tolkar and Ymi.\nAfter these, Toki of the province of Wohin was conspicuous together with\nOtrit surnamed the Young. Hetha, guarded by a retinue of very active\nmen, brought an armed company to the war, the chiefs of whom were Grim\nand Grenzli; next to whom are named Geir the Livonian, Hame also and\nHunger, Humbli and Biari, bravest of the princes. These men often fought\nduels successfully, and won famous victories far and wide.\n\nThe maidens I have named, in fighting as well as courteous array, led\ntheir land-forces to the battle-field. Thus the Danish army mustered\ncompany by company. There were seven kings, equal in spirit but\ndiffering in allegiance, some defending Harald, and some Ring. Moreover,\nthe following went to the side of Harald: Homi and Hosathul (Eysothul?),\nHim...., Hastin and Hythin (Hedin) the Slight, also Dahar (Dag), named\nGrenski, and Harald Olafsson also. From the province of Aland came Har\nand Herlewar (Herleif), with Hothbrodd, surnamed the Furious; these\nfought in the Danish camp. But from Imisland arrived Humnehy (?) and\nHarald. They were joined by Haki and by Sigmund and Serker the sons of\nBemon, all coming from the North. All these were retainers of the king,\nwho befriended them most generously; for they were held in the highest\ndistinction by him, receiving swords adorned with gold, and the choicest\nspoils of war. There came also.... the sons of Gandal the old, who were\nin the intimate favour of Harald by reason of ancient allegiance. Thus\nthe sea was studded with the Danish fleet, and seemed to interpose a\nbridge, uniting Zealand to Skaane. To those that wished to pass between\nthose provinces, the sea offered a short road on foot over the dense\nmass of ships. But Harald would not have the Swedes unprepared in\ntheir arrangements for war, and sent men to Ring to carry his public\ndeclaration of hostilities, and notify the rupture of the mediating\npeace. The same men were directed to prescribe the place of combat.\nThese then whom I have named were the fighters for Harald.\n\nNow, on the side of Ring were numbered Ulf, Aggi (Aki?), Windar\n(Eywind?), Egil the One-eyed; Gotar, Hildi, Guti Alfsson; Styr the\nStout, and (Tolo-) Stein, who lived by the Wienic Mere. To these were\njoined Gerd the Glad and Gromer (Glum?) from Wermland. After these are\nreckoned the dwellers north on the Elbe, Saxo the Splitter, Sali the\nGoth; Thord the Stumbler, Throndar Big-nose; Grundi, Oddi, Grindir,\nTovi; Koll, Biarki, Hogni the Clever, Rokar the Swart. Now these scorned\nfellowship with the common soldiers, and had formed themselves into\na separate rank apart from the rest of the company. Besides these\nare numbered Hrani Hildisson and Lyuth Guthi (Hljot Godi), Svein the\nTopshorn, (Soknarsoti?), Rethyr (Hreidar?) Hawk, and Rolf the Uxorious\n(Woman-lover). Massed with these were Ring Adilsson and Harald who came\nfrom Thotn district. Joined to these were Walstein of Wick, Thorolf the\nThick, Thengel the Tall, Hun, Solwe, Birwil the Pale, Borgar and Skumbar\n(Skum). But from, Tellemark came the bravest of all, who had most\ncourage but least arrogance--Thorleif the Stubborn, Thorkill the Gute\n(Gothlander), Grettir the Wicked and the Lover of Invasions. Next to\nthese came Hadd the Hard and Rolder (Hroald) Toe-joint.\n\nFrom Norway we have the names of Thrand of Throndhjem, Thoke (Thore)\nof More, Hrafn the White, Haf (war), Biarni, Blihar (Blig?) surnamed\nSnub-nosed; Biorn from the district of Sogni; Findar (Finn) born in\nthe Firth; Bersi born in the town F(I)alu; Siward Boarhead, Erik the\nStory-teller, Holmstein the White, Hrut Rawi (or Vafi, the Doubter),\nErling surnamed Snake. Now from the province of Jather came Odd the\nEnglishman, Alf the Far-wanderer, Enar the Paunched, and Ywar surnamed\nThriug. Now from Thule (Iceland) came Mar the Red, born and bred in the\ndistrict called Midfirth; Grombar the Aged, Gram Brundeluk (Bryndalk?)\nGrim from the town of Skier (um) born in Skagafiord. Next came Berg the\nSeer, accompanied by Bragi and Rafnkel.\n\nNow the bravest of the Swedes were these: Arwakki, Keklu-Karl\n(Kelke-Karl), Krok the Peasant, (from Akr), Gudfast and Gummi from\nGislamark. These were kindred of the god Frey, and most faithful\nwitnesses to the gods. Ingi (Yngwe) also, and Oly, Alver, Folki, all\nsons of Elrik (Alrek), embraced the service of Ring; they were men ready\nof hand, quick in counsel, and very close friends of Ring. They likewise\nheld the god Frey to be the founder of their race. Amongst these from\nthe town of Sigtun also came Sigmund, a champion advocate, versed in\nmaking contracts of sale and purchase; besides him Frosti surnamed Bowl:\nallied with him was Alf the Lofty (Proud?) from the district of Upsala;\nthis man was a swift spear-thrower, and used to go in the front of the\nbattle.\n\nOle had a body-guard in which were seven kings, very ready of hand and\nof counsel; namely, Holti, Hendil, Holmar, Lewy (Leif), and Hame; with\nthese was enrolled Regnald the Russian, the grandson of Radbard; and\nSiwald also furrowed the sea with eleven light ships. Lesy (Laesi), the\nconqueror of the Pannonians (Huns), fitted with a sail his swift galley\nringed with gold. Thririkar (Erik Helsing) sailed in a ship whose prows\nwere twisted like a dragon. Also Thrygir (Tryggve) and Torwil sailed\nand brought twelve ships jointly. In the entire fleet of Ring there were\n2,500 ships.\n\nThe fleet of Gotland was waiting for the Swedish fleet in the harbour\nnamed Garnum. So Ring led the land-force, while Ole was instructed\nto command the fleet. Now the Goths were appointed a time and a place\nbetween Wik and Werund for the conflict with the Swedes. Then was the\nsea to be seen furrowed up with prows, and the canvas unfurled upon\nthe masts cut off the view over the ocean. The Danes had so far been\ndistressed with bad weather; but the Swedish fleet had a fair voyage,\nand had reached the scene of battle earlier. Here Ring disembarked his\nforces from his fleet, and then massed and prepared to draw up in line\nboth these and the army he had himself conducted overland. When these\nforces were at first loosely drawn up over the open country, it was\nfound that one wing reached all the way to Werund. The multitude was\nconfused in its places and ranks; but the king rode round it, and posted\nin the van all the smartest and most excellently-armed men, led by Ole,\nRegnald, and Wivil; then he massed the rest of the army on the two wings\nin a kind of curve. Ung, with the sons of Alrek, and Trig, he ordered\nto protect the right wing, while the left was put under the command\nof Laesi. Moreover, the wings and the masses were composed mainly of a\nclose squadron of Kurlanders and of Esthonians. Last stood the line of\nslingers.\n\nMeantime the Danish fleet, favoured by kindly winds, sailed, without\nstopping, for twelve days, and came to the town (stead) of Kalmar.\nThe wind-blown sails covering the waters were a marvel; and the canvas\nstretched upon the yards blotted out the sight of the heavens. For the\nfleet was augmented by the Sclavs and the Livonians and 7,000 Saxons.\nBut the Skanians, knowing the country, were appointed as guides and\nscouts to those who were going over the dry land. So when the Danish\narmy came upon the Swedes, who stood awaiting them, Ring told his men to\nstand quietly until Harald had drawn up his line of battle; bidding them\nnot to sound the signal before they saw the king settled in his chariot\nbeside the standards; for he said he should hope that an army would\nsoon come to grief which trusted in the leading of a blind man. Harald,\nmoreover, he said, had been seized in extreme age with the desire of\nforeign empire, and was as witless as he was sightless; wealth could\nnot satisfy a man who, if he looked to his years, ought to be well-nigh\ncontented with a grave. The Swedes therefore were bound to fight for\ntheir freedom, their country, and their children, while the enemy had\nundertaken the war in rashness and arrogance. Moreover, on the other\nside, there were very few Danes, but a mass of Saxons and other unmanly\npeoples stood arrayed. Swedes and Norwegians should therefore consider,\nhow far the multitudes of the North had always surpassed the Germans\nand the Sclavs. They should therefore despise an army which seemed to be\ncomposed more of a mass of fickle offscourings than of a firm and stout\nsoldiery.\n\nBy this harangue of King Ring he kindled high the hearts of the\nsoldiers. Now Brun, being instructed to form the line on Harald's\nbehalf, made the front in a wedge, posting Hetha on the right flank,\nputting Hakon in command of the left, and making Wisna standard-bearer.\nHarald stood up in his chariot and complained, in as loud a voice as he\ncould, that Ring was requiting his benefits with wrongs; that the man\nwho had got his kingdom by Harald's own gift was now attacking him; so\nthat Ring neither pitied an old man nor spared an uncle, but set his own\nambitions before any regard for Harald's kinship or kindness. So he bade\nthe Danes remember how they had always won glory by foreign conquest,\nand how they were more wont to command their neighbours than to obey\nthem. He adjured them not to let such glory as theirs to be shaken by\nthe insolence of a conquered nation, nor to suffer the empire, which he\nhad won in the flower of his youth, to be taken from him in his outworn\nage.\n\nThen the trumpets sounded, and both sides engaged in battle with all\ntheir strength. The sky seemed to fall suddenly on the earth, fields and\nwoods to sink into the ground; all things were confounded, and old Chaos\ncome again; heaven and earth mingling in one tempestuous turmoil, and\nthe world rushing to universal ruin. For, when the spear-throwing began,\nthe intolerable clash of arms filled the air with an incredible thunder.\nThe steam of the wounds suddenly hung a mist over the sky, the daylight\nwas hidden under the hail of spears. The help of the slingers was of\ngreat use in the battle. But when the missiles had all been flung from\nhand or engines, they fought with swords or iron-shod maces; and it was\nnow at close quarters that most blood was spilt. Then the sweat streamed\ndown their weary bodies, and the clash of the swords could be heard\nafar.\n\nStarkad, who was the first to set forth the history of this war in the\ntelling, fought foremost in the fray, and relates that he overthrew the\nnobles of Harald, Hun and Elli, Hort and Burgha, and cut off the right\nhand of Wisna. He also relates that one Roa, with two others, Gnepie and\nGardar, fell wounded by him in the field. To these he adds the father of\nSkalk, whose name is not given. He also declares that he cast Hakon, the\nbravest of the Danes, to the earth, but received from him such a wound\nin return that he had to leave the war with his lung protruding from\nhis chest, his neck cleft to the centre, and his hand deprived of one\nfinger; so that he long had a gaping wound, which seemed as if it would\nnever either scar over or be curable. The same man witnesses that the\nmaiden Weghbiorg (Webiorg) fought against the enemy and felled Soth\nthe champion. While she was threatening to slay more champions, she was\npierced through by an arrow from the bowstring of Thorkill, a native of\nTellemark. For the skilled archers of the Gotlanders strung their bows\nso hard that the shafts pierced through even the shields; nothing proved\nmore murderous; for the arrow-points made their way through hauberk and\nhelmet as if they were men's defenceless bodies.\n\nMeanwhile Ubbe the Frisian, who was the readiest of Harald's soldiers,\nand of notable bodily stature, slew twenty-five picked champions,\nbesides eleven whom he had wounded in the field. All these were of\nSwedish or Gothic blood. Then he attacked the vanguard and burst into\nthe thickest of the enemy, driving the Swedes struggling in a panic\nevery way with spear and sword. It had all but come to a flight, when\nHagder (Hadd), Rolder (Hroald), and Grettir attacked the champion,\nemulating his valour, and resolving at their own risk to retrieve\nthe general ruin. But, fearing to assault him at close quarters, they\naccomplished their end with arrows from afar; and thus Ubbe was riddled\nby a shower of arrows, no one daring to fight him hand to hand. A\nhundred and forty-four arrows had pierced the breast of the warrior\nbefore his bodily strength failed and he bent his knee to the earth.\nThen at last the Danes suffered a great defeat, owing to the Thronds\nand the dwellers in the province of Dala. For the battle began afresh\nby reason of the vast mass of the archers, and nothing damaged our men\nmore.\n\nBut when Harald, being now blind with age, heard the lamentable murmur\nof his men, he perceived that fortune had smiled on his enemies. So,\nas he was riding in a chariot armed with scythes, he told Brun, who was\ntreacherously acting as charioteer, to find out in what manner Ring had\nhis line drawn up. Brun's face relaxed into something of a smile, and he\nanswered that he was fighting with a line in the form of a wedge.\nWhen the king heard this he began to be alarmed, and to ask in great\nastonishment from whom Ring could have learnt this method of disposing\nhis line, especially as Odin was the discoverer and imparter of this\nteaching, and none but himself had ever learnt from him this new pattern\nof warfare. At this Brun was silent, and it came into the king's mind\nthat here was Odin, and that the god whom he had once known so well\nwas now disguised in a changeful shape, in order either to give help or\nwithhold it. Presently he began to beseech him earnestly to grant the\nfinal victory to the Danes, since he had helped them so graciously\nbefore, and to fill up his last kindness to the measure of the first;\npromising to dedicate to him as a gift the spirits of all who fell. But\nBrun, utterly unmoved by his entreaties, suddenly jerked the king out of\nthe chariot, battered him to the earth, plucked the club from him as\nhe fell, whirled it upon his head, and slew him with his own weapon.\nCountless corpses lay round the king's chariot, and the horrid heap\novertopped the wheels; the pile of carcases rose as high as the pole.\nFor about 12,000 of the nobles of Ring fell upon the field. But on the\nside of Harald about 30,000 nobles fell, not to name the slaughter of\nthe commons.\n\nWhen Ring heard that Harald was dead, he gave the signal to his men to\nbreak up their line and cease fighting. Then under cover of truce he\nmade treaty with the enemy, telling them that it was vain to prolong the\nfray without their captain. Next he told the Swedes to look everywhere\namong the confused piles of carcases for the body of Harald, that the\ncorpse of the king might not wrongfully lack its due rights. So the\npopulace set eagerly to the task of turning over the bodies of the\nslain, and over this work half the day was spent. At last the body was\nfound with the club, and he thought that propitiation should be made to\nthe shade of Harald. So he harnessed the horse on which he rode to the\nchariot of the king, decked it honourably with a golden saddle, and\nhallowed it in his honour. Then he proclaimed his vows, and added his\nprayer that Harald would ride on this and outstrip those who shared his\ndeath in their journey to Tartarus; and that he would pray Pluto, the\nlord of Orcus, to grant a calm abode there for friend and foe. Then he\nraised a pyre, and bade the Danes fling on the gilded chariot of their\nking as fuel to the fire. And while the flames were burning the body\ncast upon them, he went round the mourning nobles and earnestly charged\nthem that they should freely give arms, gold, and every precious thing\nto feed the pyre in honour of so great a king, who had deserved so nobly\nof them all. He also ordered that the ashes of his body, when it was\nquite burnt, should be transferred to an urn, taken to Leire, and there,\ntogether with the horse and armour, receive a royal funeral. By paying\nthese due rites of honour to his uncle's shade, he won the favour of the\nDanes, and turned the hate of his enemies into goodwill. Then the Danes\nbesought him to appoint Hetha over the remainder of the realm; but, that\nthe fallen strength of the enemy might not suddenly rally, he severed\nSkaane from the mass of Denmark, and put it separately under the\ngovernorship of Ole, ordering that only Zealand and the other lands\nof the realm should be subject to Hetha. Thus the changes of fortune\nbrought the empire of Denmark under the Swedish rule. So ended the\nBravic war.\n\nBut the Zealanders, who had had Harald for their captain, and still had\nthe picture of their former fortune hovering before their minds, thought\nit shameful to obey the rule of a woman, and appealed to OLE not to\nsuffer men that had been used to serve under a famous king to be kept\nunder a woman's yoke. They also promised to revolt to him if he would\ntake up arms to remove their ignominious lot. Ole, tempted as much by\nthe memory of his ancestral glory as by the homage of the soldiers, was\nnot slow to answer their entreaties. So he summoned Hetha, and forced\nher by threats rather than by arms to quit every region under her\ncontrol except Jutland; and even Jutland he made a tributary state, so\nas not to allow a woman the free control of a kingdom. He also begot a\nson whom he named Omund. But he was given to cruelty, and showed himself\nsuch an unrighteous king, that all who had found it a shameful thing to\nbe ruled by a queen now repented of their former scorn.\n\nTwelve generals, whether moved by the disasters of their country, or\nhating Ole for some other reason, began to plot against his life. Among\nthese were Hlenni, Atyl, Thott, and Withne, the last of whom was a Dane\nby birth, though he held a government among the Sclavs. Moreover, not\ntrusting in their strength and their cunning to accomplish their deed,\nthey bribed Starkad to join them. He was prevailed to do the deed with\nthe sword; he undertook the bloody work, and resolved to attack the\nking while at the bath. In he went while the king was washing, but was\nstraightway stricken by the keenness of his gaze and by the restless and\nquivering glare of his eyes. His limbs were palsied with sudden dread;\nhe paused, stepped back, and stayed his hand and his purpose. Thus he\nwho had shattered the arms of so many captains and champions could not\nbear the gaze of a single unarmed man. But Ole, who well knew about his\nown countenance, covered his face, and asked him to come closer and tell\nhim what his message was; for old fellowship and long-tried friendship\nmade him the last to suspect treachery. But Starkad drew his sword,\nleapt forward, thrust the king through, and struck him in the throat as\nhe tried to rise. One hundred and twenty marks of gold were kept for\nhis reward. Soon afterwards he was smitten with remorse and shame, and\nlamented his crime so bitterly, that he could not refrain from tears\nif it happened to be named. Thus his soul, when he came to his senses,\nblushed for his abominable sin. Moreover, to atone for the crime he\nhad committed, he slew some of those who had inspired him to it, thus\navenging the act to which he had lent his hand.\n\nNow the Danes made OMUND, the son of Ole, king, thinking that more heed\nshould be paid to his father's birth than to his deserts. Omund, when he\nhad grown up, fell in nowise behind the exploits of his father; for he\nmade it his aim to equal or surpass the deeds of Ole.\n\nAt this time a considerable tribe of the Northmen (Norwegians) was\ngoverned by Ring, and his daughter Esa's great fame commended her to\nOmund, who was looking out for a wife.\n\nBut his hopes of wooing her were lessened by the peculiar inclination of\nRing, who desired no son-in-law but one of tried valour; for he found\nas much honour in arms as others think lies in wealth. Omund therefore,\nwishing to become famous in that fashion, and to win the praise of\nvalour, endeavoured to gain his desire by force, and sailed to Norway\nwith a fleet, to make an attempt on the throne of Ring under plea of\nhereditary right. Odd, the chief of Jather, who declared that Ring had\nassuredly seized his inheritance, and lamented that he harried him with\ncontinual wrongs, received Omund kindly. Ring, in the meantime, was on\na roving raid in Ireland, so that Omund attacked a province without a\ndefender. Sparing the goods of the common people, he gave the private\nproperty of Ring over to be plundered, and slew his kinsfolk; Odd\nalso having joined his forces to Omund. Now, among all his divers and\nmanifold deeds, he could never bring himself to attack an inferior\nforce, remembering that he was the son of a most valiant father, and\nthat he was bound to fight armed with courage, and not with numbers.