| |
STORIES AND
BALLADS OF THE FAR PAST, Nora Kershaw
INTRODUCTION TO THE SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK
The Saga of Hervör and Heithrek is found in two vellums, the Hauksbók (A.M. 544), dating from c.1325, which for convenience is usually called H; and MS. 2845 in the Royal Library at Copenhagen, dating from the fifteenth century, and generally called R. Besides these there are a number of paper MSS. (h) dating from the seventeenth century. According to Bugge, these have no independent value and can contribute nothing to our knowledge of the text up to the point at which the vellums break off. They are useful however as continuing the Saga beyond this point. H comes to an end with Gestumblindi's second riddle, while R breaks off just before the close of ch. 12. Beyond this point we are entirely dependent on the paper MSS. One of these (A.M. 345 written in 1694) was adopted by Rafn as the text for this edition of the Saga, though he gives H in full as an Appendix.
The MSS. differ considerably among themselves. For instance R omits the first chapter of the Saga, but contains Hjalmar's Death Song. Here, too, many of the riddles are wanting, and the order of the rest
80 THE SAGAS
is quite different from that of h. Finnu Jónsson is of the opinion that R is the best text throughout; but Heusler, like Valdimar Ásmundarson, keeps the order of the riddles as in h. Petersen regards H as the best text and follows it so far as it goes; but when it breaks off he follows R mainly, although he considers the latter MS. to be defective in many places, "at the beginning, middle and end." He has supplied the lacunae in it from Arn. Magn. 192, the paper MS. which comes nearest to it, and also from others, but with greater reservation. Valdimar Ásmundarson, like Petersen, and no doubt influenced by him, has followed H very closely in his edition of the Saga till it breaks off, and after that the paper MSS. (h) most closely related to it. He does not appear to have used R, and therefore omits the details of the fight on Samsø and Hjalmar's Death Song. Ásmundarson's version has been followed closely in the translation given below, but one or two interesting passages omitted by H have been translated separately (see Appendix on pp. 144-150) from the text printed from R in Wimmer's Oldnordisk Lœsebog and from some short excerpts from h printed at the close of Petersen's edition of the Saga.
For a full bibliography of the texts, translations, and literature dealing with this saga the reader is referred to Islandica, Vol. v, pp. 22-26.
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 81
In this saga we have what appears to be the history of a certain family for more than four generations. From the point of view of construction, the story can hardly be regarded as a success. Yet it contains scenes that at least equal to any others which can be found among sagas of this kind. It also embodies a considerable amount of poetry which is not found elsewhere. Some of this is of high merit, and one piece, dealing with the battle between the Huns and the Goths, is evidently of great antiquity.
The Saga opens in a purely mythical milieu—with Guthmund in Glasisvellir, to whom we have already had reference in the story of Nornagest. Next we have a typical story of the Viking Age—the adventures of the sons of Arngrim and their fight on Samsø. This story is known to us from other sources, the earliest being the poem Hyundluljøth (str. 24), which according to Finnur Jónsson cannot be later in date than the latter part of the tenth century, though Mogk is inclined to doubt this. Other references occur in the Saga of Örvar-Odd, Saxo's Danish History, the later ballads translated below, etc.
We then pass on to the account of Hervör, the daughter of Angantyr (which is only found here and in the ballads), and the striking poem in which she is represented as visiting her father's grave-mound to obtain his sword.
The next and longest section contains the life of Hervör's son Heithrek, which is peculiar to this saga and which in its earliest part likewise seems to be
82 THE SAGAS
a story of the Viking Age. Towards the end, however, it gradually dawns upon us that there has been an unconscious change of scene, and that Heithrek, instead of being a Viking prince of the Northern coasts, is now represented as a King of the Goths, somewhere in the East of Europe— apparently in the neighbourhood of the Dnieper. In the last section of the story, dealing with the adventures of Angantyr and Hlöth, the sons of Heithrek, there is no longer any reminiscence of the Viking Age or the North of Europe. Here we are away back among the Goths and Huns in the fifth or the latter part of the fourth century.
Throughout this strange concatenation of scenes a connecting link is afforded by a magic flaming sword, which is handed on from generation to generation, and which can never be sheathed without having dealt a death wound.
It is abundantly clear that the latter part of the story is of a totally different origin from the first part, and in reality many centuries earlier. The prose here is for the most part little more than a paraphrase of the poem, which probably has its roots in poetry of the Gothic period. But how this story came to be joined on to a narrative of the Viking Age is far from clear.
