Six Sagas of Adventure

by Ben Waggoner (trans)

  Asa said, “Find my foster-mother Vefreyja, and take her advice.”

  On the next day, they prepared to leave home and rode to Vefreyja. She was outside and welcomed them well, and they stayed there for the night. In the morning, Sturlaug said to Vefreyja, “What can you tell me of this horn, which is called an aurochs horn?”

  The old woman said, “I cannot tell anything about it, and I won’t.”

  Sturlaug said, “Do you know anyone who is able to tell me about it? For I’m eager to know.”

  Vefreyja said, “There is a woman named Jarngerd; she is my sister. Go to her and find out what she has to say.”

  They rode away now and didn’t stop their journeying until they came to where Jarngerd had her home. They spent the night there. Sturlaug asked Jarngerd whether she could tell him about the aurochs horn. She said, “I cannot tell you, but I know a woman who will know.”

  Sturlaug asked who that was. “Snaelaug is my sister’s name. She is married to King Hrolf of the Hundings. But it isn’t safe for you to go there, because this journey will turn out to be a serious matter when you return.”

  Thus informed, the sworn brothers rode home.

  CHAPTER XVI

  The next thing to tell is how, a little later, Sturlaug and all his sworn brothers prepared for their journey. They had a hundred men and one ship. Sturlaug talked with Jarl Hring and also his own father, and asked them to look after Asa’s affairs and all the property that he left behind while he was away.

  Now they sailed north, along the coast of Halogaland and Finnmark and Vatnsnes and into Austrvik.[32] They dropped the anchors and tied up there, and settled in for the night. Then they drew lots for standing watch. Aki was chosen to stand watch for the first third of the night, Framar for the second, and Sturlaug for the last third.

  When all the men were asleep on the ship except for Aki, he took a boat and rowed along the coast out to the cape. He heard someone walking up on the beach. Aki spoke up and said “Who am I addressing here, a man or a woman?”

  He heard a reply: “Of course it’s a woman.”

  “What’s your name, sweetheart?” said Aki.

  “My name is Torfa,” she said, “but who is in the boat?”

  “His name is Aki,” he said.

  “It can’t be Aki, the son of Jarngerd, who has come here?” she said.

  “The very same,” he said.

  “Won’t you make a deal with me, my dear Aki?” she said.

  “What’s the deal?” he said.

  “For you to take me to that island, a short distance off the coast. My father has died there, leaving a lot of money. We are three sisters and we have to divide the inheritance between us. I want to come out ahead of them. I will give you a day and a night of favorable winds when it will be most useful.”

  “So be it,” said Aki.

  She stepped into the boat, and he rowed out into the channel. When he had rowed a short distance, she spoke up: “Now I can easily wade to land. Fare well and good luck to you, and I will keep my agreement with you in full.” Now she hitched up her tunic of skins and stepped overboard. Aki rowed back to the ship and woke up Framar, and lay down and quickly fell asleep.

  Framar stepped into the boat and rowed out along the cape. He heard someone walking on the beach at low tide. Framar said, “Is that a man or a woman on land?”

  He heard an answer: “There’s no question it’s a woman.”

  “What are you called, rich and lovely lady?” he said.

  “My name is Hild,” she said, “and what is your name, my boy?”

  “My name is Framar,” he said.

  “That can’t be Framar, the brother of Kol the Crooked, who has come here?” she said.

  “That’s the man,” he said.

  “You two aren’t much alike,” she said. “I want to make a deal with you.”

  “What kind of deal?” said Framar.

  She said, “You must carry me to the island here, nearest to the land. There my father has died and left much wealth, and we three sisters are claiming our inheritance, and I will be cut off if I come too late.”

  Framar said, “Will you give me a day and a night of favorable winds, then?”

  “I will,” she said.

  Now she got in the boat, and the boat seemed to sink down quite a lot when she came aboard. She said, “Do you want me to row with you?”

  “There’s no need,” said Framar.

  But when they’d gone a third of the way, she spoke up: “You don’t need to carry me out any longer. Now there are just channels all the way to the shore. I can manage to wade them just fine.”

  She stepped overboard, and so she waded to the island. Framar went back to the ship and woke up Sturlaug. He quickly jumped to his feet, and Framar lay down to sleep.

  Sturlaug stepped into the boat and rowed out along the cape. And when he came north around the cape, he heard something walking along the beach, and he saw that fire flew out from the gravel underneath this being. It had a thrusting-spear in hand. It seemed to him that it was no common weapon that the monstrosity carried.

  Sturlaug asked, “What am I hailing here, a woman or a man?”

  She said, “Can’t you tell what you’re looking at? It’s a woman. What’s your name?”

  “I am called Sturlaug,” he said.

  “Where have you come from and what do you want, Sturlaug the Hard-Working?” she said. “I’m called Hornnefja.[33] What about the men with you? Is a certain Hrolf Nose with you? I’ve been told that he is a fine man, and swifter than any animal.”

  “You’ve hit it on the head,” he said.

  “Something’s amiss,” she said. “Will you make a deal with me?”

  “What kind of deal do you want?” he said.