\n\nMeanwhile Ring had returned from roving; and when Omund heard he was\nback, he set to and built a vast ship, whence, as from a fortress, he\ncould rain his missiles on the enemy. To manage this ship he enlisted\nHomod and Thole the rowers, the soils of Atyl the Skanian, one of whom\nwas instructed to act as steersman, while the other was to command at\nthe prow. Ring lacked neither skill nor dexterity to encounter them.\nFor he showed only a small part of his forces, and caused the enemy to\nbe attacked on the rear. Omund, when told of his strategy by Odd, sent\nmen to overpower those posted in ambush, telling Atyl the Skanian to\nencounter Ring. The order was executed with more rashness than success;\nand Atyl, with his power defeated and shattered, fled beaten to Skaane.\nThen Omund recruited his forces with the help of Odd, and drew up his\nfleet to fight on the open sea.\n\nAtyl at this time had true visions of the Norwegian war in his dreams,\nand started on his voyage in order to make up for his flight as quickly\nas possible, and delighted Omund by joining him on the eve of battle.\nTrusting in his help, Omund began to fight with equal confidence and\nsuccess. For, by fighting himself, he retrieved the victory which he had\nlost when his servants were engaged. Ring, wounded to the death, gazed\nat him with faint eyes, and, beckoning to him with his hand, as well\nas he could--for his voice failed him--he besought him to be his\nson-in-law, saying that he would gladly meet his end if he left his\ndaughter to such a husband. Before he could receive an answer he died.\nOmund wept for his death, and gave Homod, whose trusty help he had\nreceived in the war, in marriage to one of the daughters of Ring, taking\nthe other himself.\n\nAt the same time the amazon Rusla, whose prowess in warfare exceeded the\nspirit of a woman, had many fights in Norway with her brother, Thrond,\nfor the sovereignty. She could not endure that Omund rule over the\nNorwegians, and she had declared war against all the subjects of the\nDanes. Omund, when he heard of this, commissioned his most active men\nto suppress the rising. Rusla conquered them, and, waxing haughty on\nher triumph, was seized with overweening hopes, and bent her mind upon\nactually acquiring the sovereignty of Denmark. She began her attack on\nthe region of Halland, but was met by Homod and Thode, whom the king\nhad sent over. Beaten, she retreated to her fleet, of which only thirty\nships managed to escape, the rest being taken by the enemy. Thrond\nencountered his sister as she was eluding the Danes, but was conquered\nby her and stripped of his entire army; he fled over the Dovrefjeld\nwithout a single companion. Thus she, who had first yielded before the\nDanes, soon overcame her brother, and turned her flight into a victory.\nWhen Omund heard of this, he went back to Norway with a great fleet,\nfirst sending Homod and Thole by a short and secret way to rouse the\npeople of Tellemark against the rule of Rusla. The end was that she was\ndriven out of her kingdom by the commons, fled to the isles for safety,\nand turned her back, without a blow, upon the Danes as they came up.\nThe king pursued her hotly, caught up her fleet on the sea, and utterly\ndestroyed it, the enemy suffered mightily, and he won a bloodless\nvictory and splendid spoils. But Rusla escaped with a very few ships,\nand rowed ploughing the waves furiously; but, while she was avoiding the\nDanes, she met her brother and was killed. So much more effectual\nfor harm are dangers unsurmised; and chance sometimes makes the less\nalarming evil worse than that which threatens. The king gave Thrond a\ngovernorship for slaying his sister, put the rest under tribute, and\nreturned home.\n\nAt this time Thorias (?) and Ber (Biorn), the most active of the\nsoldiers of Rusla, were roving in Ireland; but when they heard of the\ndeath of their mistress, whom they had long ago sworn to avenge, they\nhotly attacked Omund, and challenged him to a duel, which it used to be\naccounted shameful for a king to refuse; for the fame of princes of\nold was reckoned more by arms than by riches. So Homod and Thole came\nforward, offering to meet in battle the men who had challenged the king.\nOmund praised them warmly, but at first declined for very shame to allow\ntheir help. At last, hard besought by his people, he brought himself\nto try his fortune by the hand of another. We are told that Ber fell in\nthis combat, while Thorias left the battle severely wounded. The king,\nhaving first cured him of his wounds, took him into his service, and\nmade him prince (earl) over Norway. Then he sent ambassadors to exact\nthe usual tribute from the Sclavs; these were killed, and he was even\nattacked in Jutland by a Sclavish force; but he overcame seven kings\nin a single combat, and ratified by conquest his accustomed right to\ntribute.\n\nMeantime, Starkad, who was now worn out with extreme age, and who seemed\nto be past military service and the calling of a champion, was loth to\nlose his ancient glory through the fault of eld, and thought it would be\na noble thing if he could make a voluntary end, and hasten his death by\nhis own free will. Having so often fought nobly, he thought it would be\nmean to die a bloodless death; and, wishing to enhance the glory of his\npast life by the lustre of his end, he preferred to be slain by some\nman of gallant birth rather than await the tardy shaft of nature. So\nshameful was it thought that men devoted to war should die by disease.\nHis body was weak, and his eyes could not see clearly, so that he hated\nto linger any more in life. In order to buy himself an executioner, he\nwore hanging on his neck the gold which he had earned for the murder of\nOle; thinking there was no fitter way of atoning for the treason he had\ndone than to make the price of Ole's death that of his own also, and to\nspend on the loss of his own life what he had earned by the slaying of\nanother. This, he thought, would be the noblest use he could make of\nthat shameful price. So he girded him with two swords, and guided his\npowerless steps leaning on two staves.\n\nOne of the common people, seeing him, thinking two swords superfluous\nfor the use of an old man, mockingly asked him to make him a present\nof one of them. Starkad, holding out hopes of consent, bade him come\nnearer, drew the sword from his side, and ran him through. This was\nseen by a certain Hather, whose father Hlenne Starkad had once killed in\nrepentance for his own impious crime. Hatfier was hunting game with his\ndogs, but now gave over the chase, and bade two of his companions\nspur their horses hard and charge at the old man to frighten him. They\ngalloped forward, and tried to make off, but were stopped by the staves\nof Starkad, and paid for it with their lives. Hather, terrified by the\nsight, galloped up closer, and saw who the old man was, but without\nbeing recognized by him in turn; and asked him if he would like to\nexchange his sword for a carriage. Starkad replied that he used in old\ndays to chastise jeerers, and that the insolent had never insulted him\nunpunished. But his sightless eyes could not recognize the features\nof the youth; so he composed a song, wherein he should declare the\ngreatness of his anger, as follows:\n\n\"As the unreturning waters sweep down the channel; so, as the years run\nby, the life of man flows on never to come back; fast gallops the cycle\nof doom, child of old age who shall make an end of all. Old age smites\nalike the eyes and the steps of men, robs the warrior of his speech and\nsoul, tarnishes his fame by slow degrees, and wipes out his deeds of\nhonour. It seizes his failing limbs, chokes his panting utterance, and\nnumbs his nimble wit. When a cough is taken, when the skin itches with\nthe scab, and the teeth are numb and hollow, and the stomach turns\nsqueamish,--then old age banishes the grace of youth, covers the\ncomplexion with decay, and sows many a wrinkle in the dusky skin. Old\nage crushes noble arts, brings down the memorials of men of old, and\nscorches ancient glories up; shatters wealth, hungrily gnaws away the\nworth and good of virtue, turns athwart and disorders all things.\n\n\"I myself have felt the hurtful power of injurious age, I, dim-sighted,\nand hoarse in my tones and in my chest; and all helpful things have\nturned to my hurt. Now my body is less nimble, and I prop it up, leaning\nmy faint limbs on the support of staves. Sightless I guide my steps with\ntwo sticks, and follow the short path which the rod shows me, trusting\nmore in the leading of a stock than in my eyes. None takes any charge\nof me, and no man in the ranks brings comfort to the veteran, unless,\nperchance, Hather is here, and succours his shattered friend. Whomsoever\nHather once thinks worthy of his duteous love, that man he attends\ncontinually with even zeal, constant to his purpose, and fearing to\nbreak his early ties. He also often pays fit rewards to those that have\ndeserved well in war, and fosters their courage; he bestows dignities\non the brave, and honours his famous friends with gifts. Free with his\nwealth, he is fain to increase with bounty the brightness of his name,\nand to surpass many of the mighty. Nor is he less in war: his strength\nis equal to his goodness; he is swift in the fray, slow to waver, ready\nto give battle; and he cannot turn his back when the foe bears him hard.\nBut for me, if I remember right, fate appointed at my birth that wars\nI should follow and in war I should die, that I should mix in broils,\nwatch in arms, and pass a life of bloodshed. I was a man of camps, and\nrested not; hating peace, I grew old under thy standard, O War-god, in\nutmost peril; conquering fear, I thought it comely to fight, shameful to\nloiter, and noble to kill and kill again, to be for ever slaughtering!\nOft have I seen the stern kings meet in war, seen shield and helmet\nbruised, and the fields redden with blood, and the cuirass broken by the\nspear-point, and the corselets all around giving at the thrust of the\nsteel, and the wild beasts battening on the unburied soldier. Here, as\nit chanced, one that attempted a mighty thing, a strong-handed warrior,\nfighting against the press of the foe, smote through the mail that\ncovered my head, pierced my helmet, and plunged his blade into my crest.\nThis sword also hath often been driven by my right hand in war, and,\nonce unsheathed, hath cleft the skin and bitten into the skull.\"\n\nHather, in answer, sang as follows:\n\n\"Whence comest thou, who art used to write the poems of thy land,\nleaning thy wavering steps on a frail staff? Or whither dost thou speed,\nwho art the readiest bard of the Danish muse? All the glory of thy great\nstrength is faded and lost; the hue is banished from thy face, the joy\nis gone out of thy soul; the voice has left thy throat, and is hoarse\nand dull; thy body has lost its former stature; the decay of death\nbegins, and has wasted thy features and thy force. As a ship wearies,\nbuffeted by continual billows, even so old age, gendered by a long\ncourse of years, brings forth bitter death; and the life falls when its\nstrength is done, and suffers the loss of its ancient lot. Famous old\nman, who has told thee that thou mayst not duly follow the sports of\nyouth, or fling balls, or bite and eat the nut? I think it were better\nfor thee now to sell thy sword, and buy a carriage wherein to ride\noften, or a horse easy on the bit, or at the same cost to purchase a\nlight cart. It will be more fitting for beasts of burden to carry weak\nold men, when their steps fail them; the wheel, driving round and round,\nserves for him whose foot totters feebly. But if perchance thou art loth\nto sell the useless steel, thy sword, if it be not for sale, shall be\ntaken from thee and shall slay thee.\"\n\nStarkad answered: \"Wretch, thy glib lips scatter idle words, unfit for\nthe ears of the good. Why seek the gifts to reward that guidance, which\nthou shouldst have offered for naught? Surely I will walk afoot, and\nwill not basely give up my sword and buy the help of a stranger; nature\nhas given me the right of passage, and hath bidden me trust in my own\nfeet. Why mock and jeer with insolent speech at him whom thou shouldst\nhave offered to guide upon his way? Why give to dishonour my deeds of\nold, which deserve the memorial of fame? Why requite my service with\nreproach? Why pursue with jeers the old man mighty in battle, and put\nto shame my unsurpassed honours and illustrious deeds, belittling my\nglories and girding at my prowess? For what valour of thine dost thou\ndemand my sword, which thy strength does not deserve? It befits not the\nright hand or the unwarlike side of a herdsman, who is wont to make his\npeasant-music on the pipe, to see to the flock, to keep the herds in the\nfields. Surely among the henchmen, close to the greasy pot, thou dippest\nthy crust in the bubbles of the foaming pan, drenching a meagre slice\nin the rich, oily fat, and stealthily, with thirsty finger, licking the\nwarm juice; more skilled to spread thy accustomed cloak on the ashes, to\nsleep on the hearth, and slumber all day long, and go busily about the\nwork of the reeking kitchen, than to make the brave blood flow with\nthy shafts in war. Men think thee a hater of the light and a lover of a\nfilthy hole, a wretched slave of thy belly, like a whelp who licks the\ncoarse grain, husk and all.\n\n\"By heaven, thou didst not try to rob me of my sword when thrice at\ngreat peril I fought (for?) the son of Ole. For truly, in that array, my\nhand either broke the sword or shattered the obstacle, so heavy was the\nblow of the smiter. What of the day when I first taught them, to run\nwith wood-shod feet over the shore of the Kurlanders, and the path\nbestrewn with countless points? For when I was going to the fields\nstudded with calthrops, I guarded their wounded feet with clogs below\nthem. After this I slew Hame, who fought me mightily; and soon, with the\ncaptain Rin the son of Flebak, I crushed the Kurlanders, yea, or all the\ntribes Esthonia breeds, and thy peoples, O Semgala! Then I attacked the\nmen of Tellemark, and took thence my head bloody with bruises, shattered\nwith mallets, and smitten with the welded weapons. Here first I learnt\nhow strong was the iron wrought on the anvil, or what valour the common\npeople had. Also it was my doing that the Teutons were punished, when,\nin avenging my lord, I laid low over their cups thy sons, O Swerting,\nwho were guilty of the wicked slaughter of Frode.\n\n\"Not less was the deed when, for the sake of a beloved maiden, I slew\nnine brethren in one fray;--witness the spot, which was consumed by the\nbowels that left me, and brings not forth the grain anew on its scorched\nsod. And soon, when Ker the captain made ready a war by sea, with a\nnoble army we beat his serried ships. Then I put Waske to death, and\npunished the insolent smith by slashing his hinder parts; and with the\nsword I slew Wisin, who from the snowy rocks blunted the spears. Then\nI slew the four sons of Ler, and the champions of Permland; and then\nhaving taken the chief of the Irish race, I rifled the wealth of Dublin;\nand our courage shall ever remain manifest by the trophies of Bravalla.\nWhy do I linger? Countless are the deeds of my bravery, and when I\nreview the works of my hands I fail to number them to the full. The\nwhole is greater than I can tell. My work is too great for fame, and\nspeech serves not for my doings.\"\n\nSo sang Starkad. At last, when he found by their talk that Hather was\nthe son of Hlenne, and saw that the youth was of illustrious birth,\nhe offered him his throat to smite, bidding him not to shrink from\npunishing the slayer of his father. He promised him that if he did so he\nshould possess the gold which he had himself received from Hlenne. And\nto enrage his heart more vehemently against him, he is said to have\nharangued him as follows:\n\n\"Moreover, Hather, I robbed thee of thy father Hlenne; requite me this,\nI pray, and strike down the old man who longs to die; aim at my throat\nwith the avenging steel. For my soul chooses the service of a noble\nsmiter, and shrinks to ask its doom at a coward's hand. Righteously may\na man choose to forstall the ordinance of doom. What cannot be escaped\nit will be lawful also to anticipate. The fresh tree must be fostered,\nthe old one hewn down. He is nature's instrument who destroys what is\nnear its doom and strikes down what cannot stand. Death is best when\nit is sought: and when the end is loved, life is wearisome. Let not the\ntroubles of age prolong a miserable lot.\"\n\nSo saying, he took money from his pouch and gave it him. But Hather,\ndesiring as much to enjoy the gold as to accomplish vengeance for his\nfather, promised that he would comply with his prayer, and would not\nrefuse the reward. Starkad eagerly handed him the sword, and at once\nstooped his neck beneath it, counselling him not to do the smiter's work\ntimidly, or use the sword like a woman; and telling him that if, when\nhe had killed him, he could spring between the head and the trunk before\nthe corpse fell, he would be rendered proof against arms. It is not\nknown whether he said this in order to instruct his executioner or to\npunish him, for perhaps, as he leapt, the bulk of the huge body would\nhave crushed him. So Hather smote sharply with the sword and hacked off\nthe head of the old man. When the severed head struck the ground, it is\nsaid to have bitten the earth; thus the fury of the dying lips declared\nthe fierceness of the soul. But the smiter, thinking that the promise\nhid some treachery, warily refrained from leaping. Had he done so\nrashly, perhaps he would have been crushed by the corpse as it fell, and\nhave paid with his own life for the old man's murder. But he would not\nallow so great a champion to lie unsepulchred, and had his body buried\nin the field that is commonly called Rolung.\n\nNow Omund, as I have heard, died most tranquilly, while peace was\nunbroken, leaving two sons and two daughters. The eldest of these,\nSIWARD, came to the throne by right of birth, while his brother Budle\nwas still of tender years. At this time Gotar, King of the Swedes,\nconceived boundless love for one of the daughters of Omund, because of\nthe report of her extraordinary beauty, and entrusted one Ebb, the son\nof Sibb, with the commission of asking for the maiden. Ebb did his work\nskilfully, and brought back the good news that the girl had consented.\nNothing was now lacking to Gotar's wishes but the wedding; but, as he\nfeared to hold this among strangers, he demanded that his betrothed\nshould be sent to him in charge of Ebb, whom he had before used as\nenvoy.\n\nEbb was crossing Halland with a very small escort, and went for a\nnight's lodging to a country farm, where the dwellings of two brothers\nfaced one another on the two sides of a river. Now these men used to\nreceive folk hospitably and then murder them, but were skilful to\nhide their brigandage under a show of generosity. For they had hung on\ncertain hidden chains, in a lofty part of the house, an oblong beam like\na press, and furnished it with a steel point; they used to lower this in\nthe night by letting down the fastenings, and cut off the heads of those\nthat lay below. Many had they beheaded in this way with the hanging\nmass. So when Ebb and his men had been feasted abundantly, the servants\nlaid them out a bed near the hearth, so that by the swing of the\ntreacherous beam they might mow off their heads, which faced the fire.\nWhen they departed, Ebb, suspecting the contrivance slung overhead, told\nhis men to feign slumber and shift their bodies, saying that it would be\nvery wholesome for them to change their place.\n\nNow among these were some who despised the orders which the others\nobeyed, and lay unmoved, each in the spot where he had chanced to lie\ndown. Then towards the mirk of night the heavy hanging machine was set\nin motion by the doers of the treachery. Loosened from the knots of its\nfastening, it fell violently on the ground, and slew those beneath it.\nThereupon those who had the charge of committing the crime brought in\na light, that they might learn clearly what had happened, and saw that\nEbb, on whose especial account they had undertaken the affair, had\nwisely been equal to the danger. He straightway set on them and punished\nthem with death; and also, after losing his men in the mutual slaughter,\nhe happened to find a vessel, crossed a river full of blocks of ice,\nand announced to Gotar the result, not so much of his mission as of his\nmishap.