It is also interesting to note that some of the characters in the saga are repetitions of one another. At all events what is said about Hervör the daughter of Heithrek in the latter part of the story bears a strong resemblance to the description of the more prominent Hervör, the daughter of Angantyr, in the first part.
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 83
Three poems of considerable length are preserved in the story. The Riddles of Gestumblindi, though somewhat tedious as a whole, afford a better specimen of this type of composition than is to be found elsewhere in early Norse literature. They cannot fail to be of considerable interest to anyone who studies the Anglo-Saxon Riddles, though unlike the latter they are wholly Teutonic in spirit and form. Direct Latin influence appears to be entirely absent.
Gestumblindi's Riddles, while they belong essentially to popular literature, yet contain many arresting phrases which show a minute observation of nature. They illustrate the condensed, proverbial type of wisdom that prevails in a primitive state of society, as well as its keen interest and delight in the little things of life. They can hardly be called literature as we understand the term; they are rather the stuff of which literature is made. But though it is a far cry from these little nature verses to the more beautiful and more ambitious nature poems of Burns and Tennyson, yet Gestumblindi's loving interest in "every creature of earth" surprised even King Heithrek into comment. The keen and whimsical observation that noted that even a spider is a "marvel" and that it "carries its knees higher than its body" is the same spirit that inspired a poem to the
Wee sleekit, cowrin', tim'rous beastie.
The poet who noticed that water falling as hail on rock looks white by contrast, yet forms little black circles when it falls into the sand as rain, had much in common with one who noticed that rock and sand
84 THE SAGAS
yield opposite sounds when struck by the same object —
Low on the sand and loud on the stone
The last wheel echoed away.
But though these things are pleasing in themselves, they are, of course, slight. Gestumblindi cannot rise to the heights of true poetry reached by Burns or Tennyson.
Besides the Riddles, this saga has preserved for us two far finer poems—in fact two of the finest Norse poems that we possess—the dialogue between Hervör and Angantyr at the Barrows of Samsø, and the narrative of the great battle between the Goths and the Huns, the Chevy Chase of the North. The ruthlessness and barbaric splendour of the Hunnish leaders, the cruelty and the poetry of warfare a thousand years ago, are here vividly depicted in Norse verse at its simplest and best.
We may notice too the little vignettes that appear from time to time both in the poetry itself and in the prose narrative, some of which is evidently derived from lost verses. —Hervör standing at sunrise on the summit of the tower and looking southward towards the forest; Angantyr marshalling his men for battle and remarking dryly that there used to be more of them when mead drinking was in question; great clouds of dust rolling over the plain, through which glittered white corslet and golden helmet, as the Hunnish host came riding on.
The dialogue between Hervör and Angangtyr, despite a certain melodramatic element in the setting, is treated with great delicacy and poetic feeling, and an atmosphere of terror and mystery pervades the .
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 85
whole poem. The midnight scene in the eerie and deserted burial-ground, the lurid flickering of the grave fires along the lonely beach, the tombs opening one by one as the corpses start to life—all these work on the imagination and create an atmosphere of dread. The poet understood the technique of presenting the supernatural, and he is deliberately vague and suggestive. Much more is implied than is stated, and much is left to the imagination.
The greatest charm of the poem, however, lies in the sympathetic treatment for Hervör . The Hervör of the prose narrative is perfectly consistent with the Hervör of the poem, but at the same time the poem—which is probably more than a century older than the saga—would lead us to conclude that her character was not correctly understood by the writer of the saga. Obviously unsympathetic, he denounces her with an indignation which would have made the writer of the poem smile.
"She grew up to be a beautiful girl. . . but as soon as she could do anything it was oftener harm than good; and when she had been checked she escaped to the wood. . . . And when the Earl heard of it he had her caught and brought home."
The picture which the poem presents to us is that of a high-spirited girl, headstrong and impulsive, not unlike Brynhild in the Vösung story. When she goes to the barrows, every nerve is strung up to gain the treasure that has fired her imagination:
What care I though the death-fires blaze,
They sink and tremble before my gaze,
They quiver out and die!
86 THE SAGAS
But a reaction comes when she holds the sword in her hands at last:
Surely in terror I drew my breath
Between the worlds of life and death,
When the grave fires girt me round.
