Six Sagas of Adventure (15 page)

Ketil answered, “King Hrolf Gautreksson sent me to find you and tell you that he’ll come here in the morning. He wants to have your wealth and ships, and butcher you for the wolves, unless you surrender everything you own into his hands.”

Asmund answered, “We know that King Hrolf Gautreksson is famous for the many deeds that he has accomplished on raids. But now, since I am a king’s son and I have plenty of men, I say to King Hrolf that we will not surrender without a fight. We’ll pit five ships against your five ships,
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and we’ll win this fight without sorcery.”

After that, Ketil went back and told King Hrolf what had happened, saying that the man was the handsomest man and the finest warrior.

In the morning, both sides prepared for battle. Asmund had four of his ships anchor nearby, and they began to fight at once. It was a hard and long and fierce battle. Asmund advanced with great bravery, and Hrolf thought that he’d never had to deal with braver men. Many fell on both sides. King Hrolf saw that this was no time for half measures, and he and his men rushed on board Asmund’s ship. Then there was a great slaughter. Asmund urged his men on and charged forward most bravely. King Hrolf came against him, and many men fell on both sides, but more on Asmund’s side. Both men traded blows, going at it with all their might. Hrolf ordered that no man should interfere in their combat. Asmund was badly wounded in their encounter, and when King Hrolf saw that he could no longer fight wholeheartedly, he said, “I want us to rest and talk a while.”

Asmund asked him to explain. Hrolf said, “I have been raiding for several summers, and I have never found your equal in bravery. Now, since many of your men are wounded and dead, there are two options at hand. One is for you to crew your ship a second time with unwounded men, if you want to fight longer. Then we will fight to the end. The other option is for us to call a truce. Then I will offer to swear brotherhood with you, and thus we will make our friendship firm.”

Asmund replied that he wanted a truce—“if you will spread no slander about me or my men.”

Hrolf said that he had never met braver men.

After that, King Hrolf ordered them to cease fighting. The peace-shields were held up.
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Both of them anchored alongside the island and bound their men’s wounds. Two of Asmund’s ships, and one of Hrolf’s, had been cleared of fighters. Afterwards, each man swore faithfulness to the other, and vowed never to be parted except by the consent of both men. Then Asmund arranged his surviving forces: he equipped one ship very well with men and weapons, and the rest of his men he sent to Scotland. Two of his ship’s crews had fallen, and one of Hrolf’s. But the men whom Asmund thought were his best and bravest followers, he kept with him on one ship, and he sailed with King Hrolf to Gautland.

Asmund was considered the boldest and bravest man, and came nearest to King Hrolf in all his achievements—yet he still came up short. They all stayed together that winter in Gautland, in perfect peace and with much good cheer. Asmund kept reminding King Hrolf to go back and see to his proposed marriage in Sweden, strongly urging him to make the journey. The king was always tight-lipped about this journey, but he had grief from his brother Ketil, who urged him on eagerly.

When spring came, King Hrolf prepared to leave his lands. He had seven ships, all well equipped, and the boldest men. King Hrolf made it plain to his men that he meant to go to Sweden. Then the king asked his brother Ketil not to stay behind, and all the sworn brothers went on this journey. They set a course for Sweden with all their forces.

CHAPTER XII

On the night they arrived in Sweden, Queen Ingigerd had a dream. She told the dream to King Eirek: “I seemed to be standing outside, and once again I could see for a long distance. I looked to the sea and saw that no small number of ships had landed, and from the ships there ran many wolves, but a lion ran ahead of the wolves. Two white bears ran with him, very large and handsome. All these beasts came side by side, but beside the lion on the other side, there was a boar charging ahead. He was not as large as he was savage. I had never seen anything like him. He rooted up every hill and howled as if he would turn inside out. Every bristle on him was sticking out. He acted as if he would attack everything and bite whatever came in reach. Now I realize that the lion is King Hrolf’s fetch, since I saw him before. But now he was scowling much more fiercely than before. All the beasts were much more ferocious, and they charged onto land, heading for Uppsala.”

King Eirek said, “Who do you suppose has the wicked boar you saw as a fetch? That fetch wasn’t here on their first journey, and there was no more than one bear then.”

The queen said, “I’ve heard it said that King Hrolf has a brother named Ketil, the smallest and most impetuous of men, full of rashness and violence, and the most eager for warlike exploits. I suppose this boar must be his fetch, because he wasn’t here before with his brother King Hrolf. Since there were two white bears, I guess that King Hrolf has taken some great man into his following, a king or a prince. Act rightly, my lord, and keep all your agreements with King Hrolf. He must now intend to come and see about his proposal of marriage. Many men would already have taken vengeance for outrages like those that were done to him when he went to Ullarakr, as we heard. As much as you promised to do as he wished the last time, you must now promise even more firmly, because he is now completely bent on harming us if he doesn’t make the marriage that he agreed on.” The king said that it would be done.

