Six Sagas of Adventure

by Ben Waggoner (trans)

  Sturlaug now leaped onto the ship and immediately cut the rope, but the Bjarmians attacked Sturlaug’s ship in force with their own ships. Then Framar said, “I now pronounce that the favorable wind should come, which fierce Hild promised me.” And at once, such a wind sprang up that it strained every rope, and they sailed away. The Bjarmians pursued them as long as they could; some were driven off by the gale, but some perished by weapons. Those who managed to come back thought themselves fortunate.

  CHAPTER XIX

  Sturlaug and his men sailed out into the ocean. Nothing is said about their journey until they came to Värmland. They landed and asked for news. They were told that Jarl Hring had left his country for Sweden. Right away, they went to meet King Harald. They entered the hall and went before the king and greeted him. Sturlaug stood before the king and held the aurochs horn. The king sat in his high seat, so swollen with rage that he could not speak a word.

  Sturlaug said, “Now I have returned from this quest, king, though you didn’t mean for that to happen. You must admit this. Accept this horn which I have brought.”

  The king didn’t answer and kept his hands close to his sides. Then Sturlaug threw the horn at the king’s nose, so that blood gushed from his nose and four teeth were knocked out of his head.

  After that, Sturlaug went east to Sweden and found Hring his father-in-law, and Asa his wife, and his own father. At that time, the king in Sweden was named Ingvi-Frey.[42] Sturlaug took charge of the defenses of his land, as did all his sworn brothers, and they raided lands far and wide and always had victory, wherever they went. That went on for twelve years. Then King Ingvi-Frey gave the title of king to Sturlaug, and a large kingdom along with it, and the sworn brothers took charge of its defenses.

  CHAPTER XX

  On one occasion, Sturlaug let it be known that he wanted to go to Bjarmaland. He summoned a great host, and his sworn brothers came to him. Nothing is said about that journey until they came to Bjarmaland and set fire to everything there and burned as much as they could. They did one wicked deed after another. Rondolf, King of Bjarmaland, found out about this and summoned his forces right away, but he was very short of men. And as soon as they met, the fiercest battle broke out. There one might see many stout shields cloven, mailcoats sliced through, hewing-spears broken from their shafts, swords shattered asunder, and many headless men collapsing to the ground. And the battle ended this way: King Rondolf fell there, and many of his men with him.[43] After that great deed, Sturlaug subjected all Bjarmaland to his own rule. He recovered and brought back the spear Hornnefja’s Gift, and many more fine treasures.

  When this great and mighty deed was done, he intended to invade the Hundings’ country, against the king of the Hundings. Sturlaug made fresh preparations for an expedition with his forces, and nothing is told of it until they came to the Hundings’ country. They killed men and seized riches, burning farms and all dwellings wherever they went. King Hundolf heard of this and summoned his forces and moved out against Sturlaug at once. As soon as they met, battle broke out, with fierce attacks and mighty blows. Sturlaug often broke through their ranks. He had both arms bloody to the shoulders, dealing them mighty blows, sweeping many of them to the ground headless, and the devil took them.

  It is said that King Hundolf made an advance in force. Sturlaug saw the king cut his banner down. This displeased him, and he pressed forward at King Hundolf with the short sword Vefreyja’s Gift drawn. He struck him on the helmet with the sword and cleaved him completely, splitting his skull and body and mailcoat and horse down the middle. The sword plunged down into the ground. Sturlaug and his sworn brothers killed countless Hundings, and King Sturlaug won a fine victory. Then they turned back, and Snaelaug went with them. Nothing is said of their journey until they came home to Sweden.[44]

  CHAPTER XXI

  The next winter, Sturlaug held a Yule feast and invited many prominent men. And when men had taken their seats on the first evening of Yule, Sturlaug stood up and said, “It is the custom of all men to try their hand at new entertainments for the amusement of some of the guests. Now I’ll begin the oath-swearing, and my oath is this: I shall discover the origin of the aurochs horn before the third Yule has passed, or else die.”[45]

