Six Sagas of Adventure

by Ben Waggoner (trans)

  Asmund said, “Don’t you think that he’s dead of the wound? I know you must want to kill him.”

  The king said, “That’s not it. I want to find him, and I very much want to heal him if I can, because I’d rather have him in my company than ten other men, even if they were champions.”

  Asmund said, “It’s likeliest that that troll has gone into the crags and you won’t find him.”

  The king said, “That can’t be. I’ll see whether he can be found.”

  When they had walked through the forest for some time, they came into a clearing, and under an oak tree they saw a man lying. The ground all around him was very bloody. He was terribly pale. His weapons lay next to him. The king went up to him and said, “Who is this man who’s lying here?”

  He answered, “I recognize you clearly, King Hrolf Gautreksson, on account of your size and your handsomeness. I realize that you must have come here because you must want to kill me. Maybe you can claim enough reasons. But I won’t hide my name from you. Men call me Thorir Ironshield.”

  The king said, “Did you fight against us this day and kill many of our men?”

  Thorir said, “That’s true, and I might well have done you more harm if I had wanted. But because I knew that King Halfdan would suffer defeat from you, I was unwilling to fight in this battle, because I realized that one of us would sink before the other. So I stayed away as best I could, because it seemed an irreparable harm to your kingdom if you should be overcome, so I didn’t oppose you with all my strength. And even though I took this wound, that wasn’t what you wanted.”

  King Hrolf said, “You must be an excellent man in battle. Will you accept a truce from me?”

  Thorir answered, “I don’t think that will be of much help.”

  The king said, “Are you badly wounded?”

  Thorir said that it was very slight. “I got a scratch from your sword that’s made me a bit stiffer than before, but I don’t suppose it’s serious.”

  The king asked him to show him. He pulled off his clothes. The king saw that his entire belly was slit open, and everything was slashed down to the inner membrane.

  The king said, “Your wound is so severe that you can hardly be healed. But since your guts haven’t fallen out, I will seek out healers for you and ask them to heal you, if you will become my man and render me help and service.”

  Thorir said, “If I must serve a man, then I’d choose no other man than you.[22] So I will accept life, provided that you grant a truce to King Halfdan and all his men, because he couldn’t withstand your attack.”

  The king said that he would do that, if King Halfdan would submit to him. Then he cleaned the wound, and after that he took a needle with silken thread and sewed up the wound. He put on all the ointments that he thought would be most likely to do some good. He bandaged and treated it with everything that seemed most promising. That seemed to take away all the burning and pain. He thought that Thorir was almost able to travel wherever he wanted. They went to the ships and stayed there for the night.

  Early in the morning, King Hrolf readied his forces and went to the fortress. There was no resistance there. King Halfdan was captured, but King Hrolf granted him a truce as a favor to Thorir, on the condition that King Hrolf alone should set all terms between them. Then King Halfdan agreed to grant Ketil his daughter.

  King Hrolf went to the ships and had his men’s wounds bound, and buried the fallen in a mound. But King Halfdan had a feast prepared and invited many powerful men in his kingdom, and at the agreed time, King Hrolf came to this feast with all his men. Everyone drank together, happy and cheerful, in warm friendship and perfect concord. This feast lasted for seven nights, with the greatest magnificence. At this feast, Ketil took Alof to be his wife, with her full consent and also her father’s consent. As her dowry, her father gave much wealth in gold and silver and many costly treasures. At this feast, King Hrolf gave his brother all of Gautland, and the title of king along with it. When this feast came to an end, King Hrolf sailed away with all his retinue, honored by King Halfdan with many precious gifts. One of those treasures was a horn so magnificent that it was called Hringhorn.[23] Its nature was that if it were drunk dry, it howled so loudly that it could be heard for a Welsh mile, if important events were about to happen—but one couldn’t get any more drink out of it than before, if it wasn’t correctly drunk down. There was a huge gold ring on the horn’s narrow end. It was considered a great kingly treasure. King Hrolf would have nothing else but that Thorir should come with him, and King Halfdan felt it was best to allow it. The kings now parted in the greatest good cheer, and King Halfdan realized that King Hrolf was far superior to other kings. Everyone felt him to be a most worthy man, on account of his strength and hardiness, since he alone had beaten and overcome twelve berserks whom they’d thought he couldn’t hurt, and who had always won great victories before.

  After that, they sailed away from Russia with the bride and many other fine treasures, and came home to Sweden. All the people were glad to see them and held a splendid feast to welcome them. Afterwards, Ingjald went home to Denmark, and Ketil went to Gautland. He established himself in his kingdom, arranging and ruling matters with much glory and honor. King Hrolf stayed in Sweden with Asmund.

  That same winter, King Eirek died in Sweden. King Hrolf claimed all that kingdom, and became sole king over Sweden and all the kingdom that King Eirek had ruled. King Hrolf had fathered a son with his queen; he was named Gautrek. He was big and promising at an early age. All these kings ruled their own kingdoms for a while, at peace and in perfect concord, and so it went for several years.