Now the king was informed that King Hrolf had arrived in the land. King Eirek invited him to a splendid feast, along with a hundred of his men, and King Hrolf accepted. Eirek the king of Sweden and all his household went to meet him with great good cheer. They stayed there for several nights, honored most highly. King Eirek offered them anything they might be lacking, with the greatest good will.

One day, when they had sat down to drink, King Eirek asked whether King Hrolf intended to pursue his marriage proposal. He said that he would risk it, however it might turn out.

The king said, “Now it will go as I told you before; to accomplish anything here, you’ll need both cunning and bravery. We’ve been informed that the king has built great defenses. She’s had the strongest fortifications built, with great skill and all sorts of traps, and we don’t think that they will be easy to conquer. I will fulfill every promise which I have made to you, King Hrolf, and grant you rulership over the kingdom that we gave her to rule, until we leave off governing. Then you shall claim all this kingdom after we are gone—if you manage to win her.”

King Hrolf thanked King Eirek for his noble speech, and said that he could not have asked for more from his hands.

CHAPTER XIII

Not long after, they prepared to leave, and they didn’t stop their journey until they reached Ullarakr. Certain knowledge of their coming had gone ahead of them for their entire journey, and the Swedish king had had strong fortresses built, so that there was no way to get in. When King Hrolf arrived with his men, there was no lack of uproar and clashing of weapons coming from the fortresses. They saw the strong defenses there. King Hrolf ordered his men to pitch their tents and camp, saying that they wouldn’t stay there for long. King Hrolf then spoke with his brother Ketil and asked him to take the fortress with sudden attacks and taunting speech. Ketil said that he intended to attack without holding anything back, and so did each of his men.

They slept that night, and in the morning King Hrolf made a request, saying that he wanted to speak with the King of the Swedes. He asked her to come out onto the ramparts, so that each of them might hear the other’s words clearly. This was told to the king, and she went out onto the wall with all her retinue. When King Hrolf saw the king, he said, “Sire, I ask you to hear and heed the words which we will speak to you. You may remember the last time we came to meet you, what our purpose was, and what shame and disgrace you did to us. Now, if we receive no better answer than before, I shall burn this place and kill every mother’s son in it, or else I shall die here.”

When the king had heard his words, she said, “You’ll be a Gautlandish goat-herd before you’ll get any authority over this place or anyone who protects us. Go home with all your men and be glad that you got away unhurt.” Then the king beat on her shield and said that she didn’t want to hear another word out of King Hrolf, and all her men did the same. When King Hrolf saw that his negotiations with the king had come to nothing, he ordered his men to arm themselves and attack boldly. They did as the king ordered, but soon retreated without accomplishing anything. They couldn’t do anything without facing a counterattack. They carried fire to the walls, but water poured down from hollow logs set into the ramparts. They thought they could take the fort with their weapons by digging, but their enemies poured blazing pitch and boiling water on them. Large stones were dropped on them as well, bruising them all, because there was no shortage of defenders. Some men were killed there and many were hurt, and they went away both exhausted and wounded. There was grumbling among the Gauts, and they didn’t like this fight. The Swedes came out of the fortress, jeering and laughing at them, and questioning their courage. They brought out velvet and silk and many precious treasures and showed them off, inviting the Gauts to try and get them.

King Hrolf asked his brother Ketil how he thought things were going. Ketil said that it seemed rather hard work—“I believe this king of the Swedes is pissing very hot.” The king said that perhaps more than just bragging was needed.

They stayed there no less than half a month. Then Asmund said to Hrolf, “We’ve been attacking this stead for a long time, and every day we’ve had severe troubles. We’ve lost many men, and some are wounded. Now, my lord, we want you to come up with some plans which will help. If not, our men want to go home, because we’ve gotten mockery and laughter for our pains.”

King Hrolf answered, “We don’t see any way to make it certain that this fortress will be won. But let’s try going to the forest and tying up big bundles of sticks. We’ll make a huge wickerwork out of them, and put big logs under it. Then we should carry this wickerwork so high that men can easily stand underneath it and prop it up from below with posts. We must pick all our strongest men for this. Then some will have digging tools and dig holes in the walls, and we’ll find out if we can get through the walls that way.”

