The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki (Penguin Classics)

by Jesse L. Byock

  Frodi accompanied Bodvar on his way. He told Bodvar that he had given quarter to many men, especially those who were small and weak. Bodvar, cheered up by his brother’s remark, praised him, saying that in this he did well, ‘and you should let most people go in peace, even if you find fault with them.’

  Elk-Frodi answered, ‘To me everything is ill-given. But for you, the choice is clear: Go to King Hrolf. All the foremost champions want to be with him. His generosity, as well as his magnificence and courage, exceeds by far all other kings.’

  Then Frodi reached over and pushed Bodvar, saying, ‘Kinsman, you are not as strong as you should be.’ Frodi drew blood from his own calf, telling Bodvar to drink of it, and Bodvar did so.

  Then Frodi shoved his brother for a second time, but Bodvar stood firm in his tracks. ‘You are now exceedingly strong, kinsman,’ said Frodi. ‘I believe the drink has been of use to you. From now on, you will be ahead of most men in strength and prowess as well as in courage and nobility. This thought pleases me immensely.’

  Next Frodi stamped on the stone that lay nearby. His leg sank into the rock up to the small nub on the back of the leg above the elk-hoof.53 He said, ‘I will come to this hoofprint every day in order to see what is in it. It will be earth if you have died of sickness; water if you have drowned; but blood if you have been killed by weapons. If it is the last, then I will avenge you, because I love you best of all men.’

  With this they parted, and Bodvar went on his way. He arrived in Gautland, but King Thorir Hound’s Foot was not at home. Bodvar and Thorir looked so much alike that the one could not be distinguished from the other, so people thought that Thorir had returned home. Bodvar was placed in the high seat and served in all ways as though he were the king. Since Thorir was married, Bodvar was put to bed with the queen.

  But Bodvar would not get under the bed cover with her, which she thought strange because she truly believed him to be her husband. Bodvar told her everything, and she for her part kept the secret. So they continued in this way, talking together every night with a blanket separating them, until Thorir returned home. Then people realized who Bodvar was, and the brothers held a joyful reunion. Thorir said that he would have trusted no other man to lie so close to his queen.

  Thorir invited Bodvar to stay with them, offering him half of all his movable property, but Bodvar said that he did not want to do that. Thorir then suggested that Bodvar choose whatever he desired to take away with him, offering also to supply him with a troop of men. But again Bodvar refused.

  Bodvar now rode out, and Thorir accompanied him for a way. The brothers parted in friendship, but also with unspoken misgivings. Nothing is said of Bodvar’s travels until he arrived in Denmark and was only a short distance from Hleidargard.

  One day a heavy rainstorm soaked Bodvar thoroughly. His horse, which he had ridden hard, was exhausted under him. The going was heavy since the ground had turned to mud. That night it grew very dark and the downpour continued steadily. Bodvar took no notice until his horse stumbled on a large obstacle. He dismounted and looked around, soon realizing that he had come upon some sort of house. He found the door, knocked on it and a man came out of the house. Bodvar asked for shelter for the night. The farmer answered that he would not send him away in the dead of night, especially as he was a stranger. From what the farmer could see, the stranger seemed to be very imposing. Bodvar stayed there overnight and was treated hospitably. He asked many questions about the exploits of King Hrolf and his champions, inquiring also about the distance to Hleidargard.

  ‘It is now a very short distance,’ said the farmer. ‘Do you intend to go there?’

  ‘Yes,’ replied Bodvar, ‘that is my intention.’

  The farmer declared that it would be fitting for him to do so, ‘because I see you are a large, powerful man, and they think themselves great champions’. And the old woman living there sobbed aloud, as she did whenever they mentioned King Hrolf and his champions at Hleidargard.

  Bodvar asked, ‘Why are you crying, you simple old woman?’