  CHAPTER XXI

  A king named Hrolf ruled over Ireland. He was powerful and hard to deal with, and he sacrificed to the heathen gods. He had one daughter, named Ingibjorg. She was a wise woman and beautiful, and it seemed that there was no better match in Ireland. Many noble princes had asked for her hand, but her father didn’t want to marry her off. They had tried to win her both by diplomacy and by war, but King Hrolf could foresee the future so well that he knew of their arrival in advance by means of his wickedness and evil religion, and he always had overwhelming forces when they thought they could catch him unawares. He himself was the worst berserk in battle, so that he had felled many champions in single combat who had challenged him to duels. For these reasons, he had become so infamous that no kings had any desire to contend with him. He had been left in peace for a long time without any king attacking his kingdom, because they were all afraid of his ferocity.

  It is said that Asmund once came to speak with King Hrolf Gautreksson: “The word is going around, my lord, that I want to make my rule secure and marry. My father has become quite elderly, and I have to assume the rulership after him.”

  King Hrolf replied “Where would you go to find a wife, sworn brother?”

  Asmund answered, “There is a king named Hrolf who rules over Ireland, a notable man. He has a lovely and wise daughter named Ingibjorg. I want to marry her and to use your strength and hardihood to get this match for me.”

  King Hrolf answered, “You can’t be unaware of King Hrolf. He is full of magic and spells, and no one can catch him unawares. And it’s a bad idea to attack Ireland with a host of foreigners. It’s densely populated, and there is such a vast shoal in front of the shore that you can’t reach the place except in small boats.[24] I have heard that many prominent men have asked for this maiden’s hand and gotten nothing but shame and disgrace from this king. Know this, sworn brother: It won’t do for us to go on so many courting expeditions where we have to fight battles and lose so many men. Even if the kings themselves weren’t willing to resist us, the women themselves would start fighting us, using many tricks. We’ll have to try to find something easier than going into King Hrolf’s clutches. And I suppose that the Swedes and Gauts and Danes are of the same mind: they’ll find it’s high time to give up
this senseless raiding and not have to pay such a high price, summer after summer.”

  Asmund found that the king flatly refused and listed all the drawbacks to this expedition. He also knew that the Irish king was hard to deal with, and that he had shamefully treated those who had gone there and asked for the maiden’s hand. But Asmund couldn’t think of anything else to do. He kept bringing it up before the king and begged him to lend him the forces and give him advice, even if he didn’t want to go himself. The king said that he thought it would come to nothing, except that he’d suffer even more casualties.

  When Asmund saw that the king was firmly opposed to the proposal and refused to listen to his request, he asked the queen to plead his case. He told her what he wanted, and he also told her about his conversation with the king. The queen said that she would be glad to do as he wished in every way that she could. “But I can’t add much weight to this request of yours, because I don’t know what advice to give that might increase your fame or honor, since you have to deal with an evil man like King Hrolf of Ireland, because he’s a fierce and ill-natured man. King Hrolf Gautreksson will see it this way, since he is wise and foresighted and predicts many things accurately.”

  CHAPTER XXII

  It’s said that on one occasion, King Hrolf and his queen were talking. She asked whether he had avoided making the journey to Ireland with his sworn brother Asmund. He said that he certainly had done that.

  She said, “You do that wrongly, because I don’t know anyone whom you should honor more than him. He has helped you long and well, and served courteously, and been with you on many war expeditions, and suffered with you through thick and thin, and always proved himself to be the boldest of men.”

  The king said, “Winning brides isn’t so easy for us, even if we don’t have to deal with men from Hel like King Hrolf of Ireland. We have to stop setting off on these bridal quests. But since you’re so eager for these journeys, what plan do you see that is likeliest to succeed in our case?”

  She said that she knew no advice to give, but said that they would succeed— “thanks to your good luck and guidance, my lord, if you proceed with this journey. My advice is for you not to take large forces on this journey. I want Ketil and Ingjald to stay behind, and for you not to take any men from their kingdoms, because imposing this levy will seem heavy-handed to them. I want Thorir Ironshield to stay behind and guard the land while you are away. You and Asmund should go, and have no more than ten ships and a hundred men on each ship, and the dragon-ship shall be the eleventh. I think that if your return is delayed, Ketil and Ingjald will not stay here quietly. And I find it more likely that you will be avenged, if necessary, if men such as they are alive.”

  Then King Hrolf said to Asmund, “Now, sworn brother, since I’m going with you on this expedition, however it turns out, you have to do something. I’m told that your father has a beautiful daughter named Margret. You must agree to let me arrange her betrothal.” Asmund said that he was quite willing, and said that he trusted that the king would oversee the business much better than himself.

  After that, they made plans for their journey, and at the height of summer, the sips were all ready, along with the men who had to accompany the king. Thorir wanted to go on this journey, but the king didn’t want him to. Thorir said that he would make his own expedition wherever he liked, as soon as the king was away. He said that he wouldn’t be in the king’s company unless the king wanted him, but he didn’t like it that he couldn’t decide for himself where he was going to go. The king ordered him to govern the kingdom. Thorir said that he thought King Hrolf would need more help before he came back from this journey, and they parted rather coldly.