  “I want for you to bring Hrolf Nose to me, so that I may see the shape of his body and his face, because much has been said to me about his fair appearance. I will give you this treasure that I have in my hand. It’s a thrusting-spear.”

  Sturlaug said, “What’s so fine about this treasure that you’re offering me?”

  She said, “It cuts everything that it hits. It can become so little that you can pin it in your clothes, like a needle. You will never find a place where it won’t be easy for you to succeed with it, whatever you may want or need.”

  Sturlaug said, “Then we’ll make a deal.”

  Sturlaug now went to his sworn brothers and woke up Hrolf Nose and asked him to go with him. They went off to a cliff, where the woman was down below. Hrolf sat on the edge of the cliff and let his legs dangle over. He was outfitted in a hairy goatskin coat, with a thick calfskin on his head, and the tail stuck up out of the middle of his head. Soot from a kettle was smeared all over his face, and he had a stick shoved into his mouth, so that his cheeks were puffed out like huge balls. He had an ox-horn in his hand and pigskins on each foot. He was decked out so that he didn’t appear handsome at all, where he sat on the cliff and gawked at the moon because it was shining brightly.[34]

  After that, Sturlaug went to meet Hornnefja. She greeted him and asked, “Where is Hrolf Nose?”

  Sturlaug said, “Look up on the cliff and see where he’s sitting.”

  She turned around fast and saw where he was. Then she held her hand above her eye and examined him carefully, and said, “It’s true to say that the man is most handsome. It’s no exaggeration what has been said about him, that he’s so noble.”

  Now the crone swelled up enormously and stretched herself right up the cliff. She thought that she could never manage to see him clearly where he was. “All I can say is that the woman who had this man would seem lucky to me.”[35]

  Then Sturlaug saw that she would get a grip on Hrolf’s feet, and he didn’t want to wait for that. He leaped out of the boat
onto a rock and stabbed her with the thrusting-spear, so that it ran her through. She fell on him. He jumped into the water and swam out from under her, but the boat capsized. She lost her life there, and he righted the boat. With matters as they stood, they went back to their fellows and told them how things had gone. They approved.[36]

  CHAPTER XVII

  After that, a favorable wind always blew for them, and they sailed until they saw land. It was heavily overgrown with forest. There was one hidden fjord that they came to, and they sailed into this fjord and laid up in a hidden bay and dropped the anchors. The sun was in the south, and they went onto land. Sturlaug asked, “What land do you suppose this is, that we’ve come to?”

  Framar said, “The land of the Hundings, according to my brother Kol’s account. Three of us will go onto land: Sturlaug, Aki and myself. You all must wait for us here until the third sun has set. If we don’t come back, you’ll have to decide for yourselves what to do.”

  Now they went ashore and entered a thick forest, and they carved on the oak trees to show where they had been. After a while, they came out of the forest and saw many large estates, forts, and castles. They saw one fortress and hall much larger than the others. That’s where they went. Men were standing in the doorways, and their chins were grown down to their chests, and they barked like dogs.[37] Now they realized where they were. The guards barred their entry. Sturlaug drew the spear Hornnefja’s Gift and chopped the door guardian in two, and his sworn brothers killed the other.

  After that, they went into the hall and stood on the outer edge of the hall floor. Aki saw women sitting on a dais. One of them was noteworthy because she was much more beautiful than the others. Aki recognized this woman from his mother’s stories. He went to the dais and laid both arms on her neck and said, “Greetings, kinswoman.” She accepted his greeting and turned to him. King Hundolf saw this and didn’t take it well, because he could not bear to see that men were looking at his queen. Now you may imagine how angry he felt, that an outlander should fling himself onto her neck and kiss her before his eyes and do such a monstrous thing. He pushed the tables away and called for his guards, and trumpets sounded through all the streets.

  Aki said, “I have come here to find you, kinswoman. I want you to tell me about the aurochs horn, and where to look for it.”

  She said, “Who are these men?”

  They said their names.

  She said, “It’s too bad that you’ve come here, because death awaits you all, so there’s no need to tell you about the aurochs horn.”

  Aki said, “Even if we’re to be killed on the spot, it’s better that we know the truth of what you can tell us about the horn.”

  She said, “First of all, it is said that a temple stands in Bjarmaland.[38] It is hallowed to Thor and Odin, Frigg and Freyja, and skillfully made from the costliest wood.[39] One set of doors faces to the northwest, and the other faces southwest. Inside, there is only a statue of Thor. The aurochs horn is there on a table before him, as fair to see as gold. But only Sturlaug must enter the temple, because luck will hold out for him alone. Yet he must not pick up the horn with bare hands, for it is full of venom and sorcery. But it will come to nothing for you, because you are all certain to die, and it’s a great shame to lose men as brave as you sworn brothers.”

  Sturlaug said, “When we are all fallen, these Hundings will find that they’ll have bloody noses, even though we’re few.”

