The Saga of Erik the Viking

by Terry Jones

  And with that he strapped the bolsters on his back and started to climb the mast.

  Sven the Strong turned to Erik and said, ‘Ragnar Forkbeard has not lost his courage or his tongue – he has lost his wits.’ Just then they heard a fearful noise and they span round to see the great Sea Dragon take the stern post in its mouth and snap it in two with its teeth.

  Erik lifted his spear and threw it with all his might at the great Dragon, but it just glanced off its horny skin. Then Thorkhild threw his great spear, but that clattered to the deck without piercing the Sea Dragon. Then Sven the Strong stood up, raised his spear, and threw it with every ounce of strength he had, and the shaft went straight and true and entered the creature in the soft skin above its lip. For a moment the Sea Dragon drew back, but not for long, and its great jaws closed around the after-deck and Erik’s men all ran back in their fear.

  ‘We’ve had it now!’ said Sven the Strong, but Erik pointed up in the air. And they all looked in amazement at the top of the mast. For there was Ragnar Forkbeard, clinging on by his legs, with a bolster in each hand.

  The Sea Dragon took another great bite, and half the boat was between its fierce jaws, and its eyes were on a level with the mast-top and its nostrils were thrust into the sails. Whereupon Ragnar Forkbeard leapt onto its nose and gave a most tremendous shout that made everyone look up, and even the Dragon paused and tried to focus its eyes on the tiny figure on its nose. Then Ragnar Forkbeard took one bolster and plunged it into the Dragon’s right nostril, and the second into its left nostril. The Dragon paused again. Then Ragnar Forkbeard took his good sword and plunged it into the two bolsters – one after the other – so that they opened up and all the feathers billowed into the air as the Dragon breathed out, and then as it breathed in again, all the feathers suddenly disappeared – sucked into its nostrils.

  The Dragon paused, and its jaws went slack, and Ragnar Forkbeard jumped for his life just as the Dragon sneezed a most almighty sneeze, and the sails of the ship filled and the ship shot out of the Dragon’s jaws and across the waters and on out of the mist, and over the sea it flew through the air as if it were a bird, not a ship, and at last landed with a great splash, miles and miles and miles away from the Dragon of the North Sea.

  Erik’s men cheered and threw their helmets in the air, and Ragnar Forkbeard climbed down, and after that no one ever dared to say he had ever lost either his courage, his voice or his wits ever again.

  THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA

  AFTER THEIR ENCOUNTER with the Sea Dragon, Erik and his men looked at their ship, Golden Dragon, and saw that the monster had done much damage and that water was flooding in at the stern.

  ‘We must bail this water out,’ said Erik, ‘or we shall not keep afloat for long.’

  ‘But how can we bail?’ cried his men. ‘We have not one single bucket between us. We are lost for sure!’

  ‘Then we must use our helmets,’ said Erik, and he got down with his men and started to bail the water out of Golden Dragon with his own helmet.

  But the more they bailed the water out, the more the water seemed to flood in.

  ‘We shall sink before nightfall,’ whispered Erik’s men one to the other.

  ‘Unless we reach land, we are dead men,’ they said.

  Thorkhild stood by the great oar at the back of the ship and steered. ‘But I do not know where we are,’ he said to himself, ‘nor have I any idea in which direction there is land. I fear we are lost for sure.’

  Just then Thorkhild saw a shape in the water, which looked as if it were following the boat. Thorkhild watched and watched this shape and it seemed to him that it was an old man swimming all alone in the sea.

  ‘Hey there!’ called out Thorkhild. ‘Who are you? Swimming alone in the icy waves so far from land?’

  The old man looked up out of the water at Thorkhild and laughed. But he said not a word.

  ‘How do you come to swim so fast?’ asked Thorkhild.

  Again the old man in the water looked up and laughed. But again he said not a word.

  ‘Can you help us find land?’ asked Thorkhild, ‘For we are badly damaged and will sink before nightfall.’

  At this the old man did not laugh. He looked up at Thorkhild and said, ‘I’ll show you land, but if I do, one of you must come and join me in the icy waves.’