They all felt this was a good plan. When they had brought this device, they carried it under the ramparts. It was so strong that nothing hurt the men behind it, neither stones nor pitch, so that in a short time they had breached the fortress walls. When King Thorberg had figured out their trick, she ran into an underground passage with all her men, and that’s how they escaped into the forest. King Hrolf broke into the fortress with all his forces, but when they came inside, everyone had fled. They found it very strange not to find any men when they came into the quarters—but food and drink stood prepared in every room, and clothes and treasures were all there, ready to hand.

Ketil said, “This king’s a coward at heart, if she’s abandoned such a huge store of treasures, along with food and drink prepared for our enemies. We’ve had a great stroke of luck for our trouble. First we should drink and eat, and then divide up our loot.”

When King Hrolf heard his words, he said, “Now you’ve snapped at the bait that was meant for you, paying more attention to filling your belly than capturing the king. No one is to delay here so that the king can get away. Instead, we must search this place, in case we find any underground passage that might lead away from here.”

They did as the king ordered, and they found an underground passage in the fortress. King Hrolf went in first, and then one man after another followed. They walked until they came to an upwards passage, and by then they had reached the forest. There before them was the Swedish king with all her household. A battle broke out. King Hrolf advanced boldly and bravely, and so did all the sworn brothers. The Swedish king and all her men fought bravely, because her followers were hand-picked for their valor, and she had a much larger force. But as soon as the sworn brothers entered the fray, they charged fiercely and killed many men. The Swedish king urged her men on and said that they were no help if they couldn’t drive away a petty king. King Thorberg fought with a keen heart, and she and her champions killed many men, yet the battle was turning very much against the Swedes.

King Hrolf spoke with Ketil, his brother. “I want you to attack the king of the Swedes, and capture her if you can. But don’t use a weapon against her, because it’s the worst disgrace to wound a woman with a weapon.”

Ketil said that he would do it if he could. Just then, the Swedish ranks broke and ran. By then, Ketil had come so close to the king that he slapped the king’s crotch with the flat of his sword blade. He grabbed her and said, “My lady, this is how we’ll scratch that itch in your crotch. Now that’s what I call a foul blow.”
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The king said, “That blow won’t bring you honor.” She struck Ketil under the ear with the blunt side of her axehead,
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so hard that she knocked him head over heels, and said, “That’s how we always beat our dogs, if they’re too eager to bark.”

Ketil leaped to his feet, ready to avenge himself. At that moment, King Hrolf came up and seized the king and said, “Lord, lay down your weapon; you are now in our power. I will grant a truce to you and all your men, if you will agree to be governed by your father.”

The Swedish king said, “You probably think you have power over us and all our men, King Hrolf, but it will do you little credit that we will never willingly consent, even if you force us into this.”

King Hrolf said, “My lord, we’ve come together because I want to ask for your hand honorably. I ask that our engagement be decided by your father’s judgment. If he resolves matters between us, it will be said that you have honorably upheld all of our glory.”

The Swedish king said, “You must be a wise and experienced man, because many a man in your position would think to force us to his will—but you want to go ahead with this arrangement between us. Now that we and our men are in your power, we will agree to this, and so release ourselves from this bondage for now. Now, King Hrolf, we wish to follow the custom of courteous men if they are beaten and overcome: we want to invite you and all your men to rest and enjoy a grand feast, and so reward you for granting a truce to our men. But just now, we want to ride to Uppsala with all our surviving picked troops, and meet our father King Eirek for a complete consultation, because it is our honor to keep his advice.”

The kings bound themselves to this agreement with strong oaths. After that, King Hrolf turned back to the fortress, and as soon as he had come there, he accepted a feast there for three nights. But the King of Sweden rode to Uppsala with all her retinue. As soon as she arrived, she went before King Eirek her father, lay her shield down before her feet, took the helmet off her head, bowed to the king and greeted him. She said, “My dear father, I have been driven from the kingdom which you gave into my keeping. Because I have been overcome by strong warriors, I ask you to make whatever arrangements you please for my marriage.”

The king said, “We strongly desire that you stop this fighting, and we want you to take up womanly activities and go to your mother in the bower. Then we will betroth you to King Hrolf Gautreksson, because we know no one who is his equal throughout all the Northlands.”

The princess said, “We wouldn’t want to come to meet you for your guidance, but then be unwilling to trust your wisdom.”

After that she went to the bower, giving the weapons she’d borne over to King Eirek for safekeeping. She sat down with her mother to embroider. She was fairer and lovelier and more courteous than any maiden, so much that there was no one as lovely to be found in the northern half of the world. She was wise and beloved, eloquent and shrewd and haughty.