Six Sagas of Adventure

by Ben Waggoner (trans)

  Then the sworn brothers went to the forest. All they had for food was the animals and birds that they shot, and sometimes they had nothing but berries and tree sap. The forest quite ruined their clothes.

  One day they came to a certain farmstead. There stood an old man outside, splitting planks. He greeted them and asked their names. They told him their real names and asked his name, and he said that he was called Hoketil. He told them that a night’s lodging awaited them if they wanted it, and they accepted. The old man went with them to the main room of the house, and there weren’t many people there. The lady of the house was rather elderly. They had a beautiful daughter; she took off their guests’ clothes, and they were brought dry clothes. Then washbasins were set out, and the table set for them. They were given good ale to drink, and the farmer’s daughter served them. Bosi often glanced and smiled towards her, and touched his feet to hers, and she played the same game with him.

  In the evening they were shown to their rest in soft beds. The husband slept in a bed-closet, and the farmer’s daughter in the middle of the house. The sworn brothers were shown to a bed at the gable-end of the house, up against the doors. But when the folk were asleep, Bosi stood up and went to the farmer’s daughter’s bed and lifted the covers off her. She asked who was there. Bosi told her his name.

  “Why have you come here?” she said.

  “Because my bed wasn’t comfortable”—and he said that he wanted to get under the covers next to her.

  “What do you want to do here?” she said.

  “I want you to battle-harden my jarl,” said Bow-Bosi.

  “What jarl is that?” she said.

  “He’s young, and has never been put to the test before. But a jarl should be tested at a young age.”[17]

  He gave her a gold ring and got into bed next to her. She asked where the jarl was. He asked her to reach between his legs, but she pulled her hand back and said to hell with his jarl, and asked why he was carrying that frightening thing with him, as hard as a log. He said that it would soften up in the dark hole. She asked him to go on in any way he wanted. Now he set the jarl between her legs. The path there wasn’t very wide, but he succeeded in his journey, all the same.

  Now they lay for a while, as they pleased, before the farmer’s daughter asked whether the battle-hardening had succeeded for the jarl. He asked whether she wanted to harden him again, and she said that she’d like that very much, if he felt that he needed it. It isn’t said how often they played that game that night, but it’s said that Bosi asked whether she knew “where they should search for the vulture’s egg, with golden letters written on the outside, which we sworn brothers have been sent to find.”

  She said that the least she could do to repay him for the gold ring and the night’s excellent entertainment was to tell him what he wanted to know. “But who was so angry with you that he wanted you dead and sent you on this dangerous mission?”

  “Not everything goes badly, and no one wins fame from doing nothing,” he said. “And many things often turn out to bring good fortune, though they begin perilously.”

  CHAPTER VIII

  “Here in this forest there stands a huge temple. King Harek, who rules over Bjarmaland, owns it. The god named Jomali is worshipped there,[18] and there’s plenty of gold and treasures. The king’s mother, who’s named Kolfrosta, rules over the temple. She’s been made so powerful by sacrifices that nothing takes her unawares. She knows by her magic arts that she won’t live through the month. For that reason, she shape-shifted and traveled to Glæsisvellir, and stole away Hleid, the sister of King Godmund, intending that she should be the temple-priestess after her. But that’s a terrible thing, for Hleid is the loveliest and most courtly of all maidens, and it would be better if she could be spared.”

  “What sorts of dangers are in the temple?” said Bosi.

  “There’s a vulture there,” she said, “so baleful and fierce that it kills everything that gets close to it. It directly faces the doors and notices anything that comes in, and whatever encounters its talons or venom has no hope of surviving. There’s a slave in the temple who sees to the priestess’s food. She needs a two-year-old heifer every time she eats. Under this vulture is the egg that you’ve been sent to get. There’s a bull in the temple that’s received so many sacrifices that it’s been turned into a monster. It’s fettered with iron bands. It’s supposed to mount the heifer, and venom will be mixed into her, and everyone who eats her meat will be turned into a troll. She’s going to be fed to Hleid the king’s sister, and then she’ll turn into a troll just like the temple-priestess had been. I don’t think you’re likely to beat these monsters, with such powerful sorcery as you’ll have to deal with.”

  Bosi thanked her for her story, and banged her one more time[19] as a reward for her entertainment. It was good for them both. They slept until daylight. In the morning, Bosi went to Herraud and told him what he had heard. They stayed there for three nights, and the farmer’s daughter told them how to get to the temple, and she wished them well when they left. They went on their way.

  Early one morning, they saw a tall man walking, wearing a gray cloak and leading a cow. They realized that that must be the slave, and they crept up on him. Bosi struck him with a club, so hard that it killed him. Then they killed the heifer and flayed off her skin and stuffed it with moss and heather. Herraud put on the slave’s cloak and dragged the cowskin after him, and Bosi spread his own cloak over the slave and carried him on his back until they saw the temple. Then Bosi took his spear and stuck it up the slave’s arse and all the way through his body, so that the point was left sticking out between his shoulders.

