Six Sagas of Adventure

by Ben Waggoner (trans)

  Then the king left, and Snotra showed him the road. The king said, “I’d like to invite you to come with me, because I suspect that something will come of our encounter. If you’re pregnant with a boy, have him named Gautrek. Take his name from my name, plus the wreck I’ve made of your household.”[13]

  She answered, “I do believe you’ve guessed right. But I can’t come with you right now. Today my brothers and sisters have to divide up the inheritance from our father and mother, who intend to go over Family Cliff.”

  The king wished her a happy life, and invited her to come meet him whenever she felt the time was right. Then the king traveled until he reached his own men, and he rested quietly.

  CHAPTER II

  Now it’s time to tell how Snotra’s father was sitting over his wealth when she entered the house. He said, “A terrible calamity has befallen us: that king has come to our homestead and eaten up many of our belongings right before our eyes—and the ones that we were least willing to give up. I can’t see how we can maintain all our family, thanks to this ruination. So I’ve put together everything I own, and I intend to divide the inheritance with you my sons, but for me and my wife and slave to go to Valhalla. I can’t reward the slave any better for his trustiness than to have him go with me. Gilling and his sister Snotra shall have my fine ox. Fjolmod and his sister Hjotra shall have my bars of gold. Imsigull and his sister Fjotra shall have all the grain and fields. But I beg you, my children, not to increase your numbers, because you won’t be able to hold onto my inheritance that way.”

  When Skafnortung had said what he wanted to say, they all went up onto Gilling’s Crag. The children led their father and mother over Family Cliff, and they went gladly and cheerfully to Odin.

  Now that the brothers and sisters were in charge of the farm, they thought they needed to set their affairs right. They took sticks and pinned homespun cloth around themselves, so that none of them could touch another’s bare skin. They thought this would be the trustiest way to ensure that their numbers wouldn’t increase.[14]

  Snotra found that she was pregnant. She shifted the pins in the homespun cloth so that she could be touched by hand. She pretended to be sleeping, and as Gilling was waking up and stirring, he flung out his hand towards her and touched her cheek. And when he was awake, he said, “Something awkward’s happened here. I must have done you harm. It looks to me as if you’re much fatter than you were.”

  She answered, “Keep this a secret, as best you can.”

  He answered, “I’ll do no such thing—once our numbers increase, there’s no way to hide it.”

  A little later, Snotra gave birth to a handsome boy, and named him Gautrek. Gilling said, “A dreadful calamity has happened, and there’s no hiding it now. I must go tell my brothers.” They said, “Now all our plans will come to nothing, thanks to this disaster that’s struck. This is a serious violation of the rules.” Gilling said,

  How stupid of me

  to stir my hand

  and feel that woman’s face.

  Siring sons, I’d say,

  is a simple matter;

  that’s how Gautrek was begotten.

  They said that he wasn’t to blame, since he’d repented and never wanted this to happen. He said that he was quite eager to go over Family Cliff, and added that it would be counted as a lesser calamity. They asked him to wait for what else might happen.

  Fjolmod brooded over his wealth all day, and carried his bars of gold with him wherever he went. One day he was sleeping, and he awoke to see that two black snails had crawled over his gold bars. It looked to him like there were dents where they’d smeared dark slime on the gold, and he felt that his treasure had shrunk badly. He said, “This loss of money is a terrible thing, and if it happens again, it’ll be no good going to Odin penniless. I will go over Family Cliff and not have to suffer this poverty any more, because my affairs have never looked so bleak since my father shared out his wealth with me.”

  He told his brothers of the calamity that had struck, and asked them to share out his inheritance. Then he said,

  Stumpy snails

  ate stone before my eyes,

  now everything’s all wrong;

  I must mope,

  my money’s all gone,

  since snails have shaved my gold.

  Then he and his wife went to Gilling’s Crag and went right over Family Cliff.

  One day, Imsigul was walking through his fields. Right before his eyes, he saw the bird that’s called a sparrow; it’s about the size of a titmouse. He feared that matters had taken a turn for the worse. He went through the fields and saw that the bird had taken one seed from an ear of grain. Then he said,

  It was spoilage

  that the sparrow wreaked

  in Imsigul’s acres.

  Stricken was an ear,

  stolen was a grain:

  that will trouble Totra’s kin forever.

  He and his wife left at once, and they gladly went over Family Cliff. They didn’t want to suffer such losses any longer.

  When Gautrek was seven years old, he was outside and saw the fine ox. As it happened, he stabbed the ox with a spear and killed it. And when Gilling saw that, he said,

  The young lad struck down

  the steer before my eyes,

  these are baleful forebodings.

  Never again

  will I get such a jolly

  treasure, as long as I live.