Surveying the saga as a whole, perhaps the most striking feature is its extraordinary diversity of interest. It would be difficult to find elsewhere in Norse literature—or indeed perhaps in any literary forms brought together within such narrow limits.
Of the poems contained in the saga, the first is romantic, the second gnomic, the third heroic— and the prose narrative itself is not less varied in character. The conclusion of the saga appears to be purely historical; indeed it is generally regarded as one of the most important authorities for early Swedish history. Elsewhere also historical elements are probably not wanting, but they are interwoven in a network of romance and folklore. Thus whoever King Heithrek may have been, the part which he has come to play in the saga is chiefly that of linking together a number of folk-tales and illustrating popular saws. As regards chronology, the war described in ch. 12-15 must belong to a period nearly seven centuries before the incidents related at the close of the saga. Still more strange is the fact that the victor in this war, the younger Angantyr, would seem to have lived some four or five centuries before his great grandfather and namesake who perished at Samsø—if indeed the latter story rests on any genuine tradition. In spite of
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 87
similar inconsistencies, however, the saga is on the whole perhaps the most attractive of all the Fornaldarsögur.
THE SAGA OF HERVÖR AND HEITHREK
Here begins the Saga of King Heithrek the Wise.
I.
It is said that in the days of old the northern part of Finnmark was called Jötunheimar and that there was a country called Ymisland to the south between it and the Halogaland. These lands were then the home of many giant and half-giants; for there was a great intermixture of races at the time, because the giants took wives from among the people of Ymisland.
There was a king in Jötunheimar called Guthmund. He was a mighty man among the heathen. He dwelt at a place called Grund in the region of Glasisvellir. He was wise and mighty. He and his men lived for many generations, and so heathen men believed that the fields of immortality lay in his realm; and whoever went there cast off sickness or old age and became immortal.
After Guthmund's death, people worshipped him and called him their god. His son's name was Höfund. He had second sight and was wise of understanding, and was judge of all suits throughout the neighbouring kingdoms. He never gave an unjust judgment, and no-one dared violate his decision.
There was a man called Hergrim who was a giant dwelling in the rocks. He carried off from Ymisland Ama the daughter of Ymir, and afterwards married her. Their son Thorngrim Halftroll took from
88 THE SAGAS
Jötunheimar Ögn Alfasprengi, and afterwards married her. Their son was called Grim. She had been betrothed to Starkath Aludreng, who had eight hands; but she was carried off while he was away to the north of Elivagar.
When he came home he slew Hergrim in single combat; but Ögn ran herself through with a sword rather than marry Starkath. After that Starkath carried off Alfhild the daughter of King Alf from Alfheimar, but he was afterwards slain by Thor. Then Alfhild went to her kinsfolk, and Grim was with her till he went raiding and he became a great warrior. He married Bauggerth the daughter of Starkath Aludrenga and set up his dwelling on an island off Halogaland called Bolm. He was called Eygrim Bolm. His son by Bauggerth was called Arngrim the Berserk, who afterwards lived in Bolm and was a very famous man.
II.
There was a King called Sigrlami who was said to be a son of Othin. His son Svafrlami succeeded the kingdom after his father and was a very great warrior. One day, as the king rode a-hunting, he got separated from his men, and at sunset he came upon a big stone and two dwarfs beside it. The king banned them with his graven sword from entering the stone. The dwarfs begged him to spare their lives.
The King said, "What are your names?"
One of them said his name was Dvalin and the other, Dulin.
The king said: "As you are the most cunning of all dwarfs, you must make me a sword, the best you can. The hilt and the grip must be of gold, and it must cut iron as easily as if it were cloth, and never
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 89
rust; and it must bring victory to whoever uses it in battle and single combat."
They agreed to this, and the king rode away.
And when the appointed day came, the king rode to the stone. The dwarfs were outside, and they handed to the king a sword which was very beautiful.
But as Dvalin was standing in the doorway of the stone, he said:
"Your sword, Svafrlami, will be the death of a man every time it is drawn; and moreover, it will be the instrument of three pieces of villainy; and to you yourself also it shall bring death."
Then the king struck at the dwarfs with the sword. But they sprang into the stone, and the sword came back on it — striking so deep that the ridges of the blade were hidden; for the door into the stone closed as they disappeared: The king called the sword 'Tyrfing,' and ever afterwards, he carried it in battle and single combat, and was always victorious.