\n\nGotar judged that this affair had been inspired by Siward, and prepared\nto avenge his wrongs by arms. Siward, defeated by him in Halland,\nretreated into Jutland, the enemy having taken his sister. Here he\nconquered the common people of the Sclavs, who ventured to fight without\na leader; and he won as much honour from this victory as he had got\ndisgrace by his flight. But a little afterwards, the men whom he had\nsubdued when they were ungeneraled, found a general and defeated Siward\nin Funen. Several times he fought them in Jutland, but with ill-success.\nThe result was that he lost both Skaane and Jutland, and only retained\nthe middle of his realm without the head, like the fragments of some\nbody that had been consumed away. His son Jarmerik (Eormunrec), with his\nchild-sisters, fell into the hands of the enemy; one of these was sold\nto the Germans, the other to the Norwegians; for in old time marriages\nwere matters of purchase. Thus the kingdom of the Danes, which had been\nenlarged with such valour, made famous by such ancestral honours, and\nenriched by so many conquests, fell, all by the sloth of one man, from\nthe most illustrious fortune and prosperity into such disgrace that it\npaid the tribute which it used to exact. But Siward, too often defeated\nand guilty of shameful flights, could not endure, after that glorious\npast, to hold the troubled helm of state any longer in this shameful\ncondition of his land; and, fearing that living longer might strip him\nof his last shred of glory, he hastened to win an honourable death in\nbattle. For his soul could not forget his calamity, it was fain to cast\noff its sickness, and was racked with weariness of life. So much did\nhe abhor the light of life in his longing to wipe out his shame. So he\nmustered his army for battle, and openly declared war with one Simon,\nwho was governor of Skaane under Gotar. This war he pursued with\nstubborn rashness; he slew Simon, and ended his own life amid a great\nslaughter of his foes. Yet his country could not be freed from the\nburden of the tribute.\n\nJarmerik, meantime, with his foster-brother of the same age as himself,\nGunn, was living in prison, in charge of Ismar, the King of the Sclavs.\nAt last he was taken out and put to agriculture, doing the work of a\npeasant. So actively did he manage this matter that he was transferred\nand made master of the royal slaves. As he likewise did this business\nmost uprightly, he was enrolled in the band of the king's retainers.\nHere he bore himself most pleasantly as courtiers use, and was soon\ntaken into the number of the king's friends and obtained the first place\nin his intimacy; thus, on the strength of a series of great services,\nhe passed from the lowest estate to the most distinguished height of\nhonour. Also, loth to live a slack and enfeebled youth, he trained\nhimself to the pursuits of war, enriching his natural gifts by\ndiligence. All men loved Jarmerik, and only the queen mistrusted the\nyoung man's temper. A sudden report told them that the king's brother\nhad died. Ismar, wishing to give his body a splendid funeral, prepared a\nbanquet of royal bounty to increase the splendour of the obsequies.\n\nBut Jarmerik, who used at other times to look after the household\naffairs together with the queen, began to cast about for means of\nescape; for a chance seemed to be offered by the absence of the king.\nFor he saw that even in the lap of riches he would be the wretched\nthrall of a king, and that he would draw, as it were, his very breath\non sufferance and at the gift of another. Moreover, though he held the\nhighest offices with the king, he thought that freedom was better than\ndelights, and burned with a mighty desire to visit his country and learn\nhis lineage. But, knowing that the queen had provided sufficient guards\nto see that no prisoner escaped, he saw that he must approach by craft\nwhere he could not arrive by force. So he plaited one of those baskets\nof rushes and withies, shaped like a man, with which countrymen used to\nscare the birds from the corn, and put a live dog in it; then he took\noff his own clothes, and dressed it in them, to give a more plausible\nlikeness to a human being. Then he broke into the private treasury of\nthe king, took out the money, and hid himself in places of which he\nalone knew.\n\nMeantime Gunn, whom he had told to conceal the absence of his friend,\ntook the basket into the palace and stirred up the dog to bark; and when\nthe queen asked what this was, he answered that Jarmerik was out of\nhis mind and howling. She, beholding the effigy, was deceived by the\nlikeness, and ordered that the madman should be cast out of the house.\nThen Gunn took the effigy out and put it to bed, as though it were his\ndistraught friend. But towards night he plied the watch bountifully with\nwine and festal mirth, cut off their heads as they slept, and set them\nat their groins, in order to make their slaying more shameful. The\nqueen, roused by the din, and wishing to learn the reason of it, hastily\nrushed to the doors. But while she unwarily put forth her head, the\nsword of Gunn suddenly pierced her through. Feeling a mortal wound, she\nsank, turned her eyes on her murderer, and said, \"Had it been granted\nme to live unscathed, no screen or treachery should have let thee leave\nthis land unpunished.\" A flood of such threats against her slayer poured\nfrom her dying lips.\n\nThen Jarmerik, with Gunn, the partner of his noble deed, secretly set\nfire to the tent wherein the king was celebrating with a banquet the\nobsequies of his brother; all the company were overcome with liquor. The\nfire filled the tent and spread all about; and some of them, shaking\noff the torpor of drink, took horse and pursued those who had endangered\nthem. But the young men fled at first on the beasts they had taken;\nand at last, when these were exhausted with their long gallop, took to\nflight on foot. They were all but caught, when a river saved them. For\nthey crossed a bridge, of which, in order to delay the pursuer, they\nfirst cut the timbers down to the middle, thus making it not only\nunequal to a burden, but ready to come down; then they retreated into a\ndense morass.\n\nThe Sclavs pressed on them hard and, not forseeing the danger, unwarily\nput the weight of their horses on the bridge; the flooring sank, and\nthey were shaken off and flung into the river. But, as they swam up\nto the bank, they were met by Gunn and Jarmerik, and either drowned or\nslain. Thus the young men showed great cunning, and did a deed beyond\ntheir years, being more like sagacious old men than runaway slaves, and\nsuccessfully achieving their shrewd design. When they reached the strand\nthey seized a vessel chance threw in their way, and made for the deep.\nThe barbarians who pursued them, tried, when they saw them sailing off,\nto bring them back by shouting promises after them that they should be\nkings if they returned; \"for, by the public statute of the ancients,\nthe succession was appointed to the slayers of the kings.\" As they\nretreated, their ears were long deafened by the Sclavs obstinately\nshouting their treacherous promises.\n\nAt this time BUDLE, the brother of Siward, was Regent over the Danes,\nwho forced him to make over the kingdom to JARMERIK when he came; so\nthat Budle fell from a king into a common man. At the same time Gotar\ncharged Sibb with debauching his sister, and slew him. Sibb's kindred,\nmuch angered by his death, came wailing to Jarmerik, and promised to\nattack Gotar with him, in order to avenge their kinsman. They kept\ntheir promise well, for Jarmerik, having overthrown Gotar by their help,\ngained Sweden. Thus, holding the sovereignty of both nations, he was\nencouraged by his increased power to attack the Sclavs, forty of whom he\ntook and hung with a wolf tied to each of them. This kind of punishment\nwas assigned of old to those who slew their own kindred; but he chose\nto inflict it upon enemies, that all might see plainly, just from their\nfellowship with ruthless beasts, how grasping they had shown themselves\ntowards the Danes.\n\nWhen Jarmerik had conquered the country, he posted garrisons in all the\nfitting places, and departing thence, he made a slaughter of the Sembs\nand the Kurlanders, and many nations of the East. The Sclavs, thinking\nthat this employment of the king gave them a chance of revolting, killed\nthe governors whom he had appointed, and ravaged Denmark. Jarmerik,\non his way back from roving, chanced to intercept their fleet, and\ndestroyed it, a deed which added honour to his roll of conquests. He\nalso put their nobles to death in a way that one would weep to see;\nnamely, by first passing thongs through their legs, and then tying them\nto the hoofs of savage bulls; then hounds set on them and dragged them\ninto miry swamps. This deed took the edge off the valour of the Sclavs,\nand they obeyed the authority of the king in fear and trembling.\n\nJarmerik, enriched with great spoils, wished to provide a safe\nstorehouse for his booty, and built on a lofty hill a treasure-house of\nmarvellous handiwork. Gathering sods, he raised a mound, laying a mass\nof rocks for the foundation, and girt the lower part with a rampart, the\ncentre with rooms, and the top with battlements. All round he posted a\nline of sentries without a break. Four huge gates gave free access on\nthe four sides; and into this lordly mansion he heaped all his splendid\nriches. Having thus settled his affairs at home, he again turned his\nambition abroad. He began to voyage, and speedily fought a naval battle\nwith four brothers whom he met on the high seas, Hellespontines by race,\nand veteran rovers. After this battle had lasted three days, he ceased\nfighting, having bargained for their sister and half the tribute which\nthey had imposed on those they had conquered.\n\nAfter this, Bikk, the son of the King of the Livonians, escaped from\nthe captivity in which he lay under these said brothers, and went to\nJarmerik. But he did not forget his wrongs, Jarmerik having long before\ndeprived him of his own brothers. He was received kindly by the king, in\nall whose secret counsels he soon came to have a notable voice; and, as\nsoon as he found the king pliable to his advice in all things, he led\nhim, when his counsel was asked, into the most abominable acts, and\ndrove him to commit crimes and infamies. Thus he sought some device to\ninjure the king by a feint of loyalty, and tried above all to steel him\nagainst his nearest of blood; attempting to accomplish the revenge of\nhis brother by guile, since he could not by force. So it came to pass\nthat the king embraced filthy vices instead of virtues, and made himself\ngenerally hated by the cruel deeds which he committed at the instance of\nhis treacherous adviser. Even the Sclavs began to rise against him; and,\nas a means of quelling them, he captured their leaders, passed a rope\nthrough their shanks, and delivered them to be torn asunder by horses\npulling different ways. So perished their chief men, punished for their\nstubbornness of spirit by having their bodies rent apart. This kept the\nSclavs duly obedient in unbroken and steady subjugation.\n\nMeantime, the sons of Jarmerik's sister, who had all been born and bred\nin Germany, took up arms, on the strength of their grandsire's title,\nagainst their uncle, contending that they had as good a right to the\nthrone as he. The king demolished their strongholds in Germany with\nengines, blockaded or took several towns, and returned home with a\nbloodless victory. The Hellespontines came to meet him, proffering their\nsister for the promised marriage. After this had been celebrated, at\nBikk's prompting he again went to Germany, took his nephews in war, and\nincontinently hanged them. He also got together the chief men under the\npretence of a banquet and had them put to death in the same fashion.\n\nMeantime, the king appointed Broder, his son by another marriage, to\nhave charge over his stepmother, a duty which he fulfilled with full\nvigilance and integrity. But Bikk accused this man to his father of\nincest; and, to conceal the falsehood of the charge, suborned witnesses\nagainst him. When the plea of the accusation had been fully declared,\nBroder could not bring any support for his defence, and his father\nbade his friends pass sentence upon the convicted man, thinking it less\nimpious to commit the punishment proper for his son to the judgment of\nothers. All thought that he deserved outlawry except Bikk, who did not\nshrink from giving a more terrible vote against his life, and declaring\nthat the perpetrator of an infamous seduction ought to be punished with\nhanging. But lest any should think that this punishment was due to the\ncruelty of his father, Bikk judged that, when he had been put in the\nnoose, the servants should hold him up on a beam put beneath him, so\nthat, when weariness made them take their hands from the burden, they\nmight be as good as guilty of the young man's death, and by their own\nfault exonerate the king from an unnatural murder. He also pretended\nthat, unless the accused were punished, he would plot against his\nfather's life. The adulteress Swanhild, he said, ought to suffer a\nshameful end, trampled under the hoofs of beasts.\n\nThe king yielded to Bikk; and, when his son was to be hanged, he made\nthe bystanders hold him up by means of a plank, that he might not\nbe choked. Thus his throat was only a little squeezed, the knot was\nharmless, and it was but a punishment in show. But the king had the\nqueen tied very tight on the ground, and delivered her to be crushed\nunder the hoofs of horses. The story goes that she was so beautiful,\nthat even the beasts shrank from mangling limbs so lovely with their\nfilthy feet. The king, divining that this proclaimed the innocence of\nhis wife, began to repent of his error, and hastened to release the\nslandered lady. But meantime Bikk rushed up, declaring that when she was\non her back she held off the beasts by awful charms, and could only be\ncrushed if she lay on her face; for he knew that her beauty saved her.\nWhen the body of the queen was placed in this manner, the herd of beasts\nwas driven upon it, and trod it down deep with their multitude of feet.\nSuch was the end of Swanhild.\n\nMeantime, the favourite dog of Broder came creeping to the king making\na sort of moan, and seemed to bewail its master's punishment; and his\nhawk, when it was brought in, began to pluck out its breast-feathers\nwith its beak. The king took its nakedness as an omen of his\nbereavement, to frustrate which he quickly sent men to take his son down\nfrom the noose: for he divined by the featherless bird that he would be\nchildless unless he took good heed. Thus Broder was freed from death,\nand Bikk, fearing he would pay the penalty of an informer, went and told\nthe men of the Hellespont that Swanhild had been abominably slain by\nher husband. When they set sail to avenge their sister, he came back to\nJarmerik, and told him that the Hellespontines were preparing war.\n\nThe king thought that it would be safer to fight with walls than in the\nfield, and retreated into the stronghold which he had built. To stand\nthe siege, he filled its inner parts with stores, and its battlements\nwith men-at-arms. Targets and shields flashing with gold were hung round\nand adorned the topmost circle of the building.\n\nIt happened that the Hellespontines, before sharing their booty, accused\na great band of their men of embezzling, and put them to death. Having\nnow destroyed so large a part of their forces by internecine slaughter,\nthey thought that their strength was not equal to storming the palace,\nand consulted a sorceress named Gudrun. She brought it to pass that the\ndefenders of the king's side were suddenly blinded and turned their arms\nagainst one another. When the Hellespontines saw this, they brought up\na shield-mantlet, and seized the approaches of the gates. Then they tore\nup the posts, burst into the building, and hewed down the blinded ranks\nof the enemy. In this uproar Odin appeared, and, making for the thick\nof the ranks of the fighters, restored by his divine power to the Danes\nthat vision which they had lost by sleights; for he ever cherished them\nwith fatherly love. He instructed them to shower stones to batter the\nHellespontines, who used spells to harden their bodies against weapons.\nThus both companies slew one another and perished. Jarmerik lost both\nfeet and both hands, and his trunk was rolled among the dead. BRODER,\nlittle fit for it, followed him as king.\n\nThe next king was SIWALD. His son SNIO took vigorously to roving in his\nfather's old age, and not only preserved the fortunes of his country,\nbut even restored them, lessened as they were, to their former estate.\nLikewise, when he came to the sovereignty, he crushed the insolence\nof the champions Eskil and Alkil, and by this conquest reunited to his\ncountry Skaane, which had been severed from the general jurisdiction of\nDenmark. At last he conceived a passion for the daughter of the King\nof the Goths; it was returned, and he sent secret messengers to seek a\nchance of meeting her. These men were intercepted by the father of the\ndamsel and hanged: thus paying dearly for their rash mission. Snio,\nwishing to avenge their death, invaded Gothland. Its king met him with\nhis forces, and the aforesaid champions challenged him to send strong\nmen to fight. Snio laid down as condition of the duel, that each of the\ntwo kings should either lose his own empire or gain that of the other,\naccording to the fortune of the champions, and that the kingdom of the\nconquered should be staked as the prize of the victory. The result was\nthat the King of the Goths was beaten by reason of the ill-success of\nhis defenders, and had to quit his kingdom for the Danes. Snio, learning\nthat this king's daughter had been taken away at the instance of her\nfather to wed the King of the Swedes, sent a man clad in ragged attire,\nwho used to ask alms on the public roads, to try her mind. And while he\nlay, as beggars do, by the threshold, he chanced to see the queen, and\nwhined in a weak voice, \"Snio loves thee.\" She feigned not to have heard\nthe sound that stole on her ears, and neither looked nor stepped back,\nbut went on to the palace, then returned straightway, and said in a low\nwhisper, which scarcely reached his ears, \"I love him who loves me\"; and\nhaving said this she walked away.\n\nThe beggar rejoiced that she had returned a word of love, and, as he sat\non the next day at the gate, when the queen came up, he said, briefly\nas ever, \"Wishes should have a tryst.\" Again she shrewdly caught his\ncunning speech, and passed on, dissembling wholly. A little later\nshe passed by her questioner, and said that she would shortly go to\nBocheror; for this was the spot to which she meant to flee. And when the\nbeggar heard this, he insisted, with his wonted shrewd questions, upon\nbeing told a fitting time for the tryst. The woman was as cunning as\nhe, and as little clear of speech, and named as quickly as she could the\nbeginning of the winter.\n\nHer train, who had caught a flying word of this love-message, took her\ngreat cleverness for the raving of utter folly. And when Snio had been\ntold all this by the beggar, he contrived to carry the queen off in\na vessel; for she got away under pretence of bathing, and took her\nhusband's treasures. After this there were constant wars between Snio\nand the King of Sweden, whereof the issue was doubtful and the victory\nchangeful; the one king seeking to regain his lawful, the other to keep\nhis unlawful love.\n\nAt this time the yield of crops was ruined by most inclement weather,\nand a mighty dearth of corn befell. Victuals began to be scarce, and\nthe commons were distressed with famine, so that the king, anxiously\npondering how to relieve the hardness of the times, and seeing that the\nthirsty spent somewhat more than the hungry, introduced thrift among the\npeople. He abolished drinking-bouts, and decreed that no drink should be\nprepared from gram, thinking that the bitter famine should be got rid\nof by prohibiting needless drinking, and that plentiful food could be\nlevied as a loan on thirst.