Six Sagas of Adventure (19 page)

CHAPTER XXI

A king named Hrolf ruled over Ireland. He was powerful and hard to deal with, and he sacrificed to the heathen gods. He had one daughter, named Ingibjorg. She was a wise woman and beautiful, and it seemed that there was no better match in Ireland. Many noble princes had asked for her hand, but her father didn’t want to marry her off. They had tried to win her both by diplomacy and by war, but King Hrolf could foresee the future so well that he knew of their arrival in advance by means of his wickedness and evil religion, and he always had overwhelming forces when they thought they could catch him unawares. He himself was the worst berserk in battle, so that he had felled many champions in single combat who had challenged him to duels. For these reasons, he had become so infamous that no kings had any desire to contend with him. He had been left in peace for a long time without any king attacking his kingdom, because they were all afraid of his ferocity.

It is said that Asmund once came to speak with King Hrolf Gautreksson: “The word is going around, my lord, that I want to make my rule secure and marry. My father has become quite elderly, and I have to assume the rulership after him.”

King Hrolf replied “Where would you go to find a wife, sworn brother?”

Asmund answered, “There is a king named Hrolf who rules over Ireland, a notable man. He has a lovely and wise daughter named Ingibjorg. I want to marry her and to use your strength and hardihood to get this match for me.”

King Hrolf answered, “You can’t be unaware of King Hrolf. He is full of magic and spells, and no one can catch him unawares. And it’s a bad idea to attack Ireland with a host of foreigners. It’s densely populated, and there is such a vast shoal in front of the shore that you can’t reach the place except in small boats.
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I have heard that many prominent men have asked for this maiden’s hand and gotten nothing but shame and disgrace from this king. Know this, sworn brother: It won’t do for us to go on so many courting expeditions where we have to fight battles and lose so many men. Even if the kings themselves weren’t willing to resist us, the women themselves would start fighting us, using many tricks. We’ll have to try to find something easier than going into King Hrolf’s clutches. And I suppose that the Swedes and Gauts and Danes are of the same mind: they’ll find it’s high time to give up this senseless raiding and not have to pay such a high price, summer after summer.”

Asmund found that the king flatly refused and listed all the drawbacks to this expedition. He also knew that the Irish king was hard to deal with, and that he had shamefully treated those who had gone there and asked for the maiden’s hand. But Asmund couldn’t think of anything else to do. He kept bringing it up before the king and begged him to lend him the forces and give him advice, even if he didn’t want to go himself. The king said that he thought it would come to nothing, except that he’d suffer even more casualties.

When Asmund saw that the king was firmly opposed to the proposal and refused to listen to his request, he asked the queen to plead his case. He told her what he wanted, and he also told her about his conversation with the king. The queen said that she would be glad to do as he wished in every way that she could. “But I can’t add much weight to this request of yours, because I don’t know what advice to give that might increase your fame or honor, since you have to deal with an evil man like King Hrolf of Ireland, because he’s a fierce and ill-natured man. King Hrolf Gautreksson will see it this way, since he is wise and foresighted and predicts many things accurately.”

CHAPTER XXII

It’s said that on one occasion, King Hrolf and his queen were talking. She asked whether he had avoided making the journey to Ireland with his sworn brother Asmund. He said that he certainly had done that.

She said, “You do that wrongly, because I don’t know anyone whom you should honor more than him. He has helped you long and well, and served courteously, and been with you on many war expeditions, and suffered with you through thick and thin, and always proved himself to be the boldest of men.”

The king said, “Winning brides isn’t so easy for us, even if we don’t have to deal with men from Hel like King Hrolf of Ireland. We have to stop setting off on these bridal quests. But since you’re so eager for these journeys, what plan do you see that is likeliest to succeed in our case?”

She said that she knew no advice to give, but said that they would succeed— “thanks to your good luck and guidance, my lord, if you proceed with this journey. My advice is for you not to take large forces on this journey. I want Ketil and Ingjald to stay behind, and for you not to take any men from their kingdoms, because imposing this levy will seem heavy-handed to them. I want Thorir Ironshield to stay behind and guard the land while you are away. You and Asmund should go, and have no more than ten ships and a hundred men on each ship, and the dragon-ship shall be the eleventh. I think that if your return is delayed, Ketil and Ingjald will not stay here quietly. And I find it more likely that you will be avenged, if necessary, if men such as they are alive.”

Then King Hrolf said to Asmund, “Now, sworn brother, since I’m going with you on this expedition, however it turns out, you have to do something. I’m told that your father has a beautiful daughter named Margret. You must agree to let me arrange her betrothal.” Asmund said that he was quite willing, and said that he trusted that the king would oversee the business much better than himself.