  The old woman said, ‘My husband and I have one son, who is named Hott. One day he went to the stronghold to amuse himself, but the king’s men taunted him. He could not stand up to such conduct, so the men took hold of him and stuck him into a pile of bones. It is their habit at mealtimes, when they are finished gnawing the meat from a bone, to throw it at him. Sometimes, if the bone hits him, he is badly injured. Whether he is alive or dead I do not know. But I ask this reward from you, in return for my hospitality, that you throw smaller bones at him rather than larger ones; that is, if he is not already dead.’54

  Bodvar answered, ‘I will do as you request, but I do not think it is warriorlike to strike people with bones or to harm children or men of small account.’

  ‘Then you will do well,’ said the old woman, ‘because your hand seems to be strong, and I know for certain that, if you chose not to hold back, an opponent would have no refuge from your blows.’

  Bodvar continued on his way to Hleidargard. After arriving at the king’s royal residence, he immediately stabled his horse in the stall with the king’s best mounts without asking anyone’s permission. Then he entered the hall, where there were only a few men. He sat down near the entrance, and after he had been there for a short time, he heard a noise coming from somewhere in the corner. Bodvar looked in that direction and saw a man’s hand emerging from a huge pile of bones lying there. The hand was very black.

  Bodvar walked over to the corner and asked who was in the bone pile. He was answered, though timidly, ‘My name is Hott, kind sir.’

  ‘Why are you here?’ asked Bodvar. ‘Or what are you doing?’

  Hott’s reply was, ‘I am making myself a shield wall, kind sir.’

  ‘You and your shield wall are pathetic,’ said Bodvar. He grabbed hold of the man and yanked him out of the bone pile.

  Hott screamed loudly and then said, ‘You are acting as though you want me dead, since I had prepared my defences so well. Now you have broken my shield wall into pieces even though I had built it so high around me that it protected me against all your blows. No blow has reached me now for some time, yet the wall was not as complete as I had intended it to be.’

  Bodvar said, ‘You will no longer build your shield wall.’

  Hott replied, ‘Are you going to kill me now, kind sir?’

  Bodvar, telling Hott to be quiet, picked him up and carried him from the hall to a nearby lake. Few paid attention to this. Bodvar washed Hott completely and then returned to the same place on the bench where he had sat previously. He led Hott there and sat him down beside himself. Hott was so scared that all his limbs and joints trembled, although he seemed to understand that this man wanted to help him.

  Later in the evening men crowded into the hall. Hrolf’s champions saw that Hott had been seated on one of the benches, and it seemed to them that the man who had undertaken to do that was indeed brave. Hott cast a fearful glance in the direction of his old acquaintances, for he had received only harm from them. Afraid for his life, he tried to get back to his bone pile, but Bodvar held on to Hott and he was unable to get away. Hott thought that, if he could manage to get to the heap of bones, he would not be so exposed to the men’s blows.

  The king’s men now took up their old habits. At first they threw small bones across the floor at Bodvar and Hott. Bodvar acted as if he saw nothing. Hott was so frightened that he took neither food nor drink, expecting to be struck at any moment.

  Then Hott said to Bodvar, ‘Kind sir, here comes a large knuckle bone, which is intended to do us much harm.’

  Bodvar told Hott to be quiet. He cupped his hand and caught the knuckle bone, which included the attached leg bone. Bodvar threw the knuckle back, and it smashed with such force into the man who had thrown it that he was killed.55 The king’s men were struck with fear.

  King Hrolf and his champions up in the fortress were now told that an imposing man had arrived in the hall and had killed one of the
king’s retainers. The other retainers wanted to have the man put to death.

  The king asked whether his follower had been killed without cause.

  ‘Almost,’ they said.

  Then the full truth came out. King Hrolf said that by no means should this man be killed: ‘It is a bad habit that you have adopted, throwing bones at innocent men. It brings dishonour to me and shame to you. I have repeatedly spoken to you about this matter, but you have paid no attention. I suspect that this man, whom you have now attacked, is no weakling. Summon him to me, so that I can find out who he is.’

  Bodvar went before the king and greeted him artfully. The king asked for his name.

  ‘Your retainers call me Hott’s protector, but my name is Bodvar.’

  The king said, ‘What compensation are you prepared to offer me for my man?’