  Thorkhild felt a sudden cold to the marrow of his bones, for he knew then that this was the Old Man of the Sea and that to join him in the icy waves meant certain death. But he said to the Old Man of the Sea, ‘Show us where we can find land.’

  The Old Man of the Sea laughed and replied, ‘But which one of you will come and join me in the icy waves?’

  ‘Show us land and I shall come and join you in the icy waves.’

  When Thorkhild had said the words, the Old Man of the Sea laughed again and took the great oar in his hands and turned it until Golden Dragon was heading due North. But Thorkhild grieved in his mind, for he knew that the Old Man of the Sea always took a life before ever he saved one.

  ‘I am as good as dead,’ he said to himself, ‘but at least my comrades will reach land.’ But still he grieved in his mind, because he knew that the Old Man of the Sea was full of tricks, and no one could ever put his trust in him.

  Well, they sailed on like this for many hours, and every other hour Erik would look up from his bailing and say to Thorkhild, ‘Any sign of land?’

  And Thorkhild would reply, ‘We are heading straight for it.’ And Erik would nod and encourage his men, and they would all bail faster as the water kept flooding in.

  At length, Thorkhild leaned over the side again and shouted down to the Old Man of the Sea, ‘How much further?’

  And the Old Man of the Sea laughed loud and long, and said, ‘Far enough for you!’ And Thorkhild looked towards the horizon and saw an island. ‘Land ahead!’ cried Thorkhild, and Erik and his men stood up and gave a mighty cheer.

  ‘We are saved!’ said Erik. ‘Tonight we shall celebrate and dry ourselves around a great fire! And we shall drink a toast to Thorkhild, who steered us safe to dry land.’

  And all his men gave another mighty cheer, but Thorkhild looked grave and said, ‘I shall not be with you.’ Then he explained to Erik how the Old Man of the Sea had guided the boat to land, and that in return one of their number must go and join him in the icy waves. ‘And since I made the bargain with the Old Man of the Sea,’ said Thorkhild, ‘it is right that I go and join him in the icy waves.’

  Just then they all heard the sound of laughter and they looked over the side and saw the Old Man of the Sea grinning up at them.

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I am waiting for you.’

  ‘You need wait no longer,’ said Thorkhild and he got up to go.

  But Erik’s men said to Thorkhild, ‘Don’t go! It will be death to join him in the icy waves, and we are almost at land!’

  But Thorkhild replied, ‘No! The Old Man of the Sea has kept his side of the bargain. I must now keep mine,’ and he stood up on the side of Golden Dragon about to throw himself into the icy waves.

  Then Erik took Thorkhild’s arm and said, ‘The Old Man of the Sea is full of tricks. Wait until we see this island he has brought us to, and then you may go and join him in the icy waves.’

  At which words Thorkhild nodded and stepped back into the boat.

  ‘I am waiting for you,’ cried the Old Man of the Sea, ‘or aren’t you going to keep your side of the bargain?’ And his eyes glinted wickeder and trickier than ever.

  ‘Have no fear,’ replied Thorkhild. ‘I shall keep my side of the bargain, for you have kept yours.’

  ‘Then come and join me in the icy waves!’ grinned the Old Man of the Sea.

  ‘First may I fetch some bacon so that we may eat together?’ asked Thorkhild.

  ‘Very well,’ said the Old Man of the Sea, and he waited while Thorkhild took down a large flitch of bacon that hung from the mast, and tied it round his waist. At this the Old Man of the Sea laughed a loud laugh
, then he said, ‘I am waiting for you. Now come and join me in the icy waves.’

  ‘First may I sharpen my knife so I may cut the bacon?’ asked Thorkhild.

  ‘Very well,’ said the Old Man of the Sea, and he waited while Thorkhild took a whetstone from under his seat and began to sharpen his knife until it shone. Then the Old Man of the Sea laughed twice as loud and long, and said, ‘Well! I am waiting for you … now come and join me in the icy waves.’

  ‘One last thing,’ said Thorkhild.

  ‘What is it?’ cried the Old Man of the Sea.

  ‘I need some rope,’ said Thorkhild, ‘to hang my bacon up in your kitchen in the icy waves.’