After that, they made plans for their journey, and at the height of summer, the sips were all ready, along with the men who had to accompany the king. Thorir wanted to go on this journey, but the king didn’t want him to. Thorir said that he would make his own expedition wherever he liked, as soon as the king was away. He said that he wouldn’t be in the king’s company unless the king wanted him, but he didn’t like it that he couldn’t decide for himself where he was going to go. The king ordered him to govern the kingdom. Thorir said that he thought King Hrolf would need more help before he came back from this journey, and they parted rather coldly.

King Hrolf had another young son with the queen, who was named Eirek. Hrolf’s son Gautrek was eleven years old when his father left the land.

CHAPTER XXIII

     Now it is time to tell how they sailed away from Sweden and westward out to sea, as soon as they were ready. They made little headway, but got strong gales and unfavorable winds. They were covered by thick darkness, and the going became quite difficult. They had to put in along islands and capes for a long time, and they always encountered Vikings—but in their encounters, King Hrolf always won victory.

It is said that they reached England as summer was passing. At the time, King Ælle ruled England. He was a mighty and splendid king. When he heard of the coming of King Hrolf Gautreksson, he sent men to meet him and invited him to a feast with as many men as he wanted. King Hrolf brought the invitation before his men and asked whether they found it agreeable to go to the feast. They asked him to decide. The king said that he meant to go, and he prepared to go with a hundred of his men.

It’s said that King Ælle owned a certain beast, so fierce and savage that it spared nothing that it was set on to. It was both huge and strong. It was a lion. They had trained the beast so that it didn’t hurt anyone, except for those who showed aggression towards the king and whom he wanted to set it on. But it was gentle and calm to all the king’s household, and all those whom the king wished to stay with him in peace and quiet. The king felt that the beast was a splendid possession, because as soon as there was an attack on his kingdom, he had the beast turned loose, and in a short time it would strike down a multitude of men, amounting to hundreds. It was so fearless in defense of the kingdom that no kings had the confidence to attack England, as soon as they found out about this beast’s behavior.

Two men in King Ælle’s household are named; one was named Sigurd, and the other was Bard. They were highly esteemed. They took care of this beast; every day it was bound strongly with iron fetters. These brothers were very unjust men, and rather eager to behave wickedly. And when they found out that King Hrolf was invited to come with his retinue, Sigurd said, “How can we plot for this king, who is praised so much by everyone, to lose his honor? For I find it bad that he should get any sort of advancement from our king.”

Bard answered, “This is my best advice: we should go into the forest that lies along their route and take the king’s beast with us, and turn it loose when we see them coming. This king won’t be mighty enough to beat the beast; instead, it will do him harm. May it go as it must and as I wish.”

They went into the forest with the beast and concealed themselves until they saw King Hrolf coming. They had already driven the beast mad with wine and all sorts of the strongest drink. They turned the beast loose at once and let it run, but hid themselves.

CHAPTER XXIV

Now the story turns to King Hrolf. He landed with a hundred men, intending to meet the king. When they had walked for a little while, they heard a crackling and an awful roaring in the forest. Asmund spoke up. “Lord,” he said, “what’s that noise we hear?” The king ordered them to hold still and figure out what noise that must be, but none of them could make anything of it, except that it seemed loud and hideous to listen to.

The king said, “I’ve heard that the king of England owns a beast that is very large and fierce and hard to deal with. It may be that we haven’t been dealt with entirely in good faith. Now I want you to stay here, but I want Asmund to go forward with me and find out what noise that must be.”

They did as he said, and when they had gone for just a short time, they saw the beast playing in the forest. The lion was showing its strength, casting its own tail in a ring around oak trees and pulling them up by the roots. Then it grabbed them with its claws and tossed them up in the air, like a cat playing with birds.

Asmund said, “How can that monster be acting like that?”

The king said, “I suppose the beast must be playing because it’s been driven crazy by drink.”

Asmund said, “I see that we’ll never get past this enemy.”

The king said, “We must try something different. Off the path here stands a tall tree trunk. There is thick forest alongside the road. You must go up the tree trunk and stand there. I’ll use you as bait for the beast, but I shall hide myself nearby. When the beast charges at you, leap into the forest, and I’ll see if I can manage to reach it. I think it’s possible that it will get itself stuck in the forest, because it’s very thick. You must squeal as loudly and as much like a pig as you can, because the beast can’t stand to hear that, and I know that that’s the only thing it’s afraid of. That’s its nature.”
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Asmund did as the king asked. Now it went as the king thought it would: as soon as the beast saw the man, it rushed at him with ferocity and savagery, right between the oaks. Asmund did as he was told, and squealed as loudly as he could. When the beast heard this noise, it stopped still and clasped its head between its feet and pressed at its ears with its paws, for it didn’t want to hear the pig squeals. King Hrolf then rushed up and struck with his sword and cut through the beast’s back, right in front of the hips, and the beast died in its tracks.