  Bodvar replied, ‘He got what he deserved.’

  The king said, ‘Do you want to be my man and occupy his place?’

  Bodvar answered, ‘I will not refuse to become your man, but Hott and I will not, as matters stand, be separated. We will both sit closer to you on the benches than that man did, or else we both leave.’

  The king said, ‘I see no honour in him, but I will not begrudge him food.’

  Bodvar now chose a seat that pleased him, not bothering to sit in the place the other man had occupied. At one point he pulled three men up out of their seats, and then he and Hott sat down in their places. They had now moved much farther into the hall than earlier. Men thought Bodvar difficult to deal with, and there was strong resentment against him.

  As Yuletime drew near, gloom settled over the men. Bodvar asked Hott what caused their dejection. Hott told him that a huge, monstrous beast had come there the past two winters. ‘The creature has wings on its back and it usually flies. For two autumns now it has come here, causing much damage. No weapon can bite into it,56 and the king’s champions, even the greatest among them, do not return home.’57

  Bodvar said, ‘The hall is not so well manned as I had thought, if one animal alone could destroy the king’s lands and his livestock.’

  Hott said, ‘It is not an animal, rather it is the greatest of trolls.’58

  Then came Yule eve, and the king said, ‘It is my wish that tonight men remain calm, making no noise, and I forbid any of my men to put themselves in danger with the beast. The livestock will be left to their fate, because I do not want to lose any of my men.’ Everyone faithfully promised the king to do as he asked.

  Bodvar stole away in the night and took Hott with him. Hott went only after being forced to do so, declaring that he was being steered straight toward death. Bodvar said, ‘Things will turn out for the better.’

  They now left the hall behind them, with Bodvar carrying Hott because he was so frightened. They saw the creature, and immediately Hott started to scream as loudly as he could, crying that the beast would swallow him. Bodvar told the dog to be quiet and threw him down on the moor. There he lay, not a little scared, at the same time not daring to go home.

  Bodvar now went against the beast. He was hampered by his sword, which, as he tried to draw it, stuck fast in its scabbard. Determined, Bodvar urged the sword out until the scabbard squeaked. Then he grasped the scabbard and the sword came out of the sheath. Immediately he thrust it up under the beast’s shoulder, striking so hard that the blade reached quickly into the heart. Then the beast fell dead to the ground.

  After this encounter Bodvar went to the place where Hott was lying. He picked up Hott and carried him to where the beast lay dead. Hott was trembling violently.

  Bodvar said, ‘Now you will drink the beast’s blood.’ For a while Hott was unwilling, although certainly he dared do nothing else. Bodvar made him drink two large mouthfuls as well as eat some of the beast’s heart.59 After that Bodvar seized Hott, and they fought each other for a long time.

  Bodvar said, ‘You have now become remarkably strong, and I expect that from this day forward you will have no fear of King Hrolf’s retainers.’

  Hott replied, ‘From now on, I will fear neither them nor you.’

  ‘Then, Hott, my friend,’ said Bodvar, ‘things have turned out well. Let us now go back to the beast, raising him up in such a way that men will think the creature must be alive.’

  They did just that and afterward went home. They kept these events to themselves, and so no one knew what they had done.

  In the morning, the king asked what was known about the beast, whether it had visited them in the night. He was told that all the livestock were safe in the pens, unharmed. The king ordered men to inquire if there were any indications that the beast had visited them. The guards went out but quickly returned. They told the king that the beast was coming toward them, furiously advancing on the stronghold. The king ordered his retainers to be valiant. Each was to do his best according to his courage, so that they might overcome this monster. Obeying the king’s command, the men prepared themselves.

  The king looked toward the beast, saying finally, ‘I see no movement in it, but which one of you will now seize the opportunity to go against it?’

  Bodvar said, ‘That would likely satisfy the curiosity of the bravest man. Hott, my friend, throw off the slander that men have laid on you, claiming that you have neither spirit nor courage. Go and kill the beast. You can see that no one else is too eager to do so.’