  Now they went to the temple. Herraud entered the temple wearing the slave’s outfit. The priestess was inside, asleep. He led the heifer into a stall and turned the bull loose. The bull mounted the heifer, but the moss-stuffed skin wasn’t weighted in front, and the bull drove his head into the wall and broke off both horns. Herraud gripped him by both ears, and by the lips, and wrenched his neck until it broke.

  The ogress awoke and leaped to her feet. At that moment, Bosi entered the temple, carrying the slave on the spear up over his head. The vulture reacted quickly and plunged out of its nest, wanting to gobble up the man who’d come in. It swallowed the slave all the way to his waist. Then Bosi thrust the spear so that it went up the vulture’s neck until it stuck in its heart. The vulture dug its claws into the slave’s buttocks and battered Bosi about the ears with its wingtips, knocking him unconscious. Then the vulture collapsed onto him, and its death-struggles were dreadful.

  Herraud attacked the priestess, and their fight was the fiercest. The old crone had wicked nails and tore his flesh to the bone. They fought all the way to the spot where Bosi had fallen and the floor was covered in blood. The vulture’s blood made the floor slippery for the old crone, and she fell on her back. She and Herraud wrestled so hard that first one and then the other was underneath.[20] Bosi woke up and seized the bull’s head and smashed it into the ogress’s nose. Then Herraud cut off her arm at the shoulder, and her wrestling ability began to weaken. But her death struggles caused a massive earthquake.[21]

  Now they went through the temple and ransacked it. In the vulture’s nest they found the egg, inscribed all over with gold letters. They found so much gold that they had quite enough to carry. They came to the altar that Jomali was sitting on. From him they took a golden crown set with twelve gemstones, and a necklace worth three hundred marks of gold. From his lap they took a silver bowl, so large that four men couldn’t drink it dry, and filled with red gold.[22] The velvet hangings around Jomali were worth more than three cargoes from the richest galleon that sails the Mediterranean. They took them all for themselves.

  They found a side room in the temple, in a well-hidden location. There was a stone slab in front of it, firmly set, and it took them all day to break it up before they got in.
They saw a woman there, sitting on a chair. They had never seen another woman more beautiful. Her hair was tied to the chair-posts and was as fair as threshed straw or gold ingots. An iron fetter was securely fastened around her waist. She was crying hard. When she saw the men, she asked what had caused the commotion that morning—“and why do you find your lives so wretched that you have any desire to come here, into the clutches of trolls? Because the ones in charge here will kill you as soon as you’re spotted.”

  They said that they’d explain later,[23] and asked what her name was and why she was there, imprisoned so cruelly. She said that she was called Hleid, the sister of King Godmund of Glæsisvellir in the east. “The troll-woman who ruled here kidnapped me with her sorcery, intending for me to lead the sacrifices in the temple and be the abbess here when she was dead. But I’d rather be burned to death.”

  “You’d be good to the man who freed you from here,” said Herraud.

  She said she knew that it couldn’t be done.

  Herraud said, “Will you marry me, if I bring you away?”

  “I don’t know of a human so repulsive,” she said, “that I wouldn’t marry him instead of being worshipped in this temple. But what is your name?”

  “I’m called Herraud,” he said, “son of King Hring of East Gautland. You don’t need to be afraid of the priestess, because Bosi and I have sung a Requiem over her skull.[24] You may assume that I think I’ll get benefits from you, if I release you from here.”

  “I have nothing more to pledge than myself,” she said, “if my kinsmen are willing.”

  “I’m not asking them for a dowry,” said Herraud, “and I’ll have no delay, because I think I’m no less well-born than you. But I shall release you, all the same.”

  “I don’t know a man I’d rather marry than you,” she said, “of all the men I’ve seen.”

  They released her. Herraud asked whether she’d rather go home with them and be married to him, or have him send her east to her brother so she’d never see him again. She chose to go with him, and each pledged their troth to the other.

  After that, they carried the gold and treasures out of the temple. They set fire to the temple at once and burned it to the ground, so that not a particle was left but ashes. They left with their spoils and didn’t stop until they came to farmer Hoketil’s home. They didn’t stay there long, but they gave him much wealth, and they carried the gold and treasures on many horses to their ship. Their men were glad to see them.

  CHAPTER IX

  They sailed away from Bjarmaland when they got a favorable wind, and nothing is said about their journey until they arrived at home in Gautland. They had been away for two winters. They came before the king, and Bosi brought him the egg. There was a crack in the shell, but it was worth ten marks of gold.[25] The king used the shell as a drinking cup. Bosi gave the king the bowl that he had taken from Jomali, and now they were reconciled.

  At that time, the queen’s brothers, Dagfari and Nattfari, came to the king’s household. They had been sent there by King Harald Wartooth with a request for help, because the time had been appointed for the Battle of Bravellir, the largest battle in the Northlands, as it says in the saga of Sigurd Hring, the father of Ragnar Shaggy-Breeches.[26] King Hring asked Herraud to go in his place, and said that in the meantime he would look after his bride, and they would be reconciled overe everything that had happened between them. Herraud did as his father asked, and he and Bosi went with the brothers and five hundred men, and met King Harald. King Hring fell in that battle, and a hundred and fifteen kings fell with him, as it says in his saga, along with many other champions greater than kings. Dagfari and Nattfari fell there. Herraud and Bosi were both wounded, but they survived the battle.