  Then Framar stood up and spoke this oath: he would get into bed with Ingibjorg, the daughter of Ingvar the king of Russia in the east, and have kissed her before the third Yule, or else die. Sighvat the Tall swore an oath to go with the sworn brothers wherever they wanted to go, or set off to. Whatever oaths the other men swore aren’t recorded. Yule passed, and nothing noteworthy happened, but after the feast each man went home with fine gifts.[46]

  It is said that Sturlaug went to Vefreyja, and she gave him a warm welcome. He told her of the oath he had sworn. She gave him good advice, as will later be revealed. Sturlaug went home from there and was satisfied with his journey. Time passed, and all was quiet.

  CHAPTER XXII

  It is said that one day, Sturlaug called Frosti to him and told him, “I have devised a quest for you.” He asked what it might be. “You shall go north to Finnmark and lay this rune-carved stick[47] in the lap of the daughter of King Snaer.[48]” Frosti agreed to make the journey.

  After that, Frosti prepared to leave. He traveled by sea. He came to Finnmark, and came before King Snaer and greeted him. The king accepted his greeting and asked his name. He said that he was called Gest,[49] “and I ask that you take me into your household.” The king said that it would be done. Gest kept to himself and didn’t meddle in anything that happened. He was there through the winter, and the king thought well of him.

  A short distance from the hall was a bower, with two plank fences so high that nothing could get over them except a flying bird. Frosti always sat by the fence and wanted to see the king’s daughter Mjoll, but he never could manage it. The winter passed, and nothing of note happened.

  One day, when the king and his men were playing sports, Frosti went to the fence and saw that it was open, and so was the bower. He went inside and saw that there sat a woman on a chair, combing her hair with a golden comb. Her hair lay all around her on a feather pillow, as beautiful as silk. He saw her face, and he thought that he had never seen a more lovely woman than this one. He could not keep still, and he could not accomplish what he wanted to, but he took the stick and cast it into her lap. She swept her hair back and took the stick and looked at it. And when she had looked at it and read it, she looked out at the fence and smiled and seemed very pleased about what was carved on the stick. Her serving-maids came into the bower, but Gest left and went back to the hall. He could enjoy neither sleep nor food because of the concern which he felt for his mission.

  When all the men were asleep, there was a touch on Frosti’s chest. He followed the hand upwards. A golden ring fell forward from the arm. He stood up and went out. There was Mjoll the king’s daughter, and she said, “Is that true, what is carved on the stick?”

  “It’s true,” he said.

  She said “Sturlaug and I agree on this, because there is no man under the sun’s home whom I am more pleased with. I would gladly be his concubine if he wished. I will not refrain from offering him all my charms, with embraces and seemly caresses, kisses and endearments.”

  “He will graciously accept all of them,” he said, “if you come to him.”

  “Then are you ready, Frosti?” she said.

  “I’ve been ready for a long time,” he said.

  She went to the hall doors and spoke a certain spell before she went out. After that, they set out, and Frosti could hardly manage to follow her. She said, “You’re a very slow traveler, my dear Frosti. Put your hands under my belt.” She went so fast that he felt as if the wind were filling him up. There is nothing more said of their journey until they came to Sweden. The women took Mjoll the king’s daughter into their bower. Frosti found Sturlaug and told him about their journey and how i
t had turned out.

  Sturlaug said, “Now the fox has gotten out of a tight squeeze. You must now celebrate your wedding to her, and go wearing my best finery. She will think that it is I, because the two of us look much alike in every way.”

  Frosti said, “I will go along with all your plans.”

  Sturlaug said, “When you get into bed with the king’s daughter Mjoll, Frosti, I want you to ask her what the origin of the aurochs horn is, because she alone knows that. I will stand behind the tapestries while you two talk about it.”

  He said that he would do so. Now he went into the hall with a multitude of men in fine clothing, and sat in the high seat, and everyone thought he was Sturlaug.[50] Mjoll looked at the bridegroom with smiling eyes and felt very good about the marriage.