  ‘Right,’ said Hott, ‘I will set myself to that task.’

  The king said, ‘I do not know where your courage has come from, Hott, but much has changed about you in a short time.’

  Hott said, ‘For this task, give me the sword Golden Hilt, the one that you are holding, and then I will either kill the beast or find my own death.’60

  King Hrolf said, ‘That sword is not to be carried except by a man who is both strong in body and noble in spirit.’

  Hott replied, ‘Assume, Sire, that I am made from such a mould.’

  The king retorted, ‘How can one tell? Perhaps more has changed about you than is evident. Few would think that you are the same person. Take the sword, for it will serve you well if my instincts about you turn out to be correct.’

  Then Hott went boldly against the beast, thrusting at it as soon as he was within striking distance. The beast fell down dead.

  Bodvar said, ‘See, Sire, what he has now accomplished.’

  The king answered, ‘Certainly he has changed greatly, but Hott alone did not kill the beast; rather you did it.’

  Bodvar said, ‘That may be.’

  The king said, ‘I knew when you came here that few would be your equal, but it seems to me that your finest achievement is that you have made Hott into another champion. He was previously thought to be a man in whom there was little probability of much luck. I do not want him called Hott any longer; instead, from now on he will be called Hjalti.61 You will now be called after the sword Golden Hilt.’

  And here ends this tale of Bodvar and his brothers.

  24. King Hrolf’s Champions

  Now the winter passed until the time when the king’s berserkers were expected home. Bodvar asked Hjalti about the berserkers’ habits, and Hjalti replied that, ‘Upon returning to the king’s guard, it was their custom to challenge each and every man. They begin with the king, asking him if he considers himself their equal. The king answers, “That is difficult to say with men who are as valiant as you are. You have distinguished yourselves in battles and bloodlettings with many peoples in the southern regions of the world as well as here in the North.” The king answers in this way, more from courage than from fear, because he knows their minds, and they have won great victories for him. Next they ask every man in the hall the same question, but no one reckons himself their equal.’

  Bodvar replied, ‘King Hrolf’s choice of warriors is limited if everyone turns cowardly because of the berserkers.’ After this remark, they stopped talking.

  Bodvar had now been with King Hrolf a year when the second Yule arrived. As the king sat at the table, all
at once the doors of the hall burst open and twelve berserkers rushed into the hall. With all the iron in their equipment, they were as grey as broken ice. Bodvar quietly asked Hjalti if he dared to pit himself against one of them.

  ‘Yes,’ answered Hjalti, ‘not against one, but rather against all. I now have no fear even when I face overwhelming odds, and one of them alone does not set me to trembling.’

  The berserkers, advancing into the hall, saw that the number of King Hrolf’s champions had increased since their departure. They studied the newcomers carefully, noting that one especially was no weakling. It is said that they were a little taken aback by what they found in front of them. The berserkers went, as was their custom, before King Hrolf. They questioned him, as usual, with the same words. The king answered them, as usual, in words that seemed best to him, offering his usual reply. Then they went up to each man in the hall, coming at last to the two companions. The leader of the berserkers asked Bodvar whether he considered himself an equal.

  Bodvar answered that he did not regard himself as equally able, but rather as abler. He added that this difference would be found in whatever way that they might test themselves, and that the berserker – a stinking son of a mare – ought not to come sidling up to him like a common sow. Bodvar lunged at the berserker, seizing him and then heaving him up in the air in his full armour. He then threw the berserker to the ground with such force that the man lay there as if his bones had been broken.

  Elsewhere in the hall, Hjalti played much the same game.

  Now there was a great disturbance in the hall, and the king, sensing the danger of the situation, realized that his men might start to fight among themselves. Quickly leaving his high seat, he approached Bodvar, asking him to help calm the men and return the hall to good order. But Bodvar said that the berserker would lose his life unless he declared himself the lesser man. King Hrolf said that this could easily be accomplished, and Bodvar let the man stand up. Hjalti did the same, in accordance with the king’s command. The men now returned to their seats. The berserkers, too, took their places, although they had much on their minds.