  He said, “Now this is just unbearable.” Then he went to Gilling’s Crag and went right over Family Cliff.

  Two people were left, Snotra and her son Gautrek. She readied herself and her son for a journey. They traveled until they found King Gauti, and he welcomed his son warmly. He was raised there in his father’s household, and soon grew to manhood.[15]

  Several years passed, until Gautrek had fully come of age. Then it happened that King Gauti fell ill, and he summoned his friends. The king said, “You have been faithful and obedient to me in everything, but now I think it’s quite likely that this sickness I have will sever our friendship. I want to give this kingdom which I have owned to my son Gautrek, and the title of king along with it.”

  They were pleased with this. After King Gauti had breathed his last, Gautrek was raised to kingship over Gautland, and he is mentioned in a great many of the old sagas.

  Now this saga turns to Norway for a while, and tells of the shire-kings who lived there at that time, and about their descendants. Later, this saga will return to Gautland, to King Gautrek and his son. The story is told in the same way throughout Sweden and more far-flung places.

  CHAPTER III

  Hunthjof was the name of a king who ruled over Hordaland. He was the son of Fridthjof the Bold and Ingibjorg the Fair.[16] He had three sons. Herthjof was the name of one of his sons, who later became king of Hordaland. Another was named Geirthjof, king of Uppland; and the third was Fridthjof, king of Telemark. These men were all mighty kings and great warriors, but King Herthjof stood above them in wisdom and shrewdness. He was away on raids for a long time, and from this he became very famous.

  At that time, there was a king in Agder named Harald, a mighty king. He was called Harald the Agder-King. His son was named Vikar; he was young and promising at the time.[17]

  There was a man named Storvirk, son of Starkad Ala-Warrior. Starkad was a cunning giant. He kidnapped Alfhild, the daughter of King Alf, from Alfheim.[18] King Alf called on Thor, so that Alfhild might return. Thor killed Starkad and brought Alfhild home to her father, but she was with child. [19] She gave birth to her son, who was named Storvirk, as mentioned earlier. He was a handsome man despite his dark hair, bigger and stronger than other men. He was a great raider. He came to the household of King Harald of Agder, and took charge of his lands’ defenses. King Harald gave him the is
land in Agder called Thruma,[20] and there Storvirk lived. He was away on raids for a long time, but at other times he stayed with king Harald.

  Storvirk kidnapped Unni, the daughter of Jarl Freki of Halogaland, and then went home to his estate in Thruma. They had a son named Starkad. Fjori and Fyri, the sons of Jarl Freki, pursued Storvirk and secretly came to his house at night with a host. They burned the house with Storvirk inside it, along with their sister Unni and all the men there, because they didn’t dare open the door, fearing that Storvirk would escape. They sailed away by night and headed northwards along the coast. On the second day after their departure, a storm blew up. They sailed right into submerged rocks off Stad,[21] and all hands were lost.

  Starkad, the son of Storvirk, was young when his father perished, and King Harald fostered him in his own household. So said Starkad about that:

  I was a boy, when

  there burned indoors

  full many seafarers,

  my father among them;

  beside the shore

  he sleeps on Thruma,

  the hardy hero

  of Harald Agder-King.

  The ring-breaker was burned [ring-breaker: generous man]

  by his brothers-in-law,

  Fjori and Fyri,

  Freki’s heirs,

  the brothers of Unni,

  my own mother.

  CHAPTER IV

  Herthjof the king of Hordaland and his forces moved against King Harald at night and in secret. Herthjof killed him treacherously, but took his son Vikar as a hostage. King Herthjof subjugated all the realm that King Harald had held, and he forcibly took the sons of many powerful men as hostages, and claimed tribute from all the kingdom.

  Grani was the name of a mighty man in King Herthjof’s forces. He was called Horsehair-Grani. He lived on the island in Hordaland called Fenhring, at the estate called Ask.[22] He claimed Starkad Storvirksson and brought him to Fenhring. Starkad was three years old then, and he stayed on Fenhring with Horsehair-Grani for nine years. So says Starkad:

  When Herthjof

  had dealt with Harald,

  betrayed his trust

  through treachery,

  Agder’s prince

  he deprived of breath;

  he bound his sons

  in bonds and fetters.

  Three winters old,

  I was taken

  to Hordaland

  by Horsehair-Grani;

  at Ask I began

  to grow in stature;

  for nine winters

  I knew no kinsman.

  .

  King Herthjof was a mighty warrior and traveled away on raids for a long time, and there was a great risk that his kingdom would then be invaded. He had beacons built on mountains, and he set men to tend them and to set them aflame if hostilities were to break out. Vikar and two other men tended the beacon on Fenhring. They had to light the first beacon if an invading host was sighted, and then each would be lit from the next one.

