The Saga of the Volsungs

by Jackson Crawford

  Chapter 40. Concerning Jormunrekk and Svanhild

  [compare the prose introduction to Guðrúnarhvot (Guthrunarhvot) in the Poetic Edda]

  A king was named Jormunrekk, a very powerful king in his time. His son was named Randvér. The king came to talk with his son and said, "You will go on an errand for me to King Jónakr, together with my counselor Bikki. There is a girl named Svanhild in King Jónakr’s land. She is the daughter of Sigurð, killer of Fáfnir, and she is the most beautiful woman under the sun. I want her in preference to anyone else, and you are going to propose that she be married to me."

  Randvér said, "It is my duty, my lord, to go on your errand." He had the expedition prepared splendidly, and they traveled until they came to King Jónakr’s home where they saw Svanhild, and they thought that her beauty was remarkable.

  Randvér sought an audience with King Jónakr and said, "King Jormunrekk wants to propose marriage to your stepdaughter. He has {80} heard of Svanhild and he wants her for his wife, and it would be impossible to marry her to a more powerful man than he is."

  The king said that this was a good idea, and that Jormunrekk was very famous.

  Guðrún said, "It’s foolish to trust that a streak of good luck won’t break."

  But with the encouragement of King Jormunrekk, and because of every argument that was brought to bear in favor of the marriage, it was agreed, and Svanhild went to Randvér’s ship with a worthy following and sat in the stern with Randvér.

  Then Bikki said to Randvér, "It would be more fitting for you, and not the old man, to have such a beautiful woman." This agreed well with Randvér’s feelings, and he went and spoke to her pleasantly, and she to him.

  Later they came home and met the king.

  Bikki said, "It is fitting, lord, for you to know what has happened, though it is painful to say it. The news is that you have been betrayed, and your son has enjoyed Svanhild’s love in every way. She is his concubine, and you should not let such things go unpunished."

  Bikki had often given evil counsel before, though this did worse evil than anything else he had ever done. The king listened to his many evil words, and then he said, while he was unable to control himself in his rage, that Randvér should be taken and hanged. And when Randvér had been led to the hanging-tree, he took a hawk in his hand and plucked off all its feathers and said that it ought to be shown to his father.

  And when the king saw this, he said, "Now I see that he thinks I’ve been stripped of honor, like this hawk has been stripped of feathers." And he ordered him taken down from the hanging-tree. But Bikki had done his deceitful work, and Jormunrekk’s son was already dead. Now Bikki said, "You have no one to repay worse than Svanhild. Let her die with shame."

  King Jormunrekk said, "That is advice I will take." And she was tied up by the town gate and horses were let loose to trample her. But when she stared at the horses, they didn’t dare come near her. Bikki saw this and said that a bag should be put over her head, and this was done, and then she was killed.

  {81} Chapter 41. Guðrún Urges Her Sons to Take Vengeance

  [compare Guðrúnarhvot (Guthrunarhvot) and Hamðismál (Hamthismal), st. 1–10, in the Poetic Edda]

  Guðrún learned about the death of Svanhild and told her sons, "Why do you sit here so quietly, speaking pleasantly, when Jormunrekk has killed your sister and trampled her under horses’ hooves with shame? You two have hearts nothing like Gunnar and Hogni’s. They would have avenged their kinswoman."

  Hamðir said, "You didn’t have much good to say about Gunnar and Hogni when they killed Sigurð and made you red with his blood. And you avenged your brothers evilly when you killed your own sons, and it would be better if all of us were alive to go and kill King Jormunrekk together. But we won’t stand idly by for these mocking words, not when you push us so hard."

  Guðrún laughed and gave them big cups to drink from. And afterwards she chose massive, well-made shirts of chainmail for them to wear, and other clothes of war.

  Then Hamðir said, "This will be our last parting, and you’ll hear the news of it. You’ll drink the funeral toast for Svanhild, and for the two of us too." And then they left.