\n\nThen a certain wanton slave of his belly, lamenting the prohibition\nagainst drink, adopted a deep kind of knavery, and found a new way to\nindulge his desires. He broke the public law of temperance by his own\nexcess, contriving to get at what he loved by a device both cunning\nand absurd. For he sipped the forbidden liquor drop by drop, and so\nsatisfied his longing to be tipsy. When he was summoned for this by the\nking, he declared that there was no stricter observer of sobriety than\nhe, inasmuch as he mortified his longing to quaff deep by this device\nfor moderate drinking. He persisted in the fault with which he was\ntaxed, saying that he only sucked. At last he was also menaced with\nthreats, and forbidden not only to drink, but even to sip; yet he could\nnot check his habits. For in order to enjoy the unlawful thing in\na lawful way, and not to have his throat subject to the command of\nanother, he sopped morsels of bread in liquor, and fed on the pieces\nthus soaked with drink; tasting slowly, so as to prolong the desired\ndebauch, and attaining, though in no unlawful manner, the forbidden\nmeasure of satiety.\n\nThus his stubborn and frantic intemperance risked his life, all for\nluxury; and, undeterred even by the threats of the king, he fortified\nhis rash appetite to despise every peril. A second time he was summoned\nby the king on the charge of disobeying his regulation. Yet he did not\neven theft cease to defend his act, but maintained that he had in no\nwise contravened the royal decree, and that the temperance prescribed\nby the ordinance had been in no way violated by that which allured\nhim; especially as the thrift ordered in the law of plain living was so\ndescribed, that it was apparently forbidden to drink liquor, but not to\neat it. Then the king called heaven to witness, and swore by the general\ngood, that if he ventured on any such thing hereafter he would punish\nhim with death. But the man thought that death was not so bad as\ntemperance, and that it was easier to quit life than luxury; and\nhe again boiled the grain in water, and then fermented the liquor;\nwhereupon, despairing of any further plea to excuse his appetite, he\nopenly indulged in drink, and turned to his cups again unabashed. Giving\nup cunning for effrontery, he chose rather to await the punishment of\nthe king than to turn sober. Therefore, when the king asked him why he\nhad so often made free to use the forbidden thing, he said:\n\n\"O king, this craving is begotten, not so much of my thirst, as of my\ngoodwill towards thee! For I remembered that the funeral rites of a king\nmust be paid with a drinking-bout. Therefore, led by good judgment more\nthan the desire to swill, I have, by mixing the forbidden liquid, taken\ncare that the feast whereat thy obsequies are performed should not, by\nreason of the scarcity of corn, lack the due and customary drinking. Now\nI do not doubt that thou wilt perish of famine before the rest, and\nbe the first to need a tomb; for thou hast passed this strange law of\nthrift in fear that thou wilt be thyself the first to lack food. Thou\nart thinking for thyself, and not for others, when thou bringest thyself\nto start such strange miserly ways.\"\n\nThis witty quibbling turned the anger of the king into shame; and when\nhe saw that his ordinance for the general good came home in mockery to\nhimself, he thought no more of the public profit, but revoked the edict,\nrelaxing his purpose sooner than anger his subjects.\n\nWhether it was that the soil had too little rain, or that it was too\nhard baked, the crops, as I have said, were slack, and the fields gave\nbut little produce; so that the land lacked victual, and was worn with\na weary famine. The stock of food began to fail, and no help was left\nto stave off hunger. Then, at the proposal of Agg and of Ebb, it\nwas provided by a decree of the people that the old men and the tiny\nchildren should be slain; that all who were too young to bear arms\nshould be taken out of the land, and only the strong should be\nvouchsafed their own country; that none but able-bodied soldiers and\nhusbandmen should continue to abide under their own roofs and in the\nhouses of their fathers. When Agg and Ebb brought news of this to their\nmother Gambaruk, she saw that the authors of this infamous decree had\nfound safety in crime. Condemning the decision of the assembly, she said\nthat it was wrong to relieve distress by murder of kindred, and declared\nthat a plan both more honourable and more desirable for the good of\ntheir souls and bodies would be, to preserve respect towards their\nparents and children, and choose by lot men who should quit the country.\nAnd if the lot fell on old men and weak, then the stronger should offer\nto go into exile in their place, and should of their own free will\nundertake to bear the burden of it for the feeble. But those men who\nhad the heart to save their lives by crime and impiety, and to prosecute\ntheir parents and their children by so abominable a decree, did not\ndeserve life; for they would be doing a work of cruelty and not of love.\nFinally, all those whose own lives were dearer to them than the love\nof their parents or their children, deserved but ill of their country.\nThese words were reported to the assembly, and assented to by the vote\nof the majority. So the fortunes of all were staked upon the lot and\nthose upon whom it fell were doomed to be banished. Thus those who had\nbeen loth to obey necessity of their own accord had now to accept the\naward of chance. So they sailed first to Bleking, and then, sailing past\nMoring, they came to anchor at Gothland; where, according to Paulus,\nthey are said to have been prompted by the goddess Frigg to take the\nname of the Longobardi (Lombards), whose nation they afterwards founded.\nIn the end they landed at Rugen, and, abandoning their ships, began to\nmarch overland. They crossed and wasted a great portion of the world;\nand at last, finding an abode in Italy, changed the ancient name of the\nnation for their own.\n\nMeanwhile, the land of the Danes, where the tillers laboured less and\nless, and all traces of the furrows were covered with overgrowth, began\nto look like a forest. Almost stripped of its pleasant native turf, it\nbristled with the dense unshapely woods that grew up. Traces of this are\nyet seen in the aspect of its fields. What were once acres fertile in\ngrain are now seen to be dotted with trunks of trees; and where of old\nthe tillers turned the earth up deep and scattered the huge clods there\nhas now sprung up a forest covering the fields, which still bear the\ntracks of ancient tillage. Had not these lands remained untilled and\ndesolate with long overgrowth, the tenacious roots of trees could never\nhave shared the soil of one and the same land with the furrows made by\nthe plough. Moreover, the mounds which men laboriously built up of old\non the level ground for the burial of the dead are now covered by a mass\nof woodland. Many piles of stones are also to be seen interspersed among\nthe forest glades. These were once scattered over the whole country, but\nthe peasants carefully gathered the boulders and piled them into a heap\nthat they might not prevent furrows being cut in all directions; for\nthey would sooner sacrifice a little of the land than find the whole of\nit stubborn. From this work, done by the toil of the peasants for\nthe easier working of the fields, it is judged that the population in\nancient times was greater than the present one, which is satisfied with\nsmall fields, and keeps its agriculture within narrower limits than\nthose of the ancient tillage. Thus the present generation is amazed to\nbehold that it has exchanged a soil which could once produce grain for\none only fit to grow acorns, and the plough-handle and the cornstalks\nfor a landscape studded with trees. Let this account of Snio, which I\nhave put together as truly as I could, suffice.\n\nSnio was succeeded by BIORN; and after him HARALD became sovereign.\nHarald's son GORM won no mean place of honour among the ancient generals\nof the Danes by his record of doughty deeds. For he ventured into fresh\nfields, preferring to practise his inherited valour, not in war, but in\nsearching the secrets of nature; and, just as other kings are stirred by\nwarlike ardour, so his heart thirsted to look into marvels; either what\nhe could experience himself, or what were merely matters of report. And\nbeing desirous to go and see all things foreign and extraordinary, he\nthought that he must above all test a report which he had heard from the\nmen of Thule concerning the abode of a certain Geirrod. For they boasted\npast belief of the mighty piles of treasure in that country, but said\nthat the way was beset with peril, and hardly passable by mortal man.\nFor those who had tried it declared that it was needful to sail over the\nocean that goes round the lands, to leave the sun and stars behind, to\njourney down into chaos, and at last to pass into a land where no light\nwas and where darkness reigned eternally.\n\nBut the warrior trampled down in his soul all fear of the dangers that\nbeset him. Not that he desired booty, but glory; for he hoped for a\ngreat increase of renown if he ventured on a wholly unattempted quest.\nThree hundred men announced that they had the same desire as the king;\nand he resolved that Thorkill, who had brought the news, should be\nchosen to guide them on the journey, as he knew the ground and was\nversed in the approaches to that country. Thorkill did not refuse the\ntask, and advised that, to meet the extraordinary fury of the sea they\nhad to cross, strongly-made vessels should be built, fitted with many\nknotted cords and close-set nails, filled with great store of provision,\nand covered above with ox-hides to protect the inner spaces of the ships\nfrom the spray of the waves breaking in. Then they sailed off in only\nthree galleys, each containing a hundred chosen men.\n\nNow when they had come to Halogaland (Helgeland), they lost their\nfavouring breezes, and were driven and tossed divers ways over the seas\nin perilous voyage. At last, in extreme want of food, and lacking even\nbread, they staved off hunger with a little pottage. Some days passed,\nand they heard the thunder of a storm brawling in the distance, as if\nit were deluging the rocks. By this perceiving that land was near, they\nbade a youth of great nimbleness climb to the masthead and look out; and\nhe reported that a precipitous island was in sight. All were overjoyed,\nand gazed with thirsty eyes at the country at which he pointed, eagerly\nawaiting the refuge of the promised shore. At last they managed to reach\nit, and made their way out over the heights that blocked their way,\nalong very steep paths, into the higher ground. Then Thorkill told them\nto take no more of the herds that were running about in numbers on the\ncoast, than would serve once to appease their hunger. If they disobeyed,\nthe guardian gods of the spot would not let them depart. But the\nseamen, more anxious to go on filling their bellies than to obey orders,\npostponed counsels of safety to the temptations of gluttony, and loaded\nthe now emptied holds of their ships with the carcases of slaughtered\ncattle. These beasts were very easy to capture, because they gathered in\namazement at the unwonted sight of men, their fears being made bold.\nOn the following night monsters dashed down upon the shore, filled the\nforest with clamour, and beleaguered and beset the ships. One of them,\nhuger than the rest, strode over the waters, armed with a mighty club.\nComing close up to them, he bellowed out that they should never\nsail away till they had atoned for the crime they had committed in\nslaughtering the flock, and had made good the losses of the herd of the\ngods by giving up one man for each of their ships. Thorkill yielded\nto these threats; and, in order to preserve the safety of all by\nimperilling a few, singled out three men by lot and gave them up.\n\nThis done, a favouring wind took them, and they sailed to further\nPermland. It is a region of eternal cold, covered with very deep snows,\nand not sensible to the force even of the summer heats; full of pathless\nforests, not fertile in grain and haunted by beasts uncommon elsewhere.\nIts many rivers pour onwards in a hissing, foaming flood, because of the\nreefs imbedded in their channels.\n\nHere Thorkill drew up his ships ashore, and bade them pitch their tents\non the beach, declaring that they had come to a spot whence the passage\nto Geirrod would be short. Moreover, he forbade them to exchange any\nspeech with those that came up to them, declaring that nothing enabled\nthe monsters to injure strangers so much as uncivil words on their part:\nit would be therefore safer for his companions to keep silence; none\nbut he, who had seen all the manners and customs of this nation before,\ncould speak safely. As twilight approached, a man of extraordinary\nbigness greeted the sailors by their names, and came among them. All\nwere aghast, but Thorkill told them to greet his arrival cheerfully,\ntelling them that this was Gudmund, the brother of Geirrod, and the most\nfaithful guardian in perils of all men who landed in that spot. When the\nman asked why all the rest thus kept silence, he answered that they were\nvery unskilled in his language, and were ashamed to use a speech they\ndid not know. Then Gudmund invited them to be his guests, and took them\nup in carriages. As they went forward, they saw a river which could\nbe crossed by a bridge of gold. They wished to go over it, but Gudmund\nrestrained them, telling them that by this channel nature had divided\nthe world of men from the world of monsters, and that no mortal track\nmight go further. Then they reached the dwelling of their guide; and\nhere Thorkill took his companions apart and warned them to behave like\nmen of good counsel amidst the divers temptations chance might throw in\ntheir way; to abstain from the food of the stranger, and nourish their\nbodies only on their own; and to seek a seat apart from the natives,\nand have no contact with any of them as they lay at meat. For if they\npartook of that food they would lose recollection of all things, and\nmust live for ever in filthy intercourse amongst ghastly hordes of\nmonsters. Likewise he told them that they must keep their hands off the\nservants and the cups of the people.\n\nRound the table stood twelve noble sons of Gudmund, and as many\ndaughters of notable beauty. When Gudmund saw that the king barely\ntasted what his servants brought, he reproached him with repulsing his\nkindness, and complained that it was a slight on the host. But Thorkill\nwas not at a loss for a fitting excuse. He reminded him that men who\ntook unaccustomed food often suffered from it seriously, and that the\nking was not ungrateful for the service rendered by another, but was\nmerely taking care of his health, when he refreshed himself as he was\nwont, and furnished his supper with his own viands. An act, therefore,\nthat was only done in the healthy desire to escape some bane, ought\nin no wise to be put down to scorn. Now when Gudmund saw that the\ntemperance of his guest had baffled his treacherous preparations,\nhe determined to sap their chastity, if he could not weaken their\nabstinence, and eagerly strained every nerve of his wit to enfeeble\ntheir self-control. For he offered the king his daughter in marriage,\nand promised the rest that they should have whatever women of his\nhousehold they desired. Most of them inclined to his offer: but Thorkill\nby his healthy admonitions prevented them, as he had done before, from\nfalling into temptation.\n\nWith wonderful management Thorkill divided his heed between the\nsuspicious host and the delighted guests. Four of the Danes, to whom\nlust was more than their salvation, accepted the offer; the\ninfection maddened them, distraught their wits, and blotted out their\nrecollection: for they are said never to have been in their right mind\nafter this. If these men had kept themselves within the rightful\nbounds of temperance, they would have equalled the glories of Hercules,\nsurpassed with their spirit the bravery of giants, and been ennobled for\never by their wondrous services to their country.\n\nGudmund, stubborn to his purpose, and still spreading his nets, extolled\nthe delights of his garden, and tried to lure the king thither to gather\nfruits, desiring to break down his constant wariness by the lust of the\neye and the baits of the palate. The king, as before, was strengthened\nagainst these treacheries by Thorkill, and rejected this feint of kindly\nservice; he excused himself from accepting it on the plea that he must\nhasten on his journey. Gudmund perceived that Thorkill was shrewder\nthan he at every point; so, despairing to accomplish his treachery,\nhe carried them all across the further side of the river, and let them\nfinish their journey.\n\nThey went on; and saw, not far off, a gloomy, neglected town, looking\nmore like a cloud exhaling vapour. Stakes interspersed among the\nbattlements showed the severed heads of warriors and dogs of great\nferocity were seen watching before the doors to guard the entrance.\nThorkill threw them a horn smeared with fat to lick, and so, at slight\ncost, appeased their most furious rage. High up the gates lay open\nto enter, and they climbed to their level with ladders, entering\nwith difficulty. Inside the town was crowded with murky and misshapen\nphantoms, and it was hard to say whether their shrieking figures were\nmore ghastly to the eye or to the ear; everything was foul, and the\nreeking mire afflicted the nostrils of the visitors with its unbearable\nstench. Then they found the rocky dwelling which Geirrod was rumoured to\ninhabit for his palace. They resolved to visit its narrow and horrible\nledge, but stayed their steps and halted in panic at the very entrance.\nThen Thorkill, seeing that they were of two minds, dispelled their\nhesitation to enter by manful encouragement, counselling them, to\nrestrain themselves, and not to touch any piece of gear in the house\nthey were about to enter, albeit it seemed delightful to have or\npleasant to behold; to keep their hearts as far from all covetousness as\nfrom fear; neither to desire what was pleasant to take, nor dread\nwhat was awful to look upon, though they should find themselves amidst\nabundance of both these things. If they did, their greedy hands would\nsuddenly be bound fast, unable to tear themselves away from the thing\nthey touched, and knotted up with it as by inextricable bonds. Moreover,\nthey should enter in order, four by four.\n\nBroder and Buchi (Buk?) were the first to show courage to attempt to\nenter the vile palace; Thorkill with the king followed them, and the\nrest advanced behind these in ordered ranks.\n\nInside, the house was seen to be ruinous throughout, and filled with\na violent and abominable reek. And it also teemed with everything that\ncould disgust the eye or the mind: the door-posts were begrimed with the\nsoot of ages, the wall was plastered with filth, the roof was made up of\nspear-heads, the flooring was covered with snakes and bespattered with\nall manner of uncleanliness. Such an unwonted sight struck terror into\nthe strangers, and, over all, the acrid and incessant stench assailed\ntheir afflicted nostrils. Also bloodless phantasmal monsters huddled\non the iron seats, and the places for sitting were railed off by leaden\ntrellises; and hideous doorkeepers stood at watch on the thresholds.\nSome of these, armed with clubs lashed together, yelled, while others\nplayed a gruesome game, tossing a goat's hide from one to the other with\nmutual motion of goatish backs.\n\nHere Thorkill again warned the men, and forbade them to stretch forth\ntheir covetous hands rashly to the forbidden things. Going on through\nthe breach in the crag, they beheld an old man with his body pierced\nthrough, sitting not far off, on a lofty seat facing the side of the\nrock that had been rent away. Moreover, three women, whose bodies were\ncovered with tumours, and who seemed to have lost the strength of their\nback-bones, filled adjoining seats. Thorkill's companions were very\ncurious; and he, who well knew the reason of the matter, told them that\nlong ago the god Thor had been provoked by the insolence of the giants\nto drive red-hot irons through the vitals of Geirrod, who strove with\nhim, and that the iron had slid further, torn up the mountain, and\nbattered through its side; while the women had been stricken by the\nmight of his thunderbolts, and had been punished (so he declared) for\ntheir attempt on the same deity, by having their bodies broken.