  The evening had passed when they got into bed together. Then the bride turned to her husband[51] and spoke most cheerfully with him.

  Frosti said to her, “How do you think your marriage has turned out?”

  “I think it’s going just as I wished, my dear Sturlaug,” she said. “Don’t you think so?”

  “I feel the same way,” he said, “but there is one thing that I want you to tell me.”

  “What is it?” she said.

  “It’s like this,” he said. “I swore an oath that I must find out the origin of the aurochs horn.”

  “I can tell you that,” she said. “The first thing to tell is that King Harald raided far and wide through the lands, and always won victories wherever he went. But terrible famines always struck throughout the lands and Bjarmaland most of all, so that both livestock and men perished. Then the Bjarmians took an animal and sacrificed to it, and called it an aurochs. It gaped its maw at them, and they threw gold and silver into it. They made it so powerful with magic that it became the most harmful and dangerous of all beasts.[52] It began to eat men and cattle, and it trampled everything underfoot and laid waste all the land west of the Dvina River, so that no living thing got away. There was no champion who dared to go against this beast, until King Harald heard the news and found that he might expect to gain a lot of money, and he sailed there with three hundred ships and came to Bjarmaland. There it so happened that King Harald was asleep. A woman came to him, bearing herself most splendidly. She said to the king, ‘Here you lie, and you think that you’ll conquer our beast, which is called an aurochs.’

  “The king said, ‘What is your name?’

  “‘Godrid,’ she said, ‘and I’m on land, not far away. If you’ll take my advice, you should go on land in the morning with half of your forces. Then you will see the beast. It will be afraid of a multitude of men and will run away to the sea. You must rush at it there, with all your men, and bring a big log and beat it with that. The animal will run away, out to sea. Then Godrid will slip in front of it, and I will force it down into the sea and hold it down.[53] Later it will come up, dead. You shall take it, but I am to have the most precious thing from the beast, and that is the horn that extends from its head.’[54]

  “‘So be it,’ said the king.

  “The night passed, and everything happened as she had said, and thus they managed to defeat the beast. Then this woman came and took that horn. That is the same horn that you sought in the temple in Bjarmaland, my dear Sturlaug. Now I have told you the origins of the aurochs horn.”

  “You’ve done well,” he said.

  After that, Sturlaug left, and a fire broke out in the bower and burned Frosti and Mjoll to ashes, and so they lost their lives there. This was all Vefreyja’s plan, because Mjoll was such a sorceress that she would have immediately cast a spell on Sturlaug and Vefreyja, if she had found out.[55]

  CHAPTER XXIII

  The next thing to tell is how King Sturlaug and Aki sent Sighvat the Tall east to Russia to ask for the king’s daughter Ingibjorg. He had ten ships, and after that he sailed to Gotland. His journey went well and bravely, until he came to Russia and went to meet the king, greeting him well and worthily. The king accepted his greeting warmly and asked who he was. He answered, “My name is Sighvat, and I’ve come here to ask for Ingibjorg, your daughter, to marry Aki, my sworn brother.”

  “Not only do you sworn brothers think you’re mighty,” said the king, “but you think that you’re better than kings. You think that I would throw away my wealth and women, lands and servants, to give my daughter to the thralls of King Sturlaug. Capture them, and they shall hang from the highest gallows.”

  Sighvat quickly turned and left the hall and got away to his ships. He ordered his men to travel quickly, until they came home and told Sturlaug what had happened on the journey. Sturlaug quickly made ready, and the sworn brothers went with him eastward to Russia.[56] King Sturlaug captured King Dag, because he had no strength to resist them, and gave him two options: he could betroth his daughter to Aki, or die. Since the king realized that he was overpowered, he chose to betroth his daughter to Aki. Aki was engaged to Ingibjorg, and then the feast was prepared. Aki went to marry the king’s daughter Ingibjorg, and he lived there afterwards, and he is out of this saga. Then Sturlaug went home to his own kingdom and stayed there quietly.