  And at that, the Hundings charged into the hall, fully armed, and attacked them fiercely. They defended themselves well and bravely and killed thirty men before they were captured. They were stripped of all their clothes except for their linen underpants, and herded out of the hall with whips and prodded with spear-points and driven out to the forest. They came into a clearing where there were two stones, hollow inside. They were put inside the smaller stone, and covered over with the larger stone. The intention was that they should starve to death there. These stones stood on a certain hill.[40] Now the Hundings went away, and thought that they had well avenged their disgrace.

  Now it’s time to tell of Sturlaug and his men inside the stones. Sturlaug said, “How do you like this?”

  They said they were fine, as long as they were all quite healthy.

  Sturlaug said, “What did I stick myself with in the back of my calf, a moment ago, when we were stripped of our clothes?”

  He reached out with his hand and found a piece of iron as small as a needle. It was his thrusting-spear. He said that it had to become so large that it would be easy for him to succeed in what he needed to do. It quickly became so large that he chopped at the stone until he and all his men got out. Now they hurried to their companions, and there was a joyous reunion.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  Now they prepared to depart, and they sailed out of the fjord. Aki said, “I suppose that I’ll never be in greater need of favorable winds than now.”[41] At once a wind sprang up, and they sailed until they came to Bjarmaland, to the mouth of the Dvina River. They saw that the land west of the river was a level field, and there was a temple, shining so brightly that it seemed to light up all the field, because it was built with gold and precious stones.

  Sturlaug said, “Now we must turn the ship about, and the stern must face the land. We’ll tie up with only one rope, in case we need to make a fast start. Have poles ready for pushing off, and let’s be prepared for anything. Framar and I will go onto land.”

  Now they went onto land, along with Hrolf Nose, and they went to the temple. And when they came to the temple, the doors were arranged as they had been told. They went to the doors on the northwest side of the temple, because they alone were open. They saw that inside the threshold there was a pit full of venom, and next to it a large crossbeam fitted over the entrance, and inside the doors the pit was walled all around, so that the furniture wouldn’t be damaged by the venom spilling out. As soon as they reached the temple doors, Hrolf Nose came up. Sturlaug asked why he had come. He said, “I don’t want to begrudge myself the honor of going into the temple with you.”

  “There’s no chance of that,” said Sturlaug. “I alone must enter the temple.”

  “You want to deprive me of the honor,” said Hrolf.

  “That’s not my intent,” said Sturlaug.

  He looked inside the temple and saw an enormous idol of Thor sitting on the high seat. In front of him was a splendid table, covered with silver. There he saw the aurochs horn, standing right before Thor on the table. It was as lovely as if it were made of gold, and filled with venom. He saw a game board and pieces standing there, both of them made of brilliant gold. Shining hangings and gold rings were fastened up on poles. Sixty women were in the temple, and there was one who stood out from all the rest. She was as huge as a giant and as black as Hel, but as fat as a mare, with dark eyes and an evil expression. All the same, this woman was well dressed. She served at the table. The women recited this little ditty when they saw Sturlaug:

  Here comes Sturlaug

  the Hard-Working

  to seek the horn

  and stores of rings;

  here is the horn

  and holy offerings

  of gold and treasures.

  Grim are our hearts.

  Then the temple’s high priestess responded and said, “He shall never escape with his life if I may prevail, either by my faith or my curses.” She said:

  He shall relish

  his rest in Hel,

  once he’s suffered

  all sorts of torture.

  Then hero Sturlaug,

  the Hard-Working man,

  will be butchered to bits

  by blades of the gums. [blades of the gums: teeth]

  After that, Sturlaug prepared himself to go in, forbidding his sworn brothers to follow him. In the temple there stood three slabs of stone, so high
that they reached to his breastbone, and there were deep pits full of venom in between them. He had to leap over them before he could get to where the aurochs horn stood. Sturlaug pulled himself up and leaped over all the slabs, skillfully and boldly, hastily grabbing the horn from the table without any hindrance. He turned and headed back the way that he’d come. The temple-priestess stood nearby, swollen with rage and holding a double-edged knife. It seemed as if flames were blazing from the edges. She howled at him horribly and gnashed her teeth at him most ferociously, yet she lacked the courage to to attack him.

  When Sturlaug came to the slabs, he saw that Hrolf Nose was leaping in over the slabs. Hrolf turned to the space in front of Thor and Odin, grabbed the game-board and threw it into the front of his tunic, and dashed back through the temple. But he saw the temple-priestess leaping after him, gnashing her teeth. He leaped onto the slabs and tried to get out over them, but the temple-priestess seized him by the tunic and swung him aloft and threw him down on the slabs, so that his back was broken at once. Hrolf Nose laid down his life there, with great valor.

  After that, the temple-priestess rushed outside and screamed with such dreadful madness and frenzy and menace that it echoed from every crag and mound in the area. She saw now where Sturlaug had gone, and she rushed at him and stabbed at him. He defended himself well, with great valor and skill. Just then Sturlaug saw a man coming out of the woods, and then another and a third, and then men were coming from all directions. Sturlaug turned and fled, but the more men she saw crowding in, the more viciously she attacked. He charged at her with Hornnefja’s Gift and drove it into her midriff, so that the point stuck out between her shoulders. She spun away so fast that he let go of the spear, and that delayed him, but she was killed at once.