\n\nAs the men were about to depart thence, there were disclosed to them\nseven butts hooped round with belts of gold; and from these hung\ncirclets of silver entwined with them in manifold links. Near these was\nfound the tusk of a strange beast, tipped at both ends with gold. Close\nby was a vast stag-horn, laboriously decked with choice and flashing\ngems, and this also did not lack chasing. Hard by was to be seen a very\nheavy bracelet. One man was kindled with an inordinate desire for this\nbracelet, and laid covetous hands upon the gold, not knowing that the\nglorious metal covered deadly mischief, and that a fatal bane lay\nhid under the shining spoil. A second also, unable to restrain his\ncovetousness, reached out his quivering hands to the horn. A third,\nmatching the confidence of the others, and having no control over his\nfingers, ventured to shoulder the tusk. The spoil seemed alike lovely to\nlook upon and desirable to enjoy, for all that met the eye was fair and\ntempting to behold. But the bracelet suddenly took the form of a snake,\nand attacked him who was carrying it with its poisoned tooth; the horn\nlengthened out into a serpent, and took the life of the man who bore it;\nthe tusk wrought itself into a sword, and plunged into the vitals of its\nbearer.\n\nThe rest dreaded the fate of perishing with their friends, and thought\nthat the guiltless would be destroyed like the guilty; they durst not\nhope that even innocence would be safe. Then the side-door of another\nroom showed them a narrow alcove: and a privy chamber with a yet richer\ntreasure was revealed, wherein arms were laid out too great for those of\nhuman stature. Among these were seen a royal mantle, a handsome hat, and\na belt marvellously wrought. Thorkill, struck with amazement at these\nthings, gave rein to his covetousness, and cast off all his purposed\nself-restraint. He who so oft had trained others could not so much as\nconquer his own cravings. For he laid his hand upon the mantle, and\nhis rash example tempted the rest to join in his enterprise of plunder.\nThereupon the recess shook from its lowest foundations, and began\nsuddenly to reel and totter. Straightway the women raised a shriek that\nthe wicked robbers were being endured too long. Then they, who were\nbefore supposed to be half-dead or lifeless phantoms, seemed to obey the\ncries of the women, and, leaping suddenly up from their seats, attacked\nthe strangers with furious onset. The other creatures bellowed hoarsely.\n\nBut Broder and Buchi fell to their old and familiar arts, and attacked\nthe witches, who ran at them, with a shower of spears from every side;\nand with the missiles from their bows and slings they crushed the\narray of monsters. There could be no stronger or more successful way\nto repulse them; but only twenty men out of all the king's company\nwere rescued by the intervention of this archery; the rest were torn in\npieces by the monsters. The survivors returned to the river, and were\nferried over by Gudmund, who entertained them at his house. Long and\noften as he besought them, he could not keep them back; so at last he\ngave them presents and let them go.\n\nBuchi relaxed his watch upon himself; his self-control became unstrung,\nand he forsook the virtue in which he hitherto rejoiced. For he\nconceived an incurable love for one of the daughters of Gudmund, and\nembraced her; but he obtained a bride to his undoing, for soon his brain\nsuddenly began to whirl, and he lost his recollection. Thus the hero who\nhad subdued all the monsters and overcome all the perils was mastered by\npassion for one girl; his soul strayed far from temperance, and he lay\nunder a wretched sensual yoke. For the sake of respect, he started to\naccompany the departing king; but as he was about to ford the river\nin his carriage, his wheels sank deep, he was caught up in the violent\neddies and destroyed.\n\nThe king bewailed his friend's disaster and departed hastening on his\nvoyage. This was at first prosperous, but afterwards he was tossed by\nbad weather; his men perished of hunger, and but few survived, so that\nhe began to feel awe in his heart, and fell to making vows to heaven,\nthinking the gods alone could help him in his extreme need. At last the\nothers besought sundry powers among the gods, and thought they ought to\nsacrifice to the majesty of divers deities; but the king, offering both\nvows and peace-offerings to Utgarda-Loki, obtained that fair season of\nweather for which he prayed.\n\nComing home, and feeling that he had passed through all these seas and\ntoils, he thought it was time for his spirit, wearied with calamities,\nto withdraw from his labours. So he took a queen from Sweden, and\nexchanged his old pursuits for meditative leisure. His life was\nprolonged in the utmost peace and quietness; but when he had almost come\nto the end of his days, certain men persuaded him by likely arguments\nthat souls were immortal; so that he was constantly turning over in his\nmind the questions, to what abode he was to fare when the breath left\nhis limbs, or what reward was earned by zealous adoration of the gods.\n\nWhile he was thus inclined, certain men who wished ill to Thorkill\ncame and told Gorm that it was needful to consult the gods, and that\nassurance about so great a matter must be sought of the oracles of\nheaven, since it was too deep for human wit and hard for mortals to\ndiscover.\n\nTherefore, they said, Utgarda-Loki must be appeased, and no man\nwould accomplish this more fitly than Thorkill. Others, again, laid\ninformation against him as guilty of treachery and an enemy of the\nking's life. Thorkill, seeing himself doomed to extreme peril, demanded\nthat his accusers should share his journey. Then they who had aspersed\nan innocent man saw that the peril they had designed against the life of\nanother had recoiled upon themselves, and tried to take back their plan.\nBut vainly did they pester the ears of the king; he forced them to sail\nunder the command of Thorkill, and even upbraided them with cowardice.\nThus, when a mischief is designed against another, it is commonly sure\nto strike home to its author. And when these men saw that they were\nconstrained, and could not possibly avoid the peril, they covered their\nship with ox-hides, and filled it with abundant store of provision.\n\nIn this ship they sailed away, and came to a sunless land, which knew\nnot the stars, was void of daylight, and seemed to overshadow them with\neternal night. Long they sailed under this strange sky; at last their\ntimber fell short, and they lacked fuel; and, having no place to boil\ntheir meat in, they staved off their hunger with raw viands. But most of\nthose who ate contracted extreme disease, being glutted with undigested\nfood. For the unusual diet first made a faintness steal gradually\nupon their stomachs; then the infection spread further, and the malady\nreached the vital parts. Thus there was danger in either extreme, which\nmade it hurtful not to eat, and perilous to indulge; for it was found\nboth unsafe to feed and bad for them to abstain. Then, when they were\nbeginning to be in utter despair, a gleam of unexpected help relieved\nthem, even as the string breaks most easily when it is stretched\ntightest. For suddenly the weary men saw the twinkle of a fire at no\ngreat distance, and conceived a hope of prolonging their lives. Thorkill\nthought this fire a heaven-sent relief, and resolved to go and take some\nof it.\n\nTo be surer of getting back to his friends, Thorkill fastened a jewel\nupon the mast-head, to mark it by the gleam. When he got to the shore,\nhis eyes fell on a cavern in a close defile, to which a narrow way led.\nTelling his companions to await him outside, he went in, and saw two\nmen, swart and very huge, with horny noses, feeding their fire with any\nchance-given fuel. Moreover, the entrance was hideous, the door-posts\nwere decayed, the walls grimy with mould, the roof filthy, and the floor\nswarming with snakes; all of which disgusted the eye as much as the\nmind. Then one of the giants greeted him, and said that he had begun a\nmost difficult venture in his burning desire to visit a strange god, and\nhis attempt to explore with curious search an untrodden region beyond\nthe world. Yet he promised to tell Thorkill the paths of the journey he\nproposed to make, if he would deliver three true judgments in the\nform of as many sayings. Then said Thorkill: \"In good truth, I do not\nremember ever to have seen a household with more uncomely noses; nor\nhave I ever come to a spot where I had less mind to live.\" Also he said:\n\"That, I think, is my best foot which can get out of this foremost.\"\n\nThe giant was pleased with the shrewdness of Thorkill, and praised his\nsayings, telling him that he must first travel to a grassless land which\nwas veiled in deep darkness; but he must first voyage for four days,\nrowing incessantly, before he could reach his goal. There he could visit\nUtgarda-Loki, who had chosen hideous and grisly caves for his filthy\ndwelling. Thorkill was much aghast at being bidden to go on a voyage so\nlong and hazardous; but his doubtful hopes prevailed over his present\nfears, and he asked for some live fuel. Then said the giant: \"If thou\nneedest fire, thou must deliver three more judgments in like sayings.\"\nThen said Thorkill: \"Good counsel is to be obeyed, though a mean fellow\ngave it.\" Likewise: \"I have gone so far in rashness, that if I can get\nback I shall owe my safety to none but my own legs.\" And again: \"Were I\nfree to retreat this moment, I would take good care never to come back.\"\n\nThereupon Thorkill took the fire along to his companions; and finding a\nkindly wind, landed on the fourth day at the appointed harbour. With\nhis crew he entered a land where an aspect of unbroken night checked the\nvicissitude of light and darkness. He could hardly see before him,\nbut beheld a rock of enormous size. Wishing to explore it, he told his\ncompanions, who were standing posted at the door, to strike a fire\nfrom flints as a timely safeguard against demons, and kindle it in the\nentrance. Then he made others bear a light before him, and stooped his\nbody through the narrow jaws of the cavern, where he beheld a number of\niron seats among a swarm of gliding serpents. Next there met his eye a\nsluggish mass of water gently flowing over a sandy bottom. He crossed\nthis, and approached a cavern which sloped somewhat more steeply.\nAgain, after this, a foul and gloomy room was disclosed to the visitors,\nwherein they saw Utgarda-Loki, laden hand and foot with enormous chains.\nEach of his reeking hairs was as large and stiff as a spear of cornel.\nThorkill (his companions lending a hand), in order that his deeds might\ngain more credit, plucked one of these from the chin of Utgarda-Loki,\nwho suffered it. Straightway such a noisome smell reached the\nbystanders, that they could not breathe without stopping their noses\nwith their mantles. They could scarcely make their way out, and were\nbespattered by the snakes which darted at them on every side.\n\nOnly five of Thorkill's company embarked with their captain: the poison\nkilled the rest. The demons hung furiously over them, and cast their\npoisonous slaver from every side upon the men below them. But the\nsailors sheltered themselves with their hides, and cast back the venom\nthat fell upon them. One man by chance at this point wished to peep out;\nthe poison touched his head, which was taken off his neck as if it had\nbeen severed with a sword. Another put his eyes out of their shelter,\nand when he brought them back under it they were blinded. Another thrust\nforth his hand while unfolding his covering, and, when he withdrew his\narm, it was withered by the virulence of the same slaver. They besought\ntheir deities to be kinder to them; vainly, until Thorkill prayed to\nthe god of the universe, and poured forth unto him libations as well\nas prayers; and thus, presently finding the sky even as before and the\nelements clear, he made a fair voyage.\n\nAnd now they seemed to behold another world, and the way towards the\nlife of man. At last Thorkill landed in Germany, which had then been\nadmitted to Christianity; and among its people he began to learn how\nto worship God. His band of men were almost destroyed, because of\nthe dreadful air they had breathed, and he returned to his country\naccompanied by two men only, who had escaped the worst. But the corrupt\nmatter which smeared his face so disguised his person and original\nfeatures that not even his friends knew him. But when he wiped off the\nfilth, he made himself recognizable by those who saw him, and inspired\nthe king with the greatest eagerness to hear about his quest. But the\ndetraction of his rivals was not yet silenced; and some pretended that\nthe king would die suddenly if he learnt Thorkill's tidings. The king\nwas the more disposed to credit this saying, because he was already\ncredulous by reason of a dream which falsely prophesied the same thing.\nMen were therefore hired by the king's command to slay Thorkill in the\nnight. But somehow he got wind of it, left his bed unknown to all, and\nput a heavy log in his place. By this he baffled the treacherous device\nof the king, for the hirelings smote only the stock.\n\nOn the morrow Thorkill went up to the king as he sat at meat, and said:\n\"I forgive thy cruelty and pardon thy error, in that thou hast decreed\npunishment, and not thanks, to him who brings good tidings of his\nerrand. For thy sake I have devoted my life to all these afflictions,\nand battered it in all these perils; I hoped that thou wouldst requite\nmy services with much gratitude; and behold! I have found thee, and thee\nalone, punish my valour sharpliest. But I forbear all vengeance, and\nam satisfied with the shame within thy heart--if, after all, any shame\nvisits the thankless--as expiation for this wrongdoing towards me. I\nhave a right to surmise that thou art worse than all demons in fury,\nand all beasts in cruelty, if, after escaping the snares of all these\nmonsters, I have failed to be safe from thine.\"\n\nThe king desired to learn everything from Thorkill's own lips; and,\nthinking it hard to escape destiny, bade him relate what had happened\nin due order. He listened eagerly to his recital of everything, till\nat last, when his own god was named, he could not endure him to\nbe unfavourably judged. For he could not bear to hear Utgarda-Loki\nreproached with filthiness, and so resented his shameful misfortunes,\nthat his very life could not brook such words, and he yielded it up in\nthe midst of Thorkill's narrative. Thus, whilst he was so zealous in the\nworship of a false god, he came to find where the true prison of sorrows\nreally was. Moreover, the reek of the hair, which Thorkill plucked from\nthe locks of the giant to testify to the greatness of his own deeds, was\nexhaled upon the bystanders, so that many perished of it.\n\nAfter the death of Gorm, GOTRIK his son came to the throne. He was\nnotable not only for prowess but for generosity, and none can say\nwhether his courage or his compassion was the greater. He so chastened\nhis harshness with mercy, that he seemed to counterweigh the one with\nthe other. At this time Gaut, the King of Norway, was visited by Ber\n(Biorn?) and Ref, men of Thule. Gaut treated Ref with attention and\nfriendship, and presented him with a heavy bracelet.\n\nOne of the courtiers, when he saw this, praised the greatness of the\ngift over-zealously, and declared that no one was equal to King Gaut in\nkindliness. But Ref, though he owed thanks for the benefit, could not\napprove the inflated words of this extravagant praiser, and said that\nGotrik was more generous than Gaut. Wishing to crush the empty boast of\nthe flatterer, he chose rather to bear witness to the generosity of\nthe absent than tickle with lies the vanity of his benefactor who was\npresent. For another thing, he thought it somewhat more desirable to be\ncharged with ingratitude than to support with his assent such idle and\nboastful praise, and also to move the king by the solemn truth than\nto beguile him with lying flatteries. But Ulf persisted not only in\nstubbornly repeating his praises of the king, but in bringing them to\nthe proof; and proposed their gainsayer a wager.\n\nWith his consent Ref went to Denmark, and found Gotrik seated in state,\nand dealing out the pay to his soldiers. When the king asked him who\nhe was, he said that his name was \"Fox-cub\" The answer filled some with\nmirth and some with marvel, and Gotrik said, \"Yea, and it is fitting\nthat a fox should catch his prey in his mouth.\" And thereupon he drew\na bracelet from his arm, called the man to him, and put it between his\nlips. Straightway Ref put it upon his arm, which he displayed to them\nall adorned with gold, but the other arm he kept hidden as lacking\nornament; for which shrewdness he received a gift equal to the first\nfrom that hand of matchless generosity. At this he was overjoyed, not so\nmuch because the reward was great, as because he had won his contention.\nAnd when the king learnt from him about the wager he had laid, he\nrejoiced that he had been lavish to him more by accident than of set\npurpose, and declared that he got more pleasure from the giving than the\nreceiver from the gift. So Ref returned to Norway and slew his opponent,\nwho refused to pay the wager. Then he took the daughter of Gaut captive,\nand brought her to Gotrik for his own.\n\nGotrik, who is also called Godefride, carried his arms against\nforeigners, and increased his strength and glory by his successful\ngeneralship. Among his memorable deeds were the terms of tribute\nhe imposed upon the Saxons; namely, that whenever a change of kings\noccurred among the Danes, their princes should devote a hundred\nsnow-white horses to the new king on his accession. But if the Saxons\nshould receive a new chief upon a change in the succession, this chief\nwas likewise to pay the aforesaid tribute obediently, and bow at\nthe outset of his power to the sovereign majesty of Denmark; thereby\nacknowledging the supremacy of our nation, and solemnly confessing his\nown subjection. Nor was it enough for Gotrik to subjugate Germany: he\nappointed Ref on a mission to try the strength of Sweden. The Swedes\nfeared to slay him with open violence, but ventured to act like bandits,\nand killed him, as he slept, with the blow of a stone. For, hanging a\nmillstone above him, they cut its fastenings, and let it drop upon his\nneck as he lay beneath. To expiate this crime it was decreed that each\nof the ringleaders should pay twelve golden talents, while each of\nthe common people should pay Gotrik one ounce. Men called this \"the\nFox-cub's tribute\". (Refsgild).\n\nMeanwhile it befell that Karl, King of the Franks, crushed Germany in\nwar, and forced it not only to embrace the worship of Christianity, but\nalso to obey his authority. When Gotrik heard of this, he attacked the\nnations bordering on the Elbe, and attempted to regain under his sway as\nof old the realm of Saxony, which eagerly accepted the yoke of Karl, and\npreferred the Roman to the Danish arms. Karl had at this time withdrawn\nhis victorious camp beyond the Rhine, and therefore forbore to engage\nthe stranger enemy, being prevented by the intervening river. But when\nhe was intending to cross once more to subdue the power of Gotrik, he\nwas summoned by Leo the Pope of the Romans to defend the city.\n\nObeying this command, Karl intrusted his son Pepin with the conduct of\nthe war against Gotrik; so that while he himself was working against a\ndistant foe, Pepin might manage the conflict he had undertaken with his\nneighbour. For Karl was distracted by two anxieties, and had to furnish\nsufficient out of a scanty band to meet both of them. Meanwhile Gotrik\nwon a glorious victory over the Saxons. Then gathering new strength, and\nmustering a larger body of forces, he resolved to avenge the wrong he\nhad suffered in losing his sovereignty, not only upon the Saxons, but\nupon the whole people of Germany. He began by subduing Friesland with\nhis fleet.\n\nThis province lies very low, and whenever the fury of the ocean bursts\nthe dykes that bar its waves, it is wont to receive the whole mass of\nthe deluge over its open plains. On this country Gotrik imposed a kind\nof tribute, which was not so much harsh as strange. I will briefly\nrelate its terms and the manner of it. First, a building was arranged,\ntwo hundred and forty feet in length, and divided into twelve spaces;\neach of these stretching over an interval of twenty feet, and thus\nmaking together, when the whole room was exhausted, the aforesaid total.