  Guðrún went to her room more miserable than ever and said, "I was married to three men, first to Sigurð, killer of Fáfnir. He was betrayed, and that was my greatest misery.

  "Then I was married to King Atli, and my heart hated him so much that I killed my own sons in my grief.

  "Then I went to the sea, and the waves threw me back on land and I was given to this king. Then I married Svanhild off with great wealth, and the worst of my miseries after Sigurð’s death is that she was trampled under the hooves of horses. But the cruelest of my miseries is that Gunnar was thrown in the snake-pit, and the hardest is that Hogni’s heart was cut out.

  "It would be better if Sigurð would come to me and I could go away with him. Now I sit with no sons or daughters to comfort me.

  {82} "Sigurð, do you remember what we said, when we first stepped together into one bed—that either you would come back to me from Hel, or wait for me there?"

  And this was the last of what Guðrún had to say about her torments.

  Chapter 42. The Murder of Erp and the Fall of Sorli and Hamðir

  [compare Hamðismál (Hamthismal), st. 11–31, in the Poetic Edda]

  Now it is told that Guðrún had enchanted the armor of her sons so that iron could not pierce it, and she told them not to injure any stones or other big things and that if they did, they would no longer be shielded from all harm.

  And when they had started on their way, they met their brother Erp, and they asked him what help he would give them.

  He said, "I will help you like hand helps hand, or foot helps foot."

  They thought he meant no help at all, and they killed him. Then they rode along further, and a little later Hamðir tripped and caught himself with his hand and said, "Erp must have been speaking faithfully. I would have fallen just now if I hadn’t caught myself with my hand."

  And a little later Sorli also tripped. He recovered himself with his foot, and steadied himself. He said, "I would have fallen, if I hadn’t caught myself with both feet." Now they said that they had done an evil thing to their brother Erp.

  They went on to the realm of King Jormunrekk, and they went before him and attacked him. Hamðir cut off both his hands, and Sorli both his feet.

  Then Hamðir said, "His head would have come off, too, if our brother Erp had lived, but we killed him on the road and we realized our error too late," as the poem says:

  "Jormunrekk would lose his head,

  if only Erp still lived,

  our bold brother,

  the one we killed on the road."

  {83} And when they had done this, they had violated the command of their mother, because they had injured stone. Now Jormunrekk’s men attacked them, and they defended themselves well and boldly and injured many men, and iron would not harm them.

  But then an old man came, very tall and with only one eye, and he said, "You are not wise if you don’t know how to kill these men."

  King Jormunrekk said, "Advise us if you know how."

  The man said, "Kill them with stones."

  And this was done. Stones were thrown at them from every direction, and they were killed.

  {85} The Saga of Ragnar Loðbrók

  (Ragnars saga loðbrókar)

  Chapter 1. Concerning Heimir and Áslaug

  Now the news came to Heimir in Hlymdalir that Sigurð and Brynhild were dead. Their daughter Áslaug, who was Heimir’s foster-daughter, was three years old at the time, and Heimir knew that someone would search for her and try to kill her and wipe out her family line. And he mourned so much for the loss of Brynhild, his foster-daughter, that he could not hold on to his kingdom or his wealth, and he knew that he could not hide the girl there. So he had a huge harp made, and he hid Áslaug inside of it together with many treasures of gold and silver, and then he wandered north through many
lands until he came here to Scandinavia.

  This harp was so skillfully made that he could take it apart and put it back together in sections. During the days when he walked near the wild waterfalls and was far from any farm, Heimir would take the harp apart and wash the girl. And he had a particular onion that he would give her to eat, and this onion had the power that a person could eat it and live, even if no other food was available. And when the girl cried, he would play the harp and then she would be quiet, because Heimir was skillful at all the arts that were popular in his time. He also kept many precious clothes in the harp with the girl, together with a great deal of gold.

  And now Heimir traveled until he came to Norway and entered a little farm there that was called Spangarheið. The man who lived there was named Aki, and his wife was named Gríma, and there were no other people besides them there.