The king had a daughter who was called Eyfura, an exceedingly beautiful and clever girl.
At that time, Arngrim was raiding among the Perms in the Baltic. He raided the kingdom of King Svafrlami and fought against him. They met face to face, and King Svafrlami struck at Arngrim who parried the blow with his shield; but the lower part of the shield was cut away and the sword plunged into the earth. Then Arngrim struck off he king's hand, so that he had to let Tyrfing fall. Arngrim caught up Tyrfing and cut down first the king, and then many others. He took great booty there, and carried off Eyfura, the king's daughter, and took her to his home in Bolm.
90 THE SAGAS
By her he had twelve sons. The eldest was Angantyr, then Hervarth, then Hjörvarth, Sæming and Hrani, Brami, Barri, Reifnir, Tind, and Bui, and the two Haddings who only did one man's work between them because they were twins and the youngest of the family. Whereas Angantyr who was a head taller than other men, did the work of two. They were all berserks, and were unequalled in strength and courage. Even when they went marauding there were never more than just the twelve brothers on one ship. They raided far and wide in many lands, and had much success and won great renown. Angantyr had Tyrfing, and Sæming Mistletoe, Hervarth had Hrotti, and each of the others possessed a sword famous in combat. And it was their custom, when they had only their own men with them, to land when they felt the berserks' fury coming upon them, and wrestle with trees or great rocks; for they had been known to slay their own men and disable their ship. Great tales were told about them and they became very famous.
III.
One Yule Eve at Bolm, Angantyr made a vow over the pledge [cup], as the custom then was, that he would wed Ingibjörg the daughter of King Yngvi of Uppsala — the cleverest and most beautiful maiden in all Northlands — or perish in the attempt and marry no-one else. No more of their vows are recorded.
Tyrfing had this characteristic, that whenever it was unsheathed it shone like a sunbeam, even in the dark, and could only be sheathed with human blood still warm upon it. Never did he whose blood was shed by Tyrfing live to see another day. It is very famous in all stories of the olden days.
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 91
Next summer, the brothers went to Uppsala in Sweden, and when they had entered the hall, Angantyr told the King of his vow and that he intended to wed his daughter.
Everybody in the hall listened. Angantyr asked the King to declare what was to be the result of their errand, whereupon Hjalmar the stout-hearted rose from the table, and addressed the king:
"Call to mind, Sire, how much honor I have won for you since I came into your kingdom, and how many times I have risked my life for you. In return for these my service I beg that you will give me your daughter in marriage. And moreover I consider myself more deserving a favourable answer than these berserks, who do harm to everyone."
The king pondered over the matter, and found it difficult to decide the question in such a way as to give rise to as little trouble as possible, and he answered at last:
"My wish is that Ingibjörg should choose for herself the husband she prefers."
She replied: "If you want to marry me to anyone, that I would rather have a man whose good qualities I know already than one whom I have known by hearsay, and nothing but evil at that."
Angantyr said: "I will not bandy words with you; for I can see that you love Hjalmar. But as for you, Hjalmar, come south to Samsø and meet me in single combat. If you do not appear next mid-summer you will be a coward in the eyes of all men.
Hjalmar said that he would not fail to come and fight, and the sons of Arngrim went home to their
|
| |
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 93
barrows with all the weapons; but Hjalmar's body he took home to Sweden. And when Ingibjörg the King's daughter saw Hjalmar's body, she fell down dead, and they were both laid together in one barrow at Uppsala.
IV.
The story goes on to say that a girl was born to the daughter of Earl Bjartmar. Everyone advised exposing the child, saying that if she resembled her father's kinsmen she would not have a womanly disposition. The Earl, however, had her sprinkled with water and he brought her up, and called her Hervör, saying that the line of Arngrim's sons would not be extinguished if she were left alive.
She grew up to be a beautiful girl. She was tall and strong, and trained herself in the use of bow, shield, and sword. But as soon as she could do anything it was oftener harm than good; and when she had been checked she ran away to the woods and killed people to provide herself with money. And when the Earl heard of it, he had her caught and brought home, where she remained for at time.
One day she went to the Earl and said; "I want to go away because I am not happy here."
A little while after she departed alone, dressed and armed like a man, and joined some Vikings and stayed with them for a time, calling herself Hervarth. Shortly afterwards the chief of the Viking s died, and Hervarth took command of the band.