\nNow at the upper end of this building sat the king's treasurer, and in a\nline with him at its further end was displayed a round shield. When the\nFrisians came to pay tribute, they used to cast their coins one by one\ninto the hollow of this shield; but only those coins which struck the\near of the distant toll-gatherer with a distinct clang were chosen by\nhim, as he counted, to be reckoned among the royal tribute. The result\nwas that the collector only reckoned that money towards the treasury of\nwhich his distant ear caught the sound as it fell. But that of which the\nsound was duller, and which fell out of his earshot, was received indeed\ninto the treasury, but did not count as any increase to the sum paid.\nNow many coins that were cast in struck with no audible loudness\nwhatever on the collector's ear, so that men who came to pay their\nappointed toll sometimes squandered much of their money in useless\ntribute. Karl is said to have freed them afterwards from the burden of\nthis tax. After Gotrik had crossed Friesland, and Karl had now come back\nfrom Rome, Gotrik determined to swoop down upon the further districts of\nGermany, but was treacherously attacked by one of his own servants, and\nperished at home by the sword of a traitor. When Karl heard this, he\nleapt up overjoyed, declaring that nothing more delightful had ever\nfallen to his lot than this happy chance.\n\n\n     ENDNOTES:\n     (1)  Furthest Thule--The names of Icelanders have thus crept\n     into the account of a battle fought before the discovery of\n     Iceland.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK NINE.\n\nAfter Gotrik's death reigned his son OLAF; who, desirous to avenge his\nfather, did not hesitate to involve his country in civil wars, putting\npatriotism after private inclination. When he perished, his body was put\nin a barrow, famous for the name of Olaf, which was built up close by\nLeire.\n\nHe was succeeded by HEMMING, of whom I have found no deed worthy of\nrecord, save that he made a sworn peace with Kaiser Ludwig; and yet,\nperhaps, envious antiquity hides many notable deeds of his time, albeit\nthey were then famous.\n\nAfter these men there came to the throne, backed by the Skanians and\nZealanders, SIWARD, surnamed RING. He was the son, born long ago, of the\nchief of Norway who bore the same name, by Gotrik's daughter. Now Ring,\ncousin of Siward, and also a grandson of Gotrik, was master of Jutland.\nThus the power of the single kingdom was divided; and, as though its two\nparts were contemptible for their smallness, foreigners began not only\nto despise but to attack it. These Siward assailed with greater hatred\nthan he did his rival for the throne; and, preferring wars abroad to\nwars at home, he stubbornly defended his country against dangers for\nfive years; for he chose to put up with a trouble at home that he\nmight the more easily cure one which came from abroad. Wherefore Ring\n(desiring his) command, seized the opportunity, tried to transfer the\nwhole sovereignty to himself, and did not hesitate to injure in his\nown land the man who was watching over it without; for he attacked the\nprovinces in the possession of Siward, which was an ungrateful requital\nfor the defence of their common country. Therefore, some of the\nZealanders who were more zealous for Siward, in order to show him firmer\nloyalty in his absence, proclaimed his son Ragnar as king, when he was\nscarcely dragged out of his cradle. Not but what they knew he was too\nyoung to govern; yet they hoped that such a gage would serve to rouse\ntheir sluggish allies against Ring. But, when Ring heard that Siward had\nmeantime returned from his expedition, he attacked the Zealanders with a\nlarge force, and proclaimed that they should perish by the sword if they\ndid not surrender; but the Zealanders, who were bidden to choose between\nshame and peril, were so few that they distrusted their strength, and\nrequested a truce to consider the matter. It was granted; but, since it\ndid not seem open to them to seek the favour of Siward, nor honourable\nto embrace that of Ring, they wavered long in perplexity between fear\nand shame. In this plight even the old were at a loss for counsel; but\nRagnar, who chanced to be present at the assembly, said: \"The short bow\nshoots its shaft suddenly. Though it may seem the hardihood of a boy\nthat I venture to forestall the speech of the elders, yet I pray you\nto pardon my errors, and be indulgent to my unripe words. Yet the\ncounsellor of wisdom is not to be spurned, though he seem contemptible;\nfor the teaching of profitable things should be drunk in with an open\nmind. Now it is shameful that we should be branded as deserters and\nrunaways, but it is just as foolhardy to venture above our strength;\nand thus there is proved to be equal blame either way. We must, then,\npretend to go over to the enemy, but, when a chance comes in our way, we\nmust desert him betimes. It will thus be better to forestall the wrath\nof our foe by reigned obedience than, by refusing it, to give him a\nweapon wherewith to attack us yet more harshly; for if we decline the\nsway of the stronger, are we not simply turning his arms against our own\nthroat? Intricate devices are often the best nurse of craft. You need\ncunning to trap a fox.\" By this sound counsel he dispelled the wavering\nof his countrymen, and strengthened the camp of the enemy to its own\nhurt.\n\nThe assembly, marvelling at the eloquence as much as at the wit of one\nso young, gladly embraced a proposal of such genius, which they thought\nexcellent beyond his years. Nor were the old men ashamed to obey the\nbidding of a boy when they lacked counsel themselves; for, though it\ncame from one of tender years, it was full, notwithstanding, of weighty\nand sound instruction. But they feared to expose their adviser to\nimmediate peril, and sent him over to Norway to be brought up. Soon\nafterwards, Siward joined battle with Ring and attacked him. He slew\nRing, but himself received an incurable wound, of which he died a few\ndays afterwards.\n\nHe was succeeded on the throne by RAGNAR. At this time Fro (Frey?), the\nKing of Sweden, after slaying Siward, the King of the Norwegians, put\nthe wives of Siward's kinsfolk in bonds in a brothel, and delivered\nthem to public outrage. When Ragnar heard of this, he went to Norway to\navenge his grandfather. As he came, many of the matrons, who had either\nsuffered insult to their persons or feared imminent peril to their\nchastity, hastened eagerly to his camp in male attire, declaring that\nthey would prefer death to outrage. Nor did Ragnar, who was to punish\nthis reproach upon the women, scorn to use against the author of the\ninfamy the help of those whose shame he had come to avenge. Among them\nwas Ladgerda, a skilled amazon, who, though a maiden, had the courage\nof a man, and fought in front among the bravest with her hair loose\nover her shoulders. All-marvelled at her matchless deeds, for her locks\nflying down her back betrayed that she was a woman.\n\nRagnar, when he had justly cut down the murderer of his grandfather,\nasked many questions of his fellow soldiers concerning the maiden whom\nhe had seen so forward in the fray, and declared that he had gained the\nvictory by the might of one woman. Learning that she was of noble birth\namong the barbarians, he steadfastly wooed her by means of messengers.\nShe spurned his mission in her heart, but feigned compliance. Giving\nfalse answers, she made her panting wooer confident that he would gain\nhis desires; but ordered that a bear and a dog should be set at the\nporch of her dwelling, thinking to guard her own room against all the\nardour of a lover by means of the beasts that blocked the way. Ragnar,\ncomforted by the good news, embarked, crossed the sea, and, telling his\nmen to stop in Gaulardale, as the valley is called, went to the dwelling\nof the maiden alone. Here the beasts met him, and he thrust one through\nwith a spear, and caught the other by the throat, wrung its neck, and\nchoked it. Thus he had the maiden as the prize of the peril he had\novercome. By this marriage he had two daughters, whose names have not\ncome down to us, and a son Fridleif. Then he lived three years at peace.\n\nThe Jutlanders, a presumptuous race, thinking that because of his recent\nmarriage he would never return, took the Skanians into alliance, and\ntried to attack the Zealanders, who preserved the most zealous and\naffectionate loyalty towards Ragnar. He, when he heard of it, equipped\nthirty ships, and, the winds favouring his voyage, crushed the Skanians,\nwho ventured to fight, near the stead of Whiteby, and when the winter\nwas over he fought successfully with the Jutlanders who dwelt near the\nLiim-fjord in that region. A third and a fourth time he conquered the\nSkanians and the Hallanders triumphantly.\n\nAfterwards, changing his love, and desiring Thora, the daughter of the\nKing Herodd, to wife, Ragnar divorced himself from Ladgerda; for he\nthought ill of her trustworthiness, remembering that she had long ago\nset the most savage beasts to destroy him. Meantime Herodd, the King\nof the Swedes, happening to go and hunt in the woods, brought home some\nsnakes, found by his escort, for his daughter to rear. She speedily\nobeyed the instructions of her father, and endured to rear a race of\nadders with her maiden hands. Moreover, she took care that they should\ndaily have a whole ox-carcase to gorge upon, not knowing that she was\nprivately feeding and keeping up a public nuisance. The vipers grew up,\nand scorched the country-side with their pestilential breath. Whereupon\nthe king, repenting of his sluggishness, proclaimed that whosoever\nremoved the pest should have his daughter.\n\nMany warriors were thereto attracted by courage as much as by desire;\nbut all idly and perilously wasted their pains. Ragnar, learning from\nmen who travelled to and fro how the matter stood, asked his nurse for\na woolen mantle, and for some thigh-pieces that were very hairy, with\nwhich he could repel the snake-bites. He thought that he ought to use a\ndress stuffed with hair to protect himself, and also took one that\nwas not unwieldy, that he might move nimbly. And when he had landed in\nSweden, he deliberately plunged his body in water, while there was a\nfrost falling, and, wetting his dress, to make it the less penetrable,\nhe let the cold freeze it. Thus attired, he took leave of his\ncompanions, exhorted them to remain loyal to Fridleif, and went on to\nthe palace alone. When he saw it, he tied his sword to his side,\nand lashed a spear to his right hand with a thong. As he went on, an\nenormous snake glided up and met him. Another, equally huge, crawled up,\nfollowing in the trail of the first. They strove now to buffet the young\nman with the coils of their tails, and now to spit and belch their venom\nstubbornly upon him. Meantime the courtiers, betaking themselves to\nsafer hiding, watched the struggle from afar like affrighted little\ngirls. The king was stricken with equal fear, and fled, with a few\nfollowers, to a narrow shelter. But Ragnar, trusting in the hardness of\nhis frozen dress, foiled the poisonous assaults not only with his arms,\nbut with his attire, and, singlehanded, in unweariable combat, stood\nup against the two gaping creatures, who stubbornly poured forth their\nvenom upon him. For their teeth he repelled with his shield, their\npoison with his dress. At last he cast his spear, and drove it against\nthe bodies of the brutes, who were attacking him hard. He pierced both\ntheir hearts, and his battle ended in victory.\n\nAfter Ragnar had thus triumphed the king scanned his dress closely,\nand saw that he was rough and hairy; but, above all, he laughed at the\nshaggy lower portion of his garb, and chiefly the uncouth aspect of his\nbreeches; so that he gave him in jest the nickname of Lodbrog. Also he\ninvited him to feast with his friends, to refresh him after his labours.\nRagnar said that he would first go back to the witnesses whom he had\nleft behind. He set out and brought them back, splendidly attired for\nthe coming feast. At last, when the banquet was over, he received\nthe prize that was appointed for the victory. By her he begot two\nnobly-gifted sons, Radbard and Dunwat. These also had brothers--Siward,\nBiorn, Agnar, and Iwar.\n\nMeanwhile, the Jutes and Skanians were kindled with an unquenchable fire\nof sedition; they disallowed the title of Ragnar, and gave a certain\nHarald the sovereign power. Ragnar sent envoys to Norway, and besought\nfriendly assistance against these men; and Ladgerda, whose early love\nstill flowed deep and steadfast, hastily sailed off with her husband and\nher son. She brought herself to offer a hundred and twenty ships to the\nman who had once put her away. And he, thinking himself destitute of all\nresources, took to borrowing help from folk of every age, crowded the\nstrong and the feeble all together, and was not ashamed to insert some\nold men and boys among the wedges of the strong. So he first tried to\ncrush the power of the Skanians in the field which in Latin is called\nLaneus (Woolly); here he had a hard fight with the rebels. Here, too,\nIwar, who was in his seventh year, fought splendidly, and showed the\nstrength of a man in the body of a boy. But Siward, while attacking the\nenemy face to face, fell forward upon the ground wounded. When his men\nsaw this, it made them look round most anxiously for means of flight;\nand this brought low not only Siward, but almost the whole army on the\nside of Ragnar. But Ragnar by his manly deeds and exhortations comforted\ntheir amazed and sunken spirits, and, just when they were ready to be\nconquered, spurred them on to try and conquer.\n\nLadgerda, who had a matchless spirit though a delicate frame, covered by\nher splendid bravery the inclination of the soldiers to waver. For she\nmade a sally about, and flew round to the rear of the enemy, taking them\nunawares, and thus turned the panic of her friends into the camp of the\nenemy. At last the lines of HARALD became slack, and HARALD himself was\nrouted with a great slaughter of his men. LADGERDA, when she had gone\nhome after the battle, murdered her husband.... in the night with a\nspear-head, which she had hid in her gown. Then she usurped the whole\nof his name and sovereignty; for this most presumptuous dame thought\nit pleasanter to rule without her husband than to share the throne with\nhim.\n\nMeantime, Siward was taken to a town in the neighbourhood, and gave\nhimself to be tended by the doctors, who were reduced to the depths of\ndespair. But while the huge wound baffled all the remedies they applied,\na certain man of amazing size was seen to approach the litter of the\nsick man, and promised that Siward should straightway rejoice and be\nwhole, if he would consecrate unto him the souls of all whom he should\novercome in battle. Nor did he conceal his name, but said that he was\ncalled Rostar. Now Siward, when he saw that a great benefit could be got\nat the cost of a little promise, eagerly acceded to this request. Then\nthe old man suddenly, by the help of his hand, touched and banished the\nlivid spot, and suddenly scarred the wound over. At last he poured dust\non his eyes and departed. Spots suddenly arose, and the dust, to the\namaze of the beholders, seemed to become wonderfully like little snakes.\n\nI should think that he who did this miracle wished to declare, by\nthe manifest token of his eyes, that the young man was to be cruel in\nfuture, in order that the more visible part of his body might not lack\nsome omen of his life that was to follow. When the old woman, who had\nthe care of his draughts, saw him showing in his face signs of little\nsnakes; she was seized with an extraordinary horror of the young man,\nand suddenly fell and swooned away. Hence it happened that Siward got\nthe widespread name of Snake-Eye.\n\nMeantime Thora, the bride of Ragnar, perished of a violent malady, which\ncaused infinite trouble and distress to the husband, who dearly\nloved his wife. This distress, he thought, would be best dispelled by\nbusiness, and he resolved to find solace in exercise and qualify his\ngrief by toil. To banish his affliction and gain some comfort, he bent\nhis thoughts to warfare, and decreed that every father of a family\nshould devote to his service whichever of his children he thought\nmost contemptible, or any slave of his who was lazy at his work or of\ndoubtful fidelity. And albeit that this decree seemed little fitted for\nhis purpose, he showed that the feeblest of the Danish race were better\nthan the strongest men of other nations; and it did the young men great\ngood, each of those chosen being eager to wipe off the reproach of\nindolence. Also he enacted that every piece of litigation should be\nreferred to the judgment of twelve chosen elders, all ordinary methods\nof action being removed, the accuser being forbidden to charge, and the\naccused to defend. This law removed all chance of incurring litigation\nlightly. Thinking that there was thus sufficient provision made against\nfalse accusations by unscrupulous men, he lifted up his arms against\nBritain, and attacked and slew in battle its king, Hame, the father of\nElla, who was a most noble youth. Then he killed the earls of Scotland\nand of Pictland, and of the isles that they call the Southern or\nMeridional (Sudr-eyar), and made his sons Siward and Radbard masters of\nthe provinces, which were now without governors. He also deprived Norway\nof its chief by force, and commanded it to obey Fridleif, whom he also\nset over the Orkneys, from which he took their own earl.\n\nMeantime, some of the Danes who were most stubborn in their hatred\nagainst Ragnar were obstinately bent on rebellion. They rallied to the\nside of Harald, once an exile, and tried to raise the fallen fortunes of\nthe tyrant. By this hardihood they raised up against the king the most\nvirulent blasts of civil war, and entangled him in domestic perils when\nhe was free from foreign troubles. Ragnar, setting out to check them\nwith a fleet of the Danes who lived in the isles, crushed the army of\nthe rebels, drove Harald, the leader of the conquered army, a fugitive\nto Germany, and forced him to resign unbashfully an honour which he had\ngained without scruple. Nor was he content simply to kill his prisoners:\nhe preferred to torture them to death, so that those who could not be\ninduced to forsake their disloyalty might not be so much as suffered to\ngive up the ghost save under the most grievous punishment. Moreover, the\nestates of those who had deserted with Harald he distributed among those\nwho were serving as his soldiers, thinking that the fathers would be\nworse punished by seeing the honour of their inheritance made over to\nthe children whom they had rejected, while those whom they had loved\nbetter lost their patrimony. But even this did not sate his vengeance,\nand he further determined to attack Saxony, thinking it the refuge of\nhis foes and the retreat of Harald. So, begging his sons to help him, he\ncame on Karl, who happened then to be tarrying on those borders of his\nempire. Intercepting his sentries, he eluded the watch that was posted\non guard. But while he thought that all the rest would therefore be easy\nand more open to his attacks, suddenly a woman who was a soothsayer, a\nkind of divine oracle or interpreter of the will of heaven, warned the\nking with a saving prophecy, and by her fortunate presage forestalled\nthe mischief that impended, saying that the fleet of Siward had moored\nat the mouth of the river Seine. The emperor, heeding the warning, and\nunderstanding that the enemy was at hand, managed to engage with and\nstop the barbarians, who were thus pointed out to him. A battle was\nfought with Ragnar; but Karl did not succeed as happily in the field\nas he had got warning of the danger. And so that tireless conqueror of\nalmost all Europe, who in his calm and complete career of victory had\ntravelled over so great a portion of the world, now beheld his army,\nwhich had vanquished all these states and nations, turning its face from\nthe field, and shattered by a handful from a single province.