When the brothers Sigurd and Bard saw that, they ran home to the hall as fast as they could, and told King Ælle the unheard-of news of how King Hrolf had beaten the beast which they had thought couldn’t be hurt. The king asked how this had happened, and they told him everything. The king grew furious with them on account of their scheme, and said that it wasn’t for them to test their luck against King Hrolf. He had them both seized and fettered. King Ælle himself went out to meet King Hrolf with many men, and said that King Hrolf would probably think that what his men had undertaken was a trick of his own.

After killing the beast, Asmund and Hrolf returned to their men, and King Hrolf said, “We shall go on as we’d already planned, because I think that this was not King Ælle’s idea. What I think is that he’ll find the beast’s death a terrible loss, and I will tell him myself.”

They went on, until they came out of the forest and could see that a great host of men was coming towards them, well armed. They thought that fighting would break out. King Hrolf said, “It’s one of two things. Either this king is full of falsehood and cunning and has plotted to deceive us from the beginning, like a coward—or else this isn’t his plan, and some bad men have taken it upon themselves to create hostility between us, which I think is no less likely. Let’s prepare ourselves as stoutly as we can, and let’s go to meet them boldly and show no signs of fear, whether they wish us well or ill—and if necessary, let’s die with honor rather than live in shame.”

They steeled their courage and said that whoever didn’t do all he could should never prosper. They advanced in battle formation. King Hrolf marched in the center of his ranks and held the naked sword Giant’s Gift, and they behaved like true warriors. When King Ælle saw that, he had peace-shields held up, and he himself rode to meet King Hrolf. He welcomed him warmly and repeated his invitation to King Hrolf. When King Hrolf saw King Ælle’s cheerful expression, he accepted gladly, and they all went together to the fortress, where the heartiest welcome and a most excellent feast had been readied for them.

The kings talked with each other. King Hrolf said, “I want to let you know that we must have done you grievous harm when I killed a certain beast, since I’ve been told that that would be such a terrible blow to you. I thought I had to defend myself, and that’s why we did it, but without any feeling of resentment against you. For everything that you find to be an offense, I will compensate you in a way that pleases you.”

King Ælle answered, “You show true wisdom in this, as in many other things, that you offer compensation for what others would have to compensate you for. Because you did not blame this on our faithlessness, I will give up the men who did this for your judgment and punishment.” Then he had the brothers Sigurd and Bard sent for. They were both led in before him, bound, and they themselves admitted their plot. After that, King Ælle asked King Hrolf to judge their case, or else decide the deaths that he wanted them to have.

King Hrolf answered, “You judge your own men, lord, for all the law-breaking that they commit. But if you are willing to let me intercede, I would like you to spare their lives, but expel them from your kingdom, and let them have that for their untrustworthiness.”

King Ælle said, “It’s true to say that few kings are your equal in generosity. It shall be done as you wish.” The king had them released and gave them a ship and some money, and they left the country and are out of this saga.

After that the kings began to talk among themselves. King Ælle asked about King Hrolf’s journey, and he told him all about what they intended. The king said that it was quite a hopeless journey, and said that King Hrolf of Ireland was most fierce and bad to deal with, and asked King Hrolf not to attempt this journey that summer. He invited King Hrolf to stay with him with a hundred men, and they would lodge the rest of his forces nearby in England. King Hrolf accepted this invitation. King Ælle had prepared and arranged everything at great expense.

King Hrolf stayed in England with all his forces, with much good cheer. The king provided that most lavishly. Some time passed.

CHAPTER XXV

It’s said that King Hrolf and Asmund left from the hall one day to amuse themselves. When they meant to go back to the hall, an old woman came towards them. She walked with two crutches. The old woman turned up her nose and said, “Who are these honorable men?”

They said their names. The old woman said, “Is this the noble king Hrolf Gautreksson? If I’ve found him, I would be blessed.”

The king said, “What do you want from King Hrolf?”

“It seems to me, just as it is said, that you are more handsome and courteous than every king, and superior to other kings in all respects. What I want is to receive a favor from you, and your advice.”

The king asked what she might need from him.

She answered, “I’m a poor woman. I’m alone in my house with my daughter, who has waited on me, and she is the loveliest of women to look at. But now she’s worse for me than not having anyone, because a man has got into the habit of seducing her. I’m strongly opposed to it. She doesn’t pay attention to anything because of him. He is a tall man and handsome, but I don’t like him. My lord, I want you to come and talk with this man. He’ll do what you say and leave off seducing my daughter.”