  Well, at this the Old Man of the Sea laughed three times as loud and long and said: ‘Very well!’ So Thorkhild tied a length of rope around his waist and said, ‘Now I am quite ready to join you in the icy waves.’ And he climbed onto the side of Golden Dragon and prepared to jump.

  But just then one of Erik’s men shouted out, ‘It’s a trick!’ and he pointed to the island which they had reached by now, and they all saw that it wasn’t an island at all but a gigantic narwhal, four times as long as Golden Dragon and four times as high as her mainmast.

  ‘Old Man of the Sea!’ called out Thorkhild, ‘you didn’t keep your side of the bargain, but I shall keep mine!’ And before anyone could stop him, he had leapt off the side of Golden Dragon and had joined the Old Man of the Sea in the icy waves.

  ‘Thorkhild!’ cried Erik, ‘the sea is too cold, and the Old Man of the Sea is too tricky – you will die for sure!’

  But while they had been talking, Thorkhild had taken the flitch of bacon and rubbed its grease all over himself so that the icy waters ran off his skin like water off a duck’s back. And when he reached the Old Man of the Sea he grabbed him round his skinny neck, and took his newly sharpened knife and cut off his beard with one slice! Then he pulled on the rope, which he had round his waist, and, because he’d fixed the other end to the mast, he was able to pull himself back on board before the Old Man of the Sea could drag him back under!

  Then Thorkhild nailed the Old Man of the Sea’s beard to the mainmast and they all laughed and pointed at it. And the Old Man of the Sea was so furious and so ashamed that he swam off without another word, and the gigantic narwhal followed after him.

  When the great creature had gone, Erik and his men saw on the distant horizon a tiny speck of land. Night had fallen by the time they reached it, but they rowed ashore and lit a fire on the beach. And many was the toast they drank that night to Thorkhild, who had not only steered them safe to land but had become the first person ever to out-trick the Old Man of the Sea!

  HOW ERiK AND HiS MEN WERE TURNED TO STONE

  AFTER THEY HAD CELEBRATED their safe arrival on shore, Erik and his men slept soundly through the night. The next day, they were up at first light, eager to see what sort of a land they had arrived in.

  But their hearts sank as they looked around. There was not a tree nor a bush nor a blade of grass to be seen. Neither were there any signs of animals or even any birds, only rocks and stones and ice.

  ‘We have found a land that has been forgotten by Life itself,’ said Erik.

  And his men said, ‘Without trees we have no wood to repair Golden Dragon, and without plants or animals or birds we shall starve to death here on this lonely shore.’

  But Erik said, ‘Let us not waste our breath talking.’

  So they hauled Golden Dragon onto the beach, and then they built a shelter of stones. That night, Ragnar Forkbeard said to Erik: ‘This is a strange country that is shunned by all living things.’

  Erik replied, ‘We must not stay here long.’

  But when he looked at the great hole in the side of their ship, Golden Dragon, he shook his head and said, ‘We shall need the wood from many trees to put our ship to rights. And I fear we shall all be dead before any trees grow in this land.’

  Erik did not sleep that night. He sat up gazing into the darkness. He had never seen a night so black, nor heard a night so silent in all his life. But then, just before dawn had begun to break, he saw a light in the far, far distance.

  He wrapped his cloak around himself and stepped out over the rocky shore. As he walked towards the light, dawn began to break, and as the sun rose the light grew dimmer until it was lost altogether, and all he could see were rocks and boulders, the one indistinguishable from the other. So he returned back to his men and did not mention what he had seen.

  The next night Erik again sat and watched, and again, just before dawn, he saw the light. This time he jumped up at once and ran as fast as he could towards it, but again the sun rose before he could reach it, and he returned none the wiser.

  On the third night, when all his men were fast asleep, Erik took a blazing torch and stumbled along the rocky shore towards the point where he had seen the light. Sure enough, just before dawn, he saw it for the third time, only now he was much much closer, and he could see there was not one light but six lights. Before dawn had risen he reached the spot where the lights were, and there he saw the strangest sight. He saw three black cats sitting on a rock washing themselves, and their eyes shone like bright torches and lit up whatever they looked at.