\n\nRagnar, after loading the Saxons with tribute, had sure tidings from\nSweden of the death of Herodd, and also heard that his own sons, owing\nto the slander of Sorle, the king chosen in his stead, had been robbed\nof their inheritance. He besought the aid of the brothers Biorn,\nFridleif, and Ragbard (for Ragnald, Hwitserk, and Erik, his sons by\nSwanloga, had not yet reached the age of bearing arms), and went to\nSweden. Sorle met him with his army, and offered him the choice between\na public conflict and a duel; and when Ragnar chose personal combat, he\nsent against him Starkad, a champion of approved daring, with his band\nof seven sons, to challenge and fight with him. Ragnar took his three\nsons to share the battle with him, engaged in the sight of both armies,\nand came out of the combat triumphant.\n\nBiorn, having inflicted great slaughter on the foe without hurt to\nhimself, gained from the strength of his sides, which were like iron, a\nperpetual name (Ironsides). This victory emboldened Ragnar to hope that\nhe could overcome any peril, and he attacked and slew Sorle with the\nentire forces he was leading. He presented Biorn with the lordship\nof Sweden for his conspicuous bravery and service. Then for a little\ninterval he rested from wars, and chanced to fall deeply in love with\na certain woman. In order to find some means of approaching and winning\nher the more readily, he courted her father (Esbern) by showing him the\nmost obliging and attentive kindness. He often invited him to banquets,\nand received him with lavish courtesy. When he came, he paid him the\nrespect of rising, and when he sat, he honoured him with a set next to\nhimself. He also often comforted him with gifts, and at times with the\nmost kindly speech. The man saw that no merits of his own could be the\ncause of all this distinction, and casting over the matter every way in\nhis mind, he perceived that the generosity of his monarch was caused\nby his love for his daughter, and that he coloured this lustful purpose\nwith the name of kindness. But, that he might balk the cleverness of\nthe lover, however well calculated, he had the girl watched all the more\ncarefully that he saw her beset by secret aims and obstinate methods.\nBut Ragnar, who was comforted by the surest tidings of her consent, went\nto the farmhouse in which she was kept, and fancying that love must\nfind out a way, repaired alone to a certain peasant in a neighbouring\nlodging. In the morning he exchanged dress with the women, and went\nin female attire, and stood by his mistress as she was unwinding wool.\nCunningly, to avoid betrayal, he set his hands to the work of a maiden,\nthough they were little skilled in the art. In the night he embraced\nthe maiden and gained his desire. When her time drew near, and the girl\ngrowing big, betrayed her outraged chastity, the father, not knowing to\nwhom his daughter had given herself to be defiled, persisted in asking\nthe girl herself who was the unknown seducer. She steadfastly affirmed\nthat she had had no one to share her bed except her handmaid, and he\nmade the affair over to the king to search into. He would not allow an\ninnocent servant to be branded with an extraordinary charge, and was not\nashamed to prove another's innocence by avowing his own guilt. By this\ngenerosity he partially removed the woman's reproach, and prevented an\nabsurd report from being sown in the ears of the wicked. Also he added,\nthat the son to be born of her was of his own line, and that he wished\nhim to be named Ubbe. When this son had grown up somewhat, his wit,\ndespite his tender years, equalled the discernment of manhood. For he\ntook to loving his mother, since she had had converse with a noble bed,\nbut cast off all respect for his father, because he had stooped to a\nunion too lowly.\n\nAfter this Ragnar prepared an expedition against the Hellespontines,\nand summoned an assembly of the Danes, promising that he would give the\npeople most wholesome laws. He had enacted before that each father of\na household should offer for service that one among his sons whom he\nesteemed least; but now he enacted that each should arm the son who was\nstoutest of hand or of most approved loyalty. Thereon, taking all the\nsons he had by Thora, in addition to Ubbe, he attacked, crushed in\nsundry campaigns, and subdued the Hellespont with its king Dia. At last\nhe involved the same king in disaster after disaster, and slew him.\nDia's sons, Dia and Daxo, who had before married the daughters of the\nRussian king, begged forces from their father-in-law, and rushed with\nmost ardent courage to the work of avenging their father. But Ragnar,\nwhen he saw their boundless army, distrusted his own forces; and he put\nbrazen horses on wheels that could be drawn easily, took them round on\ncarriages that would turn, and ordered that they should be driven with\nthe utmost force against the thickest ranks of the enemy. This device\nserved so well to break the line of the foe, that the Danes' hope of\nconquest seemed to lie more in the engine than in the soldiers: for its\ninsupportable weight overwhelmed whatever it struck. Thus one of the\nleaders was killed, while one made off in flight, and the whole army\nof the area of the Hellespont retreated. The Scythians, also, who were\nclosely related by blood to Daxo on the mother's side, are said to\nhave been crushed in the same disaster. Their province was made over\nto Hwitserk, and the king of the Russians, trusting little in his own\nstrength, hastened to fly out of the reach of the terrible arms of\nRagnar.\n\nNow Ragnar had spent almost five years in sea-roving, and had quickly\ncompelled all other nations to submit; but he found the Perms in open\ndefiance of his sovereignty. He had just conquered them, but their\nloyalty was weak. When they heard that he had come they cast spells upon\nthe sky, stirred up the clouds, and drove them into most furious storms.\nThis for some time prevented the Danes from voyaging, and caused their\nsupply of food to fail. Then, again, the storm suddenly abated, and now\nthey were scorched by the most fervent and burning heat; nor was this\nplague any easier to bear than the great and violent cold had been.\nThus the mischievous excess in both directions affected their bodies\nalternately, and injured them by an immoderate increase first of cold\nand then of heat. Moreover, dysentery killed most of them. So the mass\nof the Danes, being pent in by the dangerous state of the weather,\nperished of the bodily plague that arose on every side. And when Ragnar\nsaw that he was hindered, not so much by a natural as by a factitious\ntempest, he held on his voyage as best he could, and got to the country\nof the Kurlanders and Sembs, who paid zealous honour to his might and\nmajesty, as if he were the most revered of conquerors. This service\nenraged the king all the more against the arrogance of the men of\nPermland, and he attempted to avenge his slighted dignity by a sudden\nattack. Their king, whose name is not known, was struck with panic at\nsuch a sudden invasion of the enemy, and at the same time had no heart\nto join battle with them; and fled to Matul, the prince of Finmark. He,\ntrusting in the great skill of his archers, harassed with impunity the\narmy of Ragnar, which was wintering in Permland. For the Finns, who are\nwont to glide on slippery timbers (snowskates), scud along at whatever\npace they will, and are considered to be able to approach or depart very\nquickly; for as soon as they have damaged the enemy they fly away as\nspeedily as they approach, nor is the retreat they make quicker than\ntheir charge. Thus their vehicles and their bodies are so nimble that\nthey acquire the utmost expertness both in advance and flight.\n\nRagnar was filled with amazement at the poorness of his fortunes when\nhe saw that he, who had conquered Rome at its pinnacle of power, was\ndragged by an unarmed and uncouth race into the utmost peril. He,\ntherefore, who had signally crushed the most glorious flower of the\nRoman soldiery, and the forces of a most great and serene captain, now\nyielded to a base mob with the poorest and slenderest equipment; and he\nwhose lustre in war the might of the strongest race on earth had failed\nto tarnish, was now too weak to withstand the tiny band of a miserable\ntribe. Hence, with that force which had helped him bravely to defeat the\nmost famous pomp in all the world and the weightiest weapon of military\npower, and to subdue in the field all that thunderous foot, horse, and\nencampment; with this he had now, stealthily and like a thief, to endure\nthe attacks of a wretched and obscure populace; nor must he blush to\nstain by a treachery in the night that noble glory of his which had been\nwon in the light of day, for he took to a secret ambuscade instead\nof open bravery. This affair was as profitable in its issue as it was\nunhandsome in the doing.\n\nRagnar was equally as well pleased at the flight of the Finns as he had\nbeen at that of Karl, and owned that he had found more strength in that\ndefenceless people than in the best equipped soldiery; for he found the\nheaviest weapons of the Romans easier to bear than the light darts of\nthis ragged tribe. Here, after killing the king of the Perms and routing\nthe king of the Finns, Ragnar set an eternal memorial of his victory\non the rocks, which bore the characters of his deeds on their face, and\nlooked down upon them.\n\nMeanwhile Ubbe was led by his grandfather, Esbern, to conceive an unholy\ndesire for the throne; and, casting away all thought of the reverence\ndue to his father, he claimed the emblem of royalty for his own head.\n\nWhen Ragnar heard of his arrogance from Kelther and Thorkill, the earls\nof Sweden, he made a hasty voyage towards Gothland. Esbern, finding that\nthese men were attached with a singular loyalty to the side of Ragnar,\ntried to bribe them to desert the king. But they did not swerve from\ntheir purpose, and replied that their will depended on that of Biorn,\ndeclaring that not a single Swede would dare to do what went against his\npleasure. Esbern speedily made an attempt on Biorn himself, addressing\nhim most courteously through his envoys. Biorn said that he would never\nlean more to treachery than to good faith, and judged that it would be a\nmost abominable thing to prefer the favour of an infamous brother to the\nlove of a most righteous father. The envoys themselves he punished with\nhanging, because they counselled him to so grievous a crime. The Swedes,\nmoreover, slew the rest of the train of the envoys in the same way, as\na punishment for their mischievous advice. So Esbern, thinking that his\nsecret and stealthy manoeuvres did not succeed fast enough, mustered his\nforces openly, and went publicly forth to war. But Iwar, the governor of\nJutland, seeing no righteousness on either side of the impious conflict,\navoided all unholy war by voluntary exile.\n\nRagnar attacked and slew Esbern in the bay that is called in Latin\nViridis; he cut off the dead man's head and bade it be set upon the\nship's prow, a dreadful sight for the seditious. But Ubbe took to\nflight, and again attacked his father, having revived the war in\nZealand. Ubbe's ranks broke, and he was assailed single-handed from all\nsides; but he felled so many of the enemy's line that he was surrounded\nwith a pile of the corpses of the foe as with a strong bulwark,\nand easily checked his assailants from approaching. At last he was\noverwhelmed by the thickening masses of the enemy, captured, and taken\noff to be laden with public fetters. By immense violence he disentangled\nhis chains and cut them away. But when he tried to sunder and rend the\nbonds that were (then) put upon him, he could not in any wise escape\nhis bars. But when Iwar heard that the rising in his country had been\nquelled by the punishment of the rebel, he went to Denmark. Ragnar\nreceived him with the greatest honour, because, while the unnatural\nwar had raged its fiercest, he had behaved with the most entire filial\nrespect.\n\nMeanwhile Daxo long and vainly tried to overcome Hwitserk, who ruled\nover Sweden; but at last he enrapped him under pretence of making a\npeace, and attacked him. Hwitserk received him hospitably, but Daxo had\nprepared an army with weapons, who were to feign to be trading, ride\ninto the city in carriages, and break with a night-attack into the house\nof their host. Hwitserk smote this band of robbers with such a slaughter\nthat he was surrounded with a heap of his enemies' bodies, and could\nonly be taken by letting down ladders from above. Twelve of his\ncompanions, who were captured at the same time by the enemy, were given\nleave to go back to their country; but they gave up their lives for\ntheir king, and chose to share the dangers of another rather than be\nquit of their own.\n\nDaxo, moved with compassion at the beauty of Hwitserk, had not the heart\nto pluck the budding blossom of that noble nature, and offered him not\nonly his life, but his daughter in marriage, with a dowry of half his\nkingdom; choosing rather to spare his comeliness than to punish his\nbravery. But the other, in the greatness of his soul, valued as nothing\nthe life which he was given on sufferance, and spurned his safety as\nthough it were some trivial benefit. Of his own will he embraced the\nsentence of doom, saying, that Ragnar would exact a milder vengeance\nfor his son if he found that he had made his own choice in selecting the\nmanner of his death. The enemy wondered at his rashness, and promised\nthat he should die by the manner of death which he should choose for\nthis punishment. This leave the young man accepted as a great kindness,\nand begged that he might be bound and burned with his friends. Daxo\nspeedily complied with his prayers that craved for death, and by way of\nkindness granted him the end that he had chosen. When Ragnar heard of\nthis, he began to grieve stubbornly even unto death, and not only put on\nthe garb of mourning, but, in the exceeding sorrow of his soul, took\nto his bed and showed his grief by groaning. But his wife, who had more\nthan a man's courage, chid his weakness, and put heart into him with her\nmanful admonitions. Drawing his mind off from his woe, she bade him be\nzealous in the pursuit of war; declaring that it was better for so brave\na father to avenge the bloodstained ashes of his son with weapons than\nwith tears. She also told him not to whimper like a woman, and get as\nmuch disgrace by his tears as he had once earned glory by his valour.\nUpon these words Ragnar began to fear lest he should destroy his ancient\nname for courage by his womanish sorrow; so, shaking off his melancholy\ngarb and putting away his signs of mourning, he revived his sleeping\nvalour with hopes of speedy vengeance. Thus do the weak sometimes nerve\nthe spirits of the strong. So he put his kingdom in charge of Iwar, and\nembraced with a father's love Ubbe, who was now restored to his ancient\nfavour. Then he transported his fleet over to Russia, took Daxo, bound\nhim in chains, and sent him away to be kept in Utgard. (1)\n\nRagnar showed on this occasion the most merciful moderation towards the\nslayer of his dearest son, since he sufficiently satisfied the vengeance\nwhich he desired, by the exile of the culprit rather than his death.\nThis compassion shamed the Russians out of any further rage against\nsuch a king, who could not be driven even by the most grievous wrongs\nto inflict death upon his prisoners. Ragnar soon took Daxo back into\nfavour, and restored him to his country, upon his promising that he\nwould every year pay him his tribute barefoot, like a suppliant,\nwith twelve elders, also unshod. For he thought it better to punish\na prisoner and a suppliant gently, than to draw the axe of bloodshed;\nbetter to punish that proud neck with constant slavery than to sever it\nonce and for all. Then he went on and appointed his son Erik, surnamed\nWind-hat, over Sweden. Here, while Fridleif and Siward were serving\nunder him, he found that the Norwegians and the Scots had wrongfully\nconferred the title of king on two other men. So he first overthrew the\nusurper to the power of Norway, and let Biorn have the country for his\nown benefit.\n\nThen he summoned Biorn and Erik, ravaged the Orkneys, landed at last\non the territory of the Scots, and in a three-days' battle wearied out\ntheir king Murial, and slew him. But Ragnar's sons, Dunwat and Radbard,\nafter fighting nobly, were slain by the enemy. So that the victory their\nfather won was stained with their blood. He returned to Denmark, and\nfound that his wife Swanloga had in the meantime died of disease.\nStraightway he sought medicine for his grief in loneliness, and\npatiently confined the grief of his sick soul within the walls of\nhis house. But this bitter sorrow was driven out of him by the sudden\narrival of Iwar, who had been expelled from the kingdom. For the Gauls\nhad made him fly, and had wrongfully bestowed royal power on a certain\nElla, the son of Hame. Ragnar took Iwar to guide him, since he was\nacquainted with the country, gave orders for a fleet, and approached the\nharbour called York. Here he disembarked his forces, and after a battle\nwhich lasted three days, he made Ella, who had trusted in the valour of\nthe Gauls, desirous to fly. The affair cost much blood to the English\nand very little to the Danes. Here Ragnar completed a year of conquest,\nand then, summoning his sons to help him, he went to Ireland, slew\nits king Melbrik, besieged Dublin, which was filled with wealth of the\nbarbarians, attacked it, and received its surrender. There he lay in\ncamp for a year; and then, sailing through the midland sea, he made his\nway to the Hellespont. He won signal victories as he crossed all the\nintervening countries, and no ill-fortune anywhere checked his steady\nand prosperous advance.\n\nHarald, meanwhile, with the adherence of certain Danes who were\ncold-hearted servants in the army of Ragnar, disturbed his country with\nrenewed sedition, and came forward claiming the title of king. He was\nmet by the arms of Ragnar returning from the Hellespont; but being\nunsuccessful, and seeing that his resources of defence at home were\nexhausted, he went to ask help of Ludwig, who was then stationed at\nMainz. But Ludwig, filled with the greatest zeal for promoting his\nreligion, imposed a condition on the Barbarian, promising him help if he\nwould agree to follow the worship of Christ. For he said there could\nbe no agreement of hearts between those who embraced discordant creeds.\nAnyone, therefore, who asked for help, must first have a fellowship in\nreligion. No men could be partners in great works who were separated by\na different form of worship. This decision procured not only salvation\nfor Ludwig's guest, but the praise of piety for Ludwig himself, who, as\nsoon as Harald had gone to the holy font, accordingly strengthened him\nwith Saxon auxiliaries. Trusting in these, Harald built a temple in the\nland of Sleswik with much care and cost, to be hallowed to God. Thus\nhe borrowed a pattern of the most holy way from the worship of Rome. He\nunhallowed, pulled down the shrines that had been profaned by the error\nof misbelievers, outlawed the sacrificers, abolished the (heathen)\npriesthood, and was the first to introduce the religion of Christianity\nto his uncouth country. Rejecting the worship of demons, he was zealous\nfor that of God. Lastly, he observed with the most scrupulous care\nwhatever concerned the protection of religion. But he began with more\npiety than success. For Ragnar came up, outraged the holy rites he had\nbrought in, outlawed the true faith, restored the false one to its old\nposition, and bestowed on the ceremonies the same honour as before. As\nfor Harald, he deserted and cast in his lot with sacrilege. For though\nhe was a notable ensample by his introduction of religion, yet he was\nthe first who was seen to neglect it, and this illustrious promoter of\nholiness proved a most infamous forsaker of the same.\n\nMeanwhile, Ella betook himself to the Irish, and put to the sword or\npunished all those who were closely and loyally attached to Ragnar. Then\nRagnar attacked him with his fleet, but, by the just visitation of the\nOmnipotent, was openly punished for disparaging religion. For when he\nhad been taken and cast into prison, his guilty limbs were given to\nserpents to devour, and adders found ghastly substance in the fibres\nof his entrails. His liver was eaten away, and a snake, like a deadly\nexecutioner, beset his very heart. Then in a courageous voice he\nrecounted all his deeds in order, and at the end of his recital added\nthe following sentence: \"If the porkers knew the punishment of the\nboar-pig, surely they would break into the sty and hasten to loose him\nfrom his affliction.