  King Hrolf had another young son with the queen, who was named Eirek. Hrolf’s son Gautrek was eleven years old when his father left the land.

  CHAPTER XXIII

  Now it is time to tell how they sailed away from Sweden and westward out to sea, as soon as they were ready. They made little headway, but got strong gales and unfavorable winds. They were covered by thick darkness, and the going became quite difficult. They had to put in along islands and capes for a long time, and they always encountered Vikings—but in their encounters, King Hrolf always won victory.

  It is said that they reached England as summer was passing. At the time, King Ælle ruled England. He was a mighty and splendid king. When he heard of the coming of King Hrolf Gautreksson, he sent men to meet him and invited him to a feast with as many men as he wanted. King Hrolf brought the invitation before his men and asked whether they found it agreeable to go to the feast. They asked him to decide. The king said that he meant to go, and he prepared to go with a hundred of his men.

  It’s said that King Ælle owned a certain beast, so fierce and savage that it spared nothing that it was set on to. It was both huge and strong. It was a lion. They had trained the beast so that it didn’t hurt anyone, except for those who showed aggression towards the king and whom he wanted to set it on. But it was gentle and calm to all the king’s household, and all those whom the king wished to stay with him in peace and quiet. The king felt that the beast was a splendid possession, because as soon as there was an attack on his kingdom, he had the beast turned loose, and in a short time it would strike down a multitude of men, amounting to hundreds. It was so fearless in defense of the kingdom that no kings had the confidence to attack England, as soon as they found out about this beast’s behavior.

  Two men in King Ælle’s household are named; one was named Sigurd, and the other was Bard. They were highly esteemed. They took care of this beast; every day it was bound strongly with iron fetters. These brothers were very unjust men, and rather eager to behave wickedly. And when they found out that King Hrolf was invited to come with his retinue, Sigurd said, “How can we plot for this king, who is praised so much by everyone, to lose his honor? For I find it bad that he should get any sort of advancement from our king.”

  Bard answered, “This is my best advice: we should go into the forest that lies along their route and take the king’s beast with us, and turn it loose when we see them coming. This king won’t be mighty enough to beat the beast; instead, it will do him harm. May it go as it must and as I wish.”

  They went into the forest with the beast and concealed themselves until they saw King Hrolf coming. They had already driven the beast mad with wine and all sorts of the strongest drink. They turned the beast loose at once and let it run, but hid themselves.

  CHAPTER XXIV

  Now the story turns to King Hrolf. He landed with a hundred men, intending to meet the king. When they had walked for a little while, they heard a crackling and an awful roaring in the forest. Asmund spoke up. “Lord,” he said, “what’s that noise we hear?” The king ordered them to hold still and figure out what noise that must be, but none of them could make anything of it, except that it seemed loud and hideous to listen to.

  The king said, “I’ve heard that the king of England owns a beast that is very large and fierce and hard to deal with. It may be that we haven’t been dealt with entirely in good faith. Now I want you to stay here, but I want Asmund to go forward with me and find out what noise that must be.”

  They did as he said, and when they had gone for just a short time, they saw the beast playing in the forest. The lion was showing its strength, casting its own tail in a ring around oak trees and pulling them up by the roots. Then it grabbed them with its claws and tossed them up in the air, like a cat playing with birds.

  Asmund said, “How can that monster be acting like that?”

  The king said, “I suppose the beast must be playing because it’s been driven crazy by drink.”

  Asmund said, “I see that we’ll never get past this enemy.”

  The king said, “We must try something different. Off the path here stands a tall tree trunk. There is thick forest alongside the road. You must go up the tree trunk and stand
there. I’ll use you as bait for the beast, but I shall hide myself nearby. When the beast charges at you, leap into the forest, and I’ll see if I can manage to reach it. I think it’s possible that it will get itself stuck in the forest, because it’s very thick. You must squeal as loudly and as much like a pig as you can, because the beast can’t stand to hear that, and I know that that’s the only thing it’s afraid of. That’s its nature.”[25]

  Asmund did as the king asked. Now it went as the king thought it would: as soon as the beast saw the man, it rushed at him with ferocity and savagery, right between the oaks. Asmund did as he was told, and squealed as loudly as he could. When the beast heard this noise, it stopped still and clasped its head between its feet and pressed at its ears with its paws, for it didn’t want to hear the pig squeals. King Hrolf then rushed up and struck with his sword and cut through the beast’s back, right in front of the hips, and the beast died in its tracks.

  When the brothers Sigurd and Bard saw that, they ran home to the hall as fast as they could, and told King Ælle the unheard-of news of how King Hrolf had beaten the beast which they had thought couldn’t be hurt. The king asked how this had happened, and they told him everything. The king grew furious with them on account of their scheme, and said that it wasn’t for them to test their luck against King Hrolf. He had them both seized and fettered. King Ælle himself went out to meet King Hrolf with many men, and said that King Hrolf would probably think that what his men had undertaken was a trick of his own.

  After killing the beast, Asmund and Hrolf returned to their men, and King Hrolf said, “We shall go on as we’d already planned, because I think that this was not King Ælle’s idea. What I think is that he’ll find the beast’s death a terrible loss, and I will tell him myself.”