One day when they sailed to Samsø, Hervarth landed; but her men would not follow her, saying that it was not safe for anyone to be out of doors there by night . Hervarth declared that there was
94 THE SAGAS
likely to be much treasure in the barrows. She landed on the island towards sunset, but they lay off in Munarvagar. She met a shepherd boy and asked him for information.
He said: "You are a stranger to the island; but come home with me, for it is unsafe for anyone to be out of doors here after sunset; and I am in a hurry to get home."
Hervarth replied: "Tell me where are 'Hjörarth's Barrows,' as they are called."
"You mus t surely be mad," replied the boy, "if you want to explore by night what no-one dare visit at mid-day. Burning flame plays over them as soon as the sun has set."
But Hervarth insisted that she would visit the barrows — whereupon the shepherd said:
"I see that you are a brave man though not a wise one, so I will give you my necklace if you will come home with me."
But Hervarth replied: "Even if you give me all you have you will not hold me back."
And when the sun had set, loud rumblings were heard all over the island, and flames leapt out of the barrows. Then the shepherd grew frightened and took to this heels and ran to the wood as fast as he could, without once looking back. Here is a poem giving an account of his talk with Hervör:
Driving his flocks at the fall of day,
In Munarvagar along the bay,
A shepherd met a maid.—
"Who comes to our island here alone?
Haste to seek shelter, the day is done,
The light will quickly fade."
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 95
"I will not seek for a resting place:
A stranger am I to the island race.—
But tell me quick I pray,
Ere thou goest hence, if I may descry
Where the toms of the children of Arngrim lie:
O tell me, where are they?"
"Forebear from such questions utterly!
Foolish and rash must thou surely be,
And in a desperate plight!
Let us haste from these horrors as fast as we can,
For abroad it is ghastly for children of men
To wander about in the night."
"My necklace of gold is the price I intend
To pay for thy guidance; for I am the friend
Of Vikings, and will not be stayed."
"No treasures so costly, nor rings of red gold
Shall take me their thrall, or my footsteps withhold,
That thereby my flight be gainsaid.
"Foolish is he who comes here alone
In the fearsome dark when the sun has gone
And the flames are mounting high;—
When earth and fen are alike ablaze,
And tombs burst open before thy gaze:
O faster let us hie!"
"Let us never heed for the snorting blaze,
Nor fear, though over the island ways
Dart tongues of living light.
Let us not lightly give way to fear
Of the noble warriors buried here,
But talk with them tonight."
But the shepherd lad fled fast away,
Nor stayed to hear what the youth would say,
But into the forest sped;
While in Herv&oul;r's breast rose proud and high
Her hard-knit heart, as she saw near by
The dwellings of the dead.
96 THE SAGAS
She could now see the fires of the barrows and the ghosts standing outside; and she approached the barrows fearlessly and passed through the fires as if they had been merely smoke, until she reached the barrow of the berserks. Then she cried:
V.
Awaken, Anganatyr, hearken to me!
The only daughter of Tofa and thee
Is here and bids thee awake!
Give me from out the barrow's shade
The keen-edged sword which the dwarfs once made
For Svafrlami's sake.
Hervarth, Hjörvarth, Angantyr,
And Hrani, under the tree-roots here,
I bid you now appear;—
Clad in harness and coat of mail,
With shield and broadsword of biting steel,
Helmet and reddened spear!
The sons of Arngrim are changed indeed
To heaps of dust, and Eyfura's seed
Has crumbled into mould.—
In Munarvagar will no one speak
To her who has come thus far to seek
Discourse with the men of old?
Hervarth, Hjörvarth, Angantyr
And Hrani, great be your torment here
If ye will not hear my words.
Give me the blade that Dvalin made;
It is ill becoming the ghostly dead
To keep such costly swords!
In your tortured ribs shall my curses bring
A maddening itch and a frenzied sting,
Till ye writhe in agonies,
As if ye were laid to your final rest
Where the ants are swarming within their nest,
And reveling in your thighs!
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 97
Then answered Angantyr:
O Hervör, daughter, why dost thou call
Words full of cursing upon us all?
Thou goest to meet thy doom!
Mad art thou grown, and thy wits are fled;
Thy mind is astraty, that thou wak'st the dead
—The dwellers in the tomb.
No father buried me where I lie,
Nor other kinsman. . .
The only two who remained unslain
Laid hold on Tyrfing ,but now again
One only possesses the sword.