  Erik watched the three strange creatures as the sun rose, and as it rose the three cats washed themselves slower and slower, and they grew greyer and greyer, and their eyes shone less and less, until, by the time the sun had risen above the horizon, all three had turned to solid stone.

  Erik went over to them, but now they were not the shape of cats any more but just three grey rocks.

  Erik shook his head and said, ‘This place is enchanted for sure. We must leave at once.’

  Then he retraced his steps towards where his ship, Golden Dragon, lay on her side on the shore. But he walked and walked, and still he could see no sign of her. At length he reached the spot where his men had built their shelter of stones, and there it was … but of his men there was no sign.

  Erik sat and gazed for a long time at the sea washing against the great grey rock that lay on the beach. And then suddenly he leapt to his feet, crying, ‘That great grey rock wasn’t there last night!’ And he strode over to it and gazed up at its height, and its height was exactly the height of Golden Dragon. Then he paced out its length from one end to the other, and its length was exactly the length of Golden Dragon…

  ‘I am too late!’ he cried. ‘My ship has been turned to grey rock!’

  Then he turned to the shelter of stones that he and his men had built, and he noticed for the first time the grey rocks strewn about inside and the grey rocks scattered over the beach, and Erik put his head in his hands and sat down in despair saying, ‘Is it possible? Can it be that even my men have been turned to stones and rocks? Ragnar Forkbeard and Thorkhild and even Sven the Strong? Who could have done this? Who has laid this enchantment upon this whole land?’

  And the wind blew and the salt spray of the sea mixed with the salt of his tears, and Erik was more alone at that moment than at any other moment in his life.

  That night he hid himself near the rock where he had seen the three black cats with shining eyes. Sure enough, some time before dawn he heard a noise. It was someone or something approaching in the pitch black night. Erik could see nothing, but he heard the click-clack of hooves stepping over the rocks and the tapping of a stick.

  Then he heard a strange voice saying, ‘There … where are you my lovelies?’

  Erik waited a bit and pretty soon he heard another sound – like a deep rumble. At first Erik was frightened, but then he realised it was just a cat purring. And he saw two lights begin to glow as gradually one of the rocks turned back into a cat with shining eyes. Then by the light of its shining eyes he saw the Enchanter who had laid the spell on the island. He was an old man dressed in black, and under his robe instead of feet he had hooves. The black cat turned and looked up at its master, and its eyes shone on his face, and Erik could see that instead of eyes the old Encha
nter had two grey stones.

  ‘Where’s my other beauty?’ muttered the Enchanter, and he reached out a blind hand and groped until he felt the second rock. Then he started stroking the rock, until it seemed to shiver a little, and then it began to shake, and Erik heard the cat’s purring again as the rock changed gradually into the second cat with shining eyes. Then the blind old Enchanter reached out and stroked the third grey rock so that it too trembled and came back to life.

  ‘Come, my beauties,’ said the Enchanter, ‘light my way.’

  Erik watched as the three cats stretched and yawned and then rose from their rock and led the way down into a deep chasm. And their eyes lit up the grey rocks on every side, and the blind old Enchanter walked behind them just as if he could see.

  When they got to the bottom of the chasm, the old man pushed at a great rock which slid aside to reveal a cave, then he stood at the mouth of the cave and called out, ‘Daughter! Daughter!’

  A thin girl, white as paper, came out into the light from the cats’ eyes and stood there blinking.

  ‘Father,’ she said, ‘when may I be free?’

  ‘Soon enough, Freya,’ said the Enchanter, ‘when I have made this island beautiful enough for you.’

  ‘But even to see the sun would be beauty enough for me,’ said the girl.

  ‘What good is the sunlight if it has nothing to shine on?’ replied the old man. ‘Stay where you are, daughter, for bit by bit I am making this island green and pleasant.’

  When Erik heard all this, he leapt up from behind the rock with his sword in his hand and cried out: ‘You are blind! Can’t you see you’ve turned it to nothing but rocks and stones?’

  As soon as he spoke, they all turned to look at him, and the cats’ eyes shone straight at him, lighting him up, and as they did so he felt his blood freezing, and he knew that he too was turning to stone.