  On the day Heimir arrived, the husband had gone into the forest, but the old woman was at home. She greeted Heimir and asked what sort of man he might be. He said he was a beggar, and he asked the {86} old woman to let him stay the night. She said not very many guests visited, but that she would be hospitable to him, if he thought he needed to stay there. And Heimir said the best hospitality he could hope for on his journey would be if a fire could be started for him, and then if he could be led to the sleeping quarters where he could spend the night.

  And when the old woman had gotten a fire started, Heimir stood the harp up next to where he sat. The woman spoke constantly, and her glance often turned toward the harp, because it happened that a piece of precious cloth hung out from inside it. And as Heimir was warming himself up at the fire, she saw a precious golden ring that appeared from underneath his tattered clothes, because he was poorly dressed. And when he had warmed himself and was comfortable, he ate dinner. And after this he asked the old woman to show him to the place where he could sleep for the night.

  Then the old woman said that it would be better for him to sleep outside than inside, "Because I’m often talkative with my husband when he comes home."

  Heimir said it was her decision to make, so he went outside with her. He took the harp and kept it with him. The old woman went out and led him to where there was a barn and said that he could situate himself there and that she thought he could enjoy a night’s sleep there. And now the old woman left and did the chores she needed to do, and Heimir went to sleep.

  Aki came home as the evening drew on, and found that his wife had done few of the chores she was supposed to do. He was angry when he came home and he spoke to her roughly, because everything that he had told her to do was undone. He said that there was a lot of difference between how much he and she enjoyed their day, because he had to work more than he could every day, but she wouldn’t do anything useful.

  "Don’t be angry, husband," she said, "because maybe in a short time you’ll be able to do something that will make us happy for the rest of our lives."

  "What is that?" he asked.

  She said, "A man has come here to our home, and I think he’s traveling with a great deal of money, and he’s getting old. He probably once {87} was a great champion, but now he is very tired. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his equal, but I think he’s worn out and sleeping."

  Then Aki said, "I don’t think it’s wise to betray the few people who ever come here."

  Gríma said, "You will always be a man of little ambition, because everything seems to be a bigger thing in your eyes than it is. Well, either you will kill him, or I will marry him and then he and I will kick you out of here. And I can tell you what he said to me last night, although you won’t think well of it. He spoke seductively to me, and I think I’d like to have him for a husband and drive you off or kill you, if you don’t want to do what I want."

  And it is told that Aki was easily dominated by his wife, and she kept up her nagging until he gave in, and he took up his axe and sharpened it well. And when he was ready, the woman followed Aki to where Heimir was sleeping, and he was snoring loudly.

  Then Gríma told Aki that he should attack him as hard as he could, "and then run away quickly, because I doubt you can stand his shouting and screaming if he gets his hands on you." Then she grabbed the harp and ran away with it, and he stepped up to the spot where Heimir slept. He hit him hard with the axe, and it was a big wound and the axe flew out of his hands. Then he ran away as fast as he could.

  Heimir woke up when he was attacked, and he felt that it was his death-blow. And it is said that he made such a loud noise in his final agony that the pillars of the building collapsed and then the whole building with them, and there was a great earthquake, and in this way his life came to an end.

  Now Aki came to where Gríma was and told her that he had killed Heimir. "But there was a while when I wasn’t sure how it would go, because he was a very great man. But I think he is now in Hel."

  Gríma said that he deserved thanks for doing this. "And I think we have plenty of money now, and we’ll test whether what I said is true." So they started a fire, and Gríma took the harp and wanted to take it apart, but she knew no other way than to break it because she did not have Heimir’s skill. She broke it open, and she saw a very young girl inside of a sort she thought she had never seen, and there was also a large amount of treasure inside the harp with her.

  {88} Aki said, "Now it’s happened like it often does, that one is punished for betraying those who trust him. It looks like we have another mouth to feed on our hands."