  By then, events in Gautland had taken a new turn while they were away, which must be told about.

  CHAPTER X

  Since it’s not possible to tell more than one story at a time, we must now explain what’s previously happened in the saga. We must begin with Hleid, King Godmund’s sister, and her disappearance from Glæsisvellir. When the king missed her, he had her searched for both on sea and land, but he couldn’t get any news of her.

  Hraerek and Sigurd were brothers who were with the king. The king ordered Siggeir to lead the search for Hleid, and he’d earn betrothal with her. Siggeir said that he didn’t think it would be easy to find her, if the priestess of Bjarmaland didn’t know about her. They prepared to leave; they had five ships, and traveled to Bjarmaland. They met King Harek and told him their mission. He told them to go to the temple, and said that she wouldn’t be easy to get, if Jomali or the priestess didn’t know where she was. They went to the temple and found a heap of ashes, and not a particle of what had been there.

  Now they traveled through the forest and came to Hoketil’s farm, and asked whether they knew who had destroyed the temple. The old man said that he didn’t know, but that two men from Gautland had been anchored by the Dvina Forest for a very long time, and one was called Herraud and the other Crooked Bosi. He said that they seemed likeliest to have committed such an outrage. The farmer’s daughter said that she had met them on their way to the ship, and they had Hleid with them, the sister of King Godmund of Glaesisvellir. They told her that if anyone wanted to find her, they could look for them.

  When the brothers found this out, they told the king. They summoned forces from all Bjarmaland, and got twenty-three ships. They sailed to Gautland at once, and arrived at the time that the sworn brothers were fighting in the Battle of Bravellir. King Hring was at home with only a few men, and they ordered him to fight or else give up the maiden. The king chose to fight, but the battle soon took a turn for the worse. King Hring fell there, with the greater part of his forces. The brothers took the maiden, plundered all the wealth, and went away. They didn’t stop until they came home to Glaesisvellir. King Godmund was glad to see his sister, and thanked the brothers well for their expedition, which was thought to be quite successful.

  Siggeir asked for Hleid’s hand, but she was reluctant, and said that it was fitting for the one who had freed her from the trolls’ clutches to have her. The king said that Siggeir had won her fairly, and said that he himself had to decide whom she’d marry—“and no foreign chieftain has a chance of marrying you, even if you won’t abide by our decision.” It had to be as the king willed.

  Now we’ll let them get ready for the wedding, because they think they’re doing well—but it’s possible that the guests’ comfort will be spoiled at the feast.

  CHAPTER XI

  Now it’s time to tell how Herraud and Bosi came home to Gautland half a month after Siggeir and Hraerek had sailed away. They missed their friends there and took counsel among themselves, and Bosi sought out his father for advice. He said that they would be too late if they summoned large forces—but instead, they might get the king’s daughter with deep-laid plans and fast action. They made their plans, readying one ship with thirty men. Smid was to come with them and have complete command of their journey. The old man gave them plenty of advice, as did Busla.

  They sailed as soon as they were ready. Smid always had a favorable wind when he steered,[27] and their journey was faster than seemed likely. They arrived at Glaesisvellir more quickly than expected, and anchored their ship alongside a desolate forest. Smid cast a magical helm of protection over their ship.

  Herraud and Bosi went onto land. They came to a humble little house where an old man and woman lived. They had a beautiful and knowledgeable daughter. The farmer offered them a night’s lodging, and they accepted. It was a good household. There was good hospitality for them, and then the tables were taken away and ale was served to them. The farmer was taciturn and didn’t ask any questions. The farmer’s daughter was the kindest one there, and she poured ale for the guests. Bosi was cheerful and cast little flirting glances at her, and she did the same back to him.

 
In the evening they were shown to their beds, and as soon as the light was extinguished, Crooked Bosi came to where the farmer’s daughter was lying and lifted the bedclothes from her. She asked who was there, and Crooked Bosi told her his name.

  “What do you want here?” she said.

  “I want to water my foal at your wine-spring,” he said.

  “Will that be easy, my man?” she said. “He’s not used to the kind of well-house that I’ve got.”

  “I’ll lead him forward,” he said, “and shove him in the well, if he won’t drink any other way.”

  “Where’s your foal, my dear?” she said.

  “Between my legs, my love,” he said, “and you can hold him—but gently, because he’s very skittish.”

  She took his cock and stroked it and said, “This is a frisky foal, but he’s very stiff-necked.”

  “His head’s not well set,” he said, “but he tosses his mane better once he’s had a drink.”[28]

  “Now it’s up to you,” she said.

  “Lie with your legs as far apart as you can,” he said, “and stay as still as possible.”

  Now he watered his foal so very lavishly that he was completely submerged. The farmer’s daughter was so completely carried away by this that she could hardly speak. “Aren’t you drowning the foal?” she said.