  When Vikar had been tending the beacon for a short while, he went to Ask one morning and met his foster-brother Starkad Storvirkson. Starkad was incredibly large. He was a laggard and a coal-biter[23] and lay on the floor beside the fire. At the time he was twelve years old. Vikar picked him up off the floor and gave him weapons and clothes and measured his size, because he thought that Starkad had grown amazingly tall since coming to Ask. Starkad and Vikar then got a ship for themselves and sailed away at once. So said Starkad:

  I gained strength

  in my growing arms,

  got lanky legs

  and a loathsome head,

  as I sat daydreaming

  down on the floor,

  an idle one,

  unaware of much.

  Until Vikar came

  from tending the beacon,

  Herthjof’s hostage,

  the hall he entered;

  at our meeting

  he commanded me

  to stand up straight

  and speak to him.

  He measured my size

  with the span of his hands,

  reckoned my arms’ reach

  to the wrist-joints.

  My hair had grown,

  hanging from my chin.

  Here Starkad mentions that he had a beard when he was twelve.

  Then Starkad got up, and Vikar gave him weapons and clothes, and they went to the ship. After that, Vikar summoned warriors, twelve men all together. They were all champion fighters, skilled at single combat. So said Starkad:

  Then Harald’s heir

  called Hildigrim

  and sent summons

  to Sorkvir and Grettir,

  Erp and Ulf,

  An and Skuma,

  Hroi and Hrotti

  Herbrand’s sons,

  Styr and Steinthor

  from Stad in the north;

  old Gunnolf Blaze

  was also there.

  Thirteen warriors

  we were in all;

  seldom was seen

  a more splendid band.

  Then King Vikar went with his men to face King Herthjof. When King Herthjof heard about this threat, he had his own men prepare themselves. King Herthjof had a great farmhouse, so well fortified that it was almost a castle or fort. There were more than seventy fighting men, not counting all the workers and servants. But as soon as the raiders came, they made such a fierce attack that they rattled the gates and doors, and they hacked at the door-posts so that the latches and bolts on the inside of the gates gave way. The king’s men fell back, and the raiders forced their way inside. Then a great battle broke out. So says Starkad:

  So we came

  to the king’s fort.

  We shook the gates,

  we smashed door-posts,

  we broke the bars,

  we brandished swords.

  On the king’s side

  there stood against us

  seventy heroes

  of high degree.

  All the thralls

  were there as well,

  working men

  and water-carriers.

  King Herthjof and his men defended themselves for a long time, because he had many brave men, but since Vikar had picked excellent champions for his own forces, King Herthjof’s men grew fewer as they faced them. Vikar was always in the forefront of his men. So said Starkad:

  To stand beside Vikar

  was in vain to try,

  for first and foremost

  of fighters he stood;

  we hewed helmets

  and heads’ crowns,

  we slashed mailcoats

  and splintered shields.

  Starkad and Vikar together attacked King Herthjof furiously, and they dealt death to him. All of Vikar’s champions attacked fiercely. Many men fell there, and some were wounded. So said Starkad:

  For King Vikar,

  victory was fated,

  but deadly strife

  ordained for Herthjof.

  We struck soldiers,

  and some we killed;

  I wasn’t far from

  the fall of the king.

  Vikar won a victory there, but King Herthjof fell, as was said before, along with thirty men. Many were fatally wounded. But none of Vikar’s men fell.

  Afterwards, Vikar took all the ships that King Herthjof had owned, and all the forces which he had assembled. Then he moved eastward along the coast with every man who would follow him. And when he reached Agder, those who had been friends of his father came over to him. Soon he had gathered a great following. Then he was raised to the
kingship over all Agder and Jaeren, and he laid Hordaland and Hardanger under his rule, along with all the kingdom that King Herthjof had held. King Vikar soon grew powerful, and he was the greatest warrior. He went raiding every summer.

  King Vikar traveled eastward into the Oslofjord with his host, and landed on the east side of the fjord. He raided all the way to Gautland and accomplished many brave deeds there. But when he came up to Lake Vänern, a king named Sisar came against him. He came from Kiev in the east. He was a mighty champion and had large forces. King Vikar and Sisar fought a furious battle there, and Sisar advanced fiercely and killed many men in King Vikar’s ranks.

  Starkad was there with King Vikar. He went up against Sisar, and they traded blows for a long time. Neither one had any cause to doubt the strength of the other’s blows. Sisar knocked Starkad’s shield away, gave him two great wounds in his head with his sword, and broke his collarbone. Starkad was also wounded in his side above the hip. So says Starkad:

  You weren’t with Vikar

  on Vaenir lake

  off in the east,

  early that day,

  when we sought Sisar

  on the slaughter-field,

  a more strenuous deed

  than it seems to you.

  He let his blade,

  bitterly sharp,