  Gríma said, "This is not what I expected, but it’s not a bad surprise." She asked the girl what family she was from, but the girl said nothing, as if she had never learned to speak.

  "Now it’s going as I expected, that our evil deed has brought us evil," said Aki. "We have committed a terrible crime, and what are we going to do with this child?"

  "That’s simple," said Gríma. "She’ll be named Kráka [‘Crow’], after my mother."

  Aki said again, "What are we going to do with her?"

  Gríma said, "I have a good idea. We’ll say she’s our daughter and we’ll raise her."

  "No one will believe it," said Aki. "This child is much better-looking than we are, and we are both incredibly ugly. No one will think it’s believable that we had a child who looks like this, considering how hideous we both are."

  Gríma said, "You don’t understand, but I have an idea for how to make it more believable. I’ll shave her bald and then put tar and other things in her scalp to keep her hair from growing back. And she’ll wear a long hood, and she’ll never wear good clothes. Then our looks won’t seem so different, and maybe people will think that I was much better-looking in my youth. Plus, she’ll do all the worst work."

  Gríma and Aki thought the girl could not speak, since she never answered them. And they followed Gríma’s plan, and the girl grew up with them in abject poverty.

  Chapter 2. Concerning Thóra Town-Doe

  Herruð was the name of a great and powerful jarl in Götaland. He was married, and his daughter was named Thóra. She was the most beautiful of all women to look at, and she was the noblest in every woman’s skill that might come up or that it might be better to be with than without. The nickname she was called by was Town-Doe, because she {89} exceeded other women in beauty just as the doe exceeds all other animals. The jarl loved his daughter dearly, and he made a little house for her near the king’s hall, with a fence around it. It was the jarl’s custom to send his daughter something to play with every day, and he said that he intended to continue doing so.

  It is told that one day he had a small snake brought to her that was very pretty. She liked the snake and let it sit in a small chest and she put gold underneath it. It did not sit there long before it began to grow, and the gold grew that was under it. Finally there was no more room for it in the chest and the snake lay coiled in a ring around it. And later there wasn’t even enough space for it in Thóra’s cabin, and the snake kept growing and so did the gold. Now it lay outside and encircled the cabin so that its h
ead touched its tail, and it did not like to be approached, and no one dared to come near the cabin because of this dragon, except the man assigned to feed it, and the dragon required a whole steer for every meal.

  The jarl thought this dragon was a curse, and he swore that he would marry his daughter to whatever man could kill it, no matter what family he was from, and also give him the gold that lay beneath the dragon as a wedding-gift. This news was spread widely around the land, although no one dared to kill the great dragon.

  Chapter 3. Ragnar Kills the Dragon

  At that time Sigurð Ring ruled Denmark. He was a powerful king and had become famous after his battle against Harald Wartooth on Brávellir when he killed Harald, which has become known to everyone in the northern half of the world.

  Sigurð Ring had a son named Ragnar. He was a big man, handsome and well-provided with wisdom. He was good to his men and cruel to his enemies. As soon as he had grown old enough, he assembled an army and a fleet of ships and became the best kind of warrior, so that there were few who could equal him.

  Ragnar heard tell of what Jarl Herruð had said, but he paid it no attention and acted as if he had never heard it. But he ordered some {90} clothes made for himself of a strange type, shaggy pants and a shaggy cloak, and when they were done, he ordered them boiled in pitch, and then he put them away.

  One summer, when Ragnar sailed with his army to Götaland, he hid his ship in an inconspicuous spot in a fjord not far from where Jarl Herruð ruled. And when Ragnar had been there one night, he woke up early in the morning, rose up, and put on the same clothes as have been previously described. He took up a great spear in his hand and left the ships on his own, and he went down to a sandy place and he rolled around in the sand. And before he continued, he took the nail out of his spear that held the shaft to the point, and now he went alone from his ships to the jarl’s residence and came early in the day, when everyone was sleeping.