\" At this saying, Ella conjectured that some of his\nsons were yet alive, and bade that the executioners should stop and the\nvipers be removed. The servants ran up to accomplish his bidding; but\nRagnar was dead, and forestalled the order of the king. Surely we must\nsay that this man had a double lot for his share? By one, he had a fleet\nunscathed, an empire well-inclined, and immense power as a rover; while\nthe other inflicted on him the ruin of his fame, the slaughter of his\nsoldiers, and a most bitter end. The executioner beheld him beset with\npoisonous beasts, and asps gorging on that heart which he had borne\nsteadfast in the face of every peril. Thus a most glorious conqueror\ndeclined to the piteous lot of a prisoner; a lesson that no man should\nput too much trust in fortune.\n\nIwar heard of this disaster as he happened to be looking on at the\ngames. Nevertheless, he kept an unmoved countenance, and in nowise broke\ndown. Not only did he dissemble his grief and conceal the news of\nhis father's death, but he did not even allow a clamour to arise, and\nforbade the panic-stricken people to leave the scene of the sports.\nThus, loth to interrupt the spectacle by the ceasing of the games,\nhe neither clouded his countenance nor turned his eyes from public\nmerriment to dwell upon his private sorrow; for he would not fall\nsuddenly into the deepest melancholy from the height of festal joy, or\nseem to behave more like an afflicted son than a blithe captain.\n\nBut when Siward heard the same tidings, he loved his father more than he\ncared for his own pain, and in his distraction plunged deeply into his\nfoot the spear he chanced to be holding, dead to all bodily troubles in\nhis stony sadness. For he wished to hurt some part of his body severely,\nthat he might the more patiently bear the wound in his soul. By this act\nhe showed at once his bravery and his grief, and bore his lot like a son\nwho was more afflicted and steadfast. But Biorn received the tidings\nof his father's death while he was playing at dice, and squeezed so\nviolently the piece that he was grasping that he wrung the blood from\nhis fingers and shed it on the table; whereon he said that assuredly\nthe cast of fate was more fickle than that of the very die which he was\nthrowing. When Ella heard this, he judged that his father's death had\nbeen borne with the toughest and most stubborn spirit by that son of the\nthree who had paid no filial respect to his decease; and therefore he\ndreaded the bravery of Iwar most.\n\nIwar went towards England, and when he saw that his fleet was not strong\nenough to join battle with the enemy, he chose to be cunning rather than\nbold, and tried a shrewd trick on Ella, begging as a pledge of peace\nbetween them a strip of land as great as he could cover with a horse's\nhide. He gained his request, for the king supposed that it would cost\nlittle, and thought himself happy that so strong a foe begged for a\nlittle boon instead of a great one; supposing that a tiny skin would\ncover but a very little land. But Iwar cut the hide out and lengthened\nit into very slender thongs, thus enclosing a piece of ground large\nenough to build a city on. Then Ella came to repent of his lavishness,\nand tardily set to reckoning the size of the hide, measuring the little\nskin more narrowly now that it was cut up than when it was whole. For\nthat which he had thought would encompass a little strip of ground, he\nsaw lying wide over a great estate. Iwar brought into the city, when\nhe founded it, supplies that would serve amply for a siege, wishing the\ndefences to be as good against scarcity as against an enemy.\n\nMeantime, Siward and Biorn came up with a fleet of 400 ships, and with\nopen challenge declared war against the king. This they did at the\nappointed time; and when they had captured him, they ordered the\nfigure of an eagle to be cut in his back, rejoicing to crush their most\nruthless foe by marking him with the cruellest of birds. Not satisfied\nwith imprinting a wound on him, they salted the mangled flesh. Thus Ella\nwas done to death, and Biorn and Siward went back to their own kingdoms.\n\nIwar governed England for two years. Meanwhile the Danes were stubborn\nin revolt, and made war, and delivered the sovereignty publicly to a\ncertain SIWARD and to ERIK, both of the royal line. The sons of Ragnar,\ntogether with a fleet of 1,700 ships, attacked them at Sleswik, and\ndestroyed them in a conflict which lasted six months. Barrows remain to\ntell the tale. The sound on which the war was conducted has gained\nequal glory by the death of Siward. And now the royal stock was almost\nextinguished, saving only the sons of Ragnar. Then, when Biorn and Erik\nhad gone home, Iwar and Siward settled in Denmark, that they might curb\nthe rebels with a stronger rein, setting Agnar to govern England.\nAgnar was stung because the English rejected him, and, with the help\nof Siward, chose, rather than foster the insolence of the province that\ndespised him, to dispeople it and leave its fields, which were matted in\ndecay, with none to till them. He covered the richest land of the island\nwith the most hideous desolation, thinking it better to be lord of a\nwilderness than of a headstrong country. After this he wished to avenge\nErik, who had been slain in Sweden by the malice of a certain Osten. But\nwhile he was narrowly bent on avenging another, he squandered his\nown blood on the foe; and while he was eagerly trying to punish the\nslaughter of his brother, sacrificed his own life to brotherly love.\n\nThus SIWARD, by the sovereign vote of the whole Danish assembly,\nreceived the empire of his father. But after the defeats he had\ninflicted everywhere he was satisfied with the honour he received at\nhome, and liked better to be famous with the gown than with the sword.\nHe ceased to be a man of camps, and changed from the fiercest of despots\ninto the most punctual guardian of peace. He found as much honour in\nease and leisure as he had used to think lay in many victories. Fortune\nso favoured his change of pursuits, that no foe ever attacked him, nor\nhe any foe. He died, and ERIK, who was a very young child, inherited his\nnature, rather than his realm or his tranquillity. For Erik, the brother\nof Harald, despising his exceedingly tender years, invaded the country\nwith rebels, and seized the crown; nor was he ashamed to assail the\nlawful infant sovereign, and to assume an unrightful power. In thus\nbringing himself to despoil a feeble child of the kingdom he showed\nhimself the more unworthy of it. Thus he stripped the other of his\nthrone, but himself of all his virtues, and cast all manliness out of\nhis heart, when he made war upon a cradle: for where covetousness and\nambition flamed, love of kindred could find no place. But this brutality\nwas requited by the wrath of a divine vengeance. For the war between\nthis man and Gudorm, the son of Harald, ended suddenly with such\nslaughter that they were both slain, with numberless others; and the\nroyal stock of the Danes, now worn out by the most terrible massacres,\nwas reduced to the only son of the above Siward.\n\nThis man (Erik) won the fortune of a throne by losing his kindred; it\nwas luckier for him to have his relations dead than alive. He forsook\nthe example of all the rest, and hastened to tread in the steps of his\ngrandfather; for he suddenly came out as a most zealous practitioner of\nroving. And would that he had not shown himself rashly to inherit\nthe spirit of Ragnar, by his abolition of Christian worship! For he\ncontinually tortured all the most religious men, or stripped them of\ntheir property and banished them. But it were idle for me to blame the\nman's beginnings when I am to praise his end. For that life is more\nlaudable of which the foul beginning is checked by a glorious close,\nthan that which begins commendably but declines into faults and\ninfamies. For Erik, upon the healthy admonitions of Ansgarius, laid\naside the errors of his impious heart, and atoned for whatsoever he had\ndone amiss in the insolence thereof; showing himself as strong in the\nobservance of religion as he had been in slighting it. Thus he not only\ntook a draught of more wholesome teaching with obedient mind, but wiped\noff early stains by his purity at the end. He had a son KANUTE by the\ndaughter of Gudorm, who was also the granddaughter of Harald; and him he\nleft to survive his death.\n\nWhile this child remained in infancy a guardian was required for the\npupil and for the realm. But inasmuch it seemed to most people either\ninvidious or difficult to give the aid that this office needed, it\nwas resolved that a man should be chosen by lot. For the wisest of the\nDanes, fearing much to make a choice by their own will in so lofty\na matter, allowed more voice to external chance than to their own\nopinions, and entrusted the issue of the selection rather to luck than\nto sound counsel. The issue was that a certain Enni-gnup (Steep-brow),\na man of the highest and most entire virtue, was forced to put his\nshoulder to this heavy burden; and when he entered on the administration\nwhich chalice had decreed, he oversaw, not only the early rearing of the\nking, but the affairs of the whole people. For which reason some who\nare little versed in our history give this man a central place in its\nannals. But when Kanute had passed through the period of boyhood,\nand had in time grown to be a man, he left those who had done him the\nservice of bringing him up, and turned from an almost hopeless youth\nto the practice of unhoped-for virtue; being deplorable for this reason\nonly, that he passed from life to death without the tokens of the\nChristian faith.\n\nBut soon the sovereignty passed to his son FRODE. This man's fortune,\nincreased by arms and warfare, rose to such a height of prosperity\nthat he brought back to the ancient yoke the provinces which had once\nrevolted from the Danes, and bound them in their old obedience. He also\ncame forward to be baptised with holy water in England, which had for\nsome while past been versed in Christianity. But he desired that his\npersonal salvation should overflow and become general, and begged that\nDenmark should be instructed in divinity by Agapete, who was then Pope\nof Rome. But he was cut off before his prayers attained this wish. His\ndeath befell before the arrival of the messengers from Rome: and indeed\nhis intention was better than his fortune, and he won as great a reward\nin heaven for his intended piety as others are vouchsafed for their\nachievement.\n\nHis son GORM, who had the surname of \"The Englishman,\" because he was\nborn in England, gained the sovereignty in the island on his father's\ndeath; but his fortune, though it came soon, did not last long. He left\nEngland for Denmark to put it in order; but a long misfortune was the\nfruit of this short absence. For the English, who thought that their\nwhole chance of freedom lay in his being away, planned an open revolt\nfrom the Danes, and in hot haste took heart to rebel. But the greater\nthe hatred and contempt of England, the greater the loyal attachment of\nDenmark to the king. Thus while he stretched out his two hands to both\nprovinces in his desire for sway, he gained one, but lost the lordship\nof the other irretrievably; for he never made any bold effort to regain\nit. So hard is it to keep a hold on very large empires.\n\nAfter this man his son HARALD came to be king of Denmark; he is\nhalf-forgotten by posterity, and lacks all record for famous deeds,\nbecause he rather preserved than extended the possessions of the realm.\n\nAfter this the throne was obtained by GORM, a man whose soul was ever\nhostile to religion, and who tried to efface all regard for Christ's\nworshippers, as though they were the most abominable of men. All those\nwho shared this rule of life he harassed with divers kinds of injuries\nand incessantly pursued with whatever slanders he could. Also, in\norder to restore the old worship to the shrines, he razed to its lowest\nfoundations, as though it were some unholy abode of impiety, a temple\nwhich religious men had founded in a stead in Sleswik; and those whom\nhe did not visit with tortures he punished by the demolition of the holy\nchapel. Though this man was thought notable for his stature, his mind\ndid not answer to his body; for he kept himself so well sated with power\nthat he rejoiced more in saving than increasing his dignity, and thought\nit better to guard his own than to attack what belonged to others:\ncaring more to look to what he had than to swell his havings.\n\nThis man was counselled by the elders to celebrate the rites of\nmarriage, and he wooed Thyra, the daughter of Ethelred, the king of\nthe English, for his wife. She surpassed other women in seriousness\nand shrewdness, and laid the condition on her suitor that she would not\nmarry him till she had received Denmark as a dowry. This compact was\nmade between them, and she was betrothed to Gorm. But on the first night\nthat she went up on to the marriage-bed, she prayed her husband most\nearnestly that she should be allowed to go for three days free from\nintercourse with man. For she resolved to have no pleasure of love till\nshe had learned by some omen in a vision that her marriage would\nbe fruitful. Thus, under pretence of self-control, she deferred her\nexperience of marriage, and veiled under a show of modesty her wish to\nlearn about her issue. She put off lustful intercourse, inquiring, under\nthe feint of chastity, into the fortune she would have in continuing\nher line. Some conjecture that she refused the pleasures of the nuptial\ncouch in order to win her mate over to Christianity by her abstinence.\nBut the youth, though he was most ardently bent on her love, yet chose\nto regard the continence of another more than his own desires, and\nthought it nobler to control the impulses of the night than to\nrebuff the prayers of his weeping mistress; for he thought that her\nbeseechings, really coming from calculation, had to do with modesty.\nThus it befell that he who should have done a husband's part made\nhimself the guardian of her chastity so that the reproach of an infamous\nmind should not be his at the very beginning of his marriage; as\nthough he had yielded more to the might of passion than to his own\nself-respect. Moreover that he might not seem to forestall by his\nlustful embraces the love which the maiden would not grant, he not only\nforbore to let their sides that were next one another touch, but even\nsevered them by his drawn sword, and turned the bed into a divided\nshelter for his bride and himself. But he soon tasted in the joyous form\nof a dream the pleasure which he postponed from free loving kindness.\nFor, when his spirit was steeped in slumber, he thought that two birds\nglided down from the privy parts of his wife, one larger than the other;\nthat they poised their bodies aloft and soared swiftly to heaven, and,\nwhen a little time had elapsed, came back and sat on either of his\nhands. A second, and again a third time, when they had been refreshed\nby a short rest, they ventured forth to the air with outspread wings.\nAt last the lesser of them came back without his fellow, and with wings\nsmeared with blood. He was amazed with this imagination, and, being in a\ndeep sleep, uttered a cry to betoken his astonishment, filling the whole\nhouse with an uproarious shout. When his servants questioned him, he\nrelated his vision; and Thyra, thinking that she would be blest with\noffspring, forbore her purpose to put off her marriage, eagerly relaxing\nthe chastity for which she had so hotly prayed. Exchanging celibacy\nfor love, she granted her husband full joy of herself, requiting his\nvirtuous self-restraint with the fulness of permitted intercourse, and\ntelling him that she would not have married him at all, had she not\ninferred from these images in the dream which he had related, the\ncertainty of her being fruitful.\n\nBy a device as cunning as it was strange, Thyra's pretended modesty\npassed into an acknowledgment of her future offspring. Nor did fate\ndisappoint her hopes. Soon she was the fortunate mother of Kanute and\nHarald. When these princes had attained man's estate, they put forth a\nfleet and quelled the reckless insolence of the Sclavs. Neither did\nthey leave England free from an attack of the same kind. Ethelred was\ndelighted with their spirit, and rejoiced at the violence his nephews\noffered him; accepting an abominable wrong as though it were the richest\nof benefits. For he saw far more merit in their bravery than in piety.\nThus he thought it nobler to be attacked by foes than courted by\ncowards, and felt that he saw in their valiant promise a sample of their\nfuture manhood.\n\nFor he could not doubt that they would some day attack foreign realms,\nsince they so boldly claimed those of their mother. He so much preferred\ntheir wrongdoing to their service, that he passed over his daughter, and\nbequeathed England in his will to these two, not scrupling to set the\nname of grandfather before that of father. Nor was he unwise; for he\nknew that it beseemed men to enjoy the sovereignty rather than women,\nand considered that he ought to separate the lot of his unwarlike\ndaughter from that of her valiant sons. Hence Thyra saw her sons\ninheriting the goods of her father, not grudging to be disinherited\nherself. For she thought that the preference above herself was\nhonourable to her, rather than insulting.\n\nKanute and Harald enriched themselves with great gains from sea-roving,\nand most confidently aspired to lay hands on Ireland. Dublin, which was\nconsidered the capital of the country, was beseiged. Its king went into\na wood adjoining the city with a few very skilled archers, and with\ntreacherous art surrounded Kanute (who was present with a great throng\nof soldiers witnessing the show of the games by night), and aimed a\ndeadly arrow at him from afar. It struck the body of the king in front,\nand pierced him with a mortal wound. But Kanute feared that the enemy\nwould greet his peril with an outburst of delight. He therefore wished\nhis disaster to be kept dark; and summoning voice with his last breath,\nhe ordered the games to be gone through without disturbance. By this\ndevice he made the Danes masters of Ireland ere he made his own death\nknown to the Irish.\n\nWho would not bewail the end of such a man, whose self-mastery served to\ngive the victory to his soldiers, by reason of the wisdom that outlasted\nhis life? For the safety of the Danes was most seriously endangered, and\nwas nearly involved in the most deadly peril; yet because they obeyed\nthe dying orders of their general they presently triumphed over those\nthey feared.\n\nGerm had now reached the extremity of his days, having been blind for\nmany years, and had prolonged his old age to the utmost bounds of the\nhuman lot, being more anxious for the life and prosperity of his sons\nthan for the few days he had to breathe. But so great was his love\nfor his elder son that he swore that he would slay with his own hand\nwhosoever first brought him news of his death. As it chanced, Thyra\nheard sure tidings that this son had perished. But when no man durst\nopenly hint this to Germ, she fell back on her cunning to defend her,\nand revealed by her deeds the mischance which she durst not speak\nplainly out. For she took the royal robes off her husband and dressed\nhim in filthy garments, bringing him other signs of grief also, to\nexplain the cause of her mourning; for the ancients were wont to use\nsuch things in the performance of obsequies, bearing witness by their\ngarb to the bitterness of their sorrow. Then said Germ: \"Dost thou\ndeclare to me the death of Kanute?\" (2) And Thyra said: \"That is\nproclaimed by thy presage, not by mine.\" By this answer she made out her\nlord a dead man and herself a widow, and had to lament her husband as\nsoon as her son. Thus, while she announced the fate of her son to her\nhusband, she united them in death, and followed the obsequies of both\nwith equal mourning; shedding the tears of a wife upon the one and of\na mother upon the other; though at that moment she ought to have been\ncheered with comfort rather than crushed with disasters.\n\n\n     ENDNOTES:\n     (1)  Utgard.  Saxo, rationalising as usual, turns the mythical\n     home of the giants into some terrestrial place in his\n     vaguely-defined Eastern Europe.\n     (2)  Kanute.  Here the vernacular is far finer.  The old king\n     notices \"Denmark is drooping, dead must my son be!\", puts on\n     the signs of mourning, and dies.","title":"The Danish History, Books I-IX","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":163004}