She answered:
Nought save the truth shalt thou tell to me!
May the ancient gods deal ill with thee
If thou harbour Tyrfing there!
Thine only daughter am I, and yet
Unwilling thou art that I should get
That which belongs to thine heir!
It now seemed as if the barrows, which had opened, were surrounded with an unbroken ring of flame. Then Angantyr cried:
The barrows are opening! Before thy gaze
The round of the island is all ablaze,
And the gate of Hell stands wide.
There are specters abroad that are ghastly to see/
Return, little maiden, right hastily
To thy ship that waits on the tide.
She replied:
No funeral fire that burns by night
Can make me tremble with affright,
Or fear of awful doom.
Thy daughter's heart can know no fear,
Though a ghost before her should appear
In the doorway of the tomb.
98 THE SAGAS
Angantyr:
O Hervör, Hervör, hearken to me!
Nought save the truth will I tell to thee
That will surely come about!
Believe me, maiden, Tyrfing will be
A curse upon all thy progeny
Till thy race be blotted out.
A son shalt thou bear, as I prophesy,
Who shall fight with Tyrfing mightily,
And trust to Tyrfing's might.
I tell thee Heithrek shall be his name,
The noblest man and of greatest fame
Of all under Heaven's light.
Hervör:
On all you dead this curse I cry:—
Mouldering and rotting shall ye lie
With the spirits in the tomb!
Out of the barrow, Angantyr,
Give me the keen-edged Tyrfing here,
The sword called 'Hjalmar's Doom' !
Angantyr:
Surely unlike yo a mortal thou
To wander about from howe to howe,
And stand in the doorway here!
In the horror of night-time, my little maid,
Thou comest with helmet and byrnie and blade,
And shakest thy graven spear!
Hervör:
A mortal maiden is she who comes,
Arousing the corpses within their tombs,
And will not be denied:—
Give me from out the barrow's shade
The keen-edged sword that the dwarf-folk made,
Which it ill becomes thee to hide!
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 99
Angantyr:
The sword that the death-stroke to Hjalmar gave
Lies under my shoulders within the grave,
And wrapped about with flame.
But that maiden lives not in any land
Who dare grasp the weapon within her hand
For any hope of fame.
Hervör:
There lives, O Angantyr, a maid
Who yearns to handle the keen-edged blade,
And such a maid am I!
And what care I though the tombs firs blaze!
They sink and tremble before my gaze,
They quiver out and die!
Angantyr:
O Hervör, 'tis folly and madness dire
To rush wide-eyed through the flaming fire
With courage undismayed.
Rather by far will I give to thee
The Accursed sword, though unwillingly,
My little, tender maid.
Hervör:
O son of the vikings, well hast thou done
In giving me Tyrfing from out the tomb;
And happier am I today
That I now grasp Tyrfing within my hands
Than if I were queen of the broad Northlands,
And conqueror of Noroway.
Angantyr:
Vain is thy rapture, my luckless maid!
Thy hopes are false. All too soon will fade
The flush of joy from thy face.
Try, child, to listen; I am warning thee! —
This sword is the sword of destiny,
The destroyer of all thy race!
100 THE SAGAS
Hervör:
Away, away to my 'ocean-steed' !
The daughter of princes is glad indeed,
O gald at heart today!
And what care I for the destiny
Of children as yet undreamed by me?—
Let them quarrel as they may!
Angantyr:
Thou shalt have and enjoy without sorrow or pain
The blade which proved to Hjalmar's bane,
If thou draw it not from its sheath.
Worse than a plague is this cursed thing.
Touch not its edges, for poisons cling
Above it and beneath.
Farewell, yet fain would I give to thee
The life that has passed from my brothers and me,
O daughter, 'tis truth I say!
—The strength and vigour and hardihood,
—All that we had that was great and good,
That has vanished and passed away!
Hervör:
Farewell, farewell to all you dead!
Farewell! I would that I were sped!
Farewell all you in the mound!...
Surely in terror I drew my breath
Between the Worlds of Life and Death
When the grave fires girt me round!
Then she returned towards her ships; but when dawn came, she saw that they had departed. The Vikings had been scared by the rumblings and the flames on the island. She got a ship to carry her away; but nothing is told of her voyage till she came to Guthmund in Glasisvellir, where she remained all through the winter, still calling herself Hervarth.
THE SAGA OF HERVOR AND HEITHREK 101
|