  CHAPTER XXIV

  Now it is time to relate how Framar wanted to fulfill his oath. He prepared to sail away from the land, and he had sixty ships. He set sail for the eastern realms and raided through the summer and brought his forces to Ladoga.[57] King Ingvar ruled there, a wise man and a great chieftain. His daughter was named Ingigerd. She was more lovely to look upon than any woman, and wise in her mind. She was a good healer, and many men sought her out when they needed healing.[58] It was said of her that she herself would choose the man she would marry. Many chieftains had asked for her hand, and she had sent all of them away with courteous answers.[59] Framar sent his men to Ladoga to meet King Ingvar and ask for his daughter’s hand. The king replied to them that he would summon an assembly, and he invited Framar to come—“and she herself shall choose her husband.”

  Framar waited there until the day came for the assembly. Framar dressed in all his royal finery, and went to the assembly with many men. He had a chair placed under him. King Ingvar came there with many mighty men. The king asked, “Who is that man who comports himself so splendidly?”

  “I am called Snaekoll[60],” he said, “come on this errand here to you to ask for your daughter’s hand.”

  The king said, “Where are your lands and retainers, great stores of wealth and honors?”

  “I mean to seek both honor and wealth from you, if I marry into your family,” said Framar.

  The king said, “Have you not heard that she herself must choose her husband?”

  “I have heard that,” he said.

  Then Ingigerd was sent for, and when she came to the assembly, she greeted her father. He welcomed her well and fittingly. “You have a suitor here to greet, my daughter,” he said.

  “Who is he?” she said.

  “His name is Snaekoll,” said the king.

  “Maybe,” she said, and she went before this tall man and turned to face him for a moment, and then said, smiling, “You’re quite a bold man, but you and your sworn brothers think that you outrank kings. I recognize you clearly, Framar, and you don’t need to conceal your identity from me.”

  After that, the assembly broke up.

  CHAPTER XXV

  Framar went to the ships, and he sailed out to the islands that lay closest to land. Framar had tents spread over his ships there. Then Framar put on merchant’s clothes, and went to the hall and asked for winter lodgings for himself. The king granted him that, and he took the name Gest. Often he watched for an opportunity to get into the king’s daughter’s bower, but he never managed to do it.

  So it went on, until one day when he was walking away from the hall down a certain road. He heard human voices coming from down in the earth next to him. He saw the opening of an u
nderground house, and went down and saw that there were three sorcerers.[61] He said, “It’s a good thing that we have found each other. I shall inform on you.”

  They said, “Don’t do that, Framar. We will do what you want, in whatever way you want.”

  Framar answered, “You must cast leprosy on me, but I must become healthy as soon as I want.”

  “So be it,” they said. “It’s not hard for us to do this.” Then they altered all his flesh, so that he was nothing but scabs and sores from his feet to his neck. He turned away and went to the king’s daughter’s bower and sat down by the fence. The king’s daughter Ingigerd sent one of her serving-maids to the hall, and when she saw this wretched man, she turned back, telling the king’s daughter about this man, “and he must be in need of your mercies.” They went to the fence and the king’s daughter turned and looked at this pitiful man for a long time. They had not seen anyone with a sickness like his.

  The king’s daughter said, “This man is wretched and very ill. But you’ll need to put on a better show before you can trick me—because I will recognize you, Framar, as long as both your eyes are whole in your head, whatever abomination you spread over yourself.”[62]

  She went back to her bower, but Framar went away to the sorcerers, and they took that loathsome illness from him. He went away and stayed quiet about what happened.

  CHAPTER XXVI

  Framar went to the woods and walked down a road. He saw a man coming towards him, very tall, and clutching both hands to his stomach. He was wearing a mailcoat and had a helmet on his head, and his sword-strap hung against his chest. It was Guttorm, his sworn brother, who had come. There was a joyous meeting between them. Framar asked where he had come from. He said that he had fought with Snaekoll the Viking and had lost both men and wealth there, but that he himself had escaped by swimming. He asked whether it was a long way to the bower of the king’s daughter.