Six Sagas of Adventure (21 page)

She answered, “That’s not what I’m doing. Rather, I hear that the horn is telling you of some significant news, wherever it comes from and whatever it pertains to. I have dreamed that King Hrolf will need help before this summer is over.”

“Now, queen, since you have shown me your thoughts concerning King Hrolf, which your heart sorrowfully tells you—and because I have to repay him for so much goodness, as you know—I shall leave this kingdom and not return until I know what has become of King Hrolf, whether the king is alive or dead. I cannot enjoy food or drink as long as I don’t know what has happened to him and I have no knowledge of his actions.”

After that, he got a small ship and a few men, and he sailed away from Sweden. By the time he came to England, King Hrolf had left and gone to Ireland. Thorir didn’t stay there, and he meant to come to King Hrolf’s aid. He didn’t stop until he came to Ireland, but not to the place where King Hrolf had landed.

Thorir spoke with his men: “You must wait for me here, and I will go ashore alone. I will not fix the time of my return for you. You must not mention my name at all, even if you think you hear something plausible about my journey. It may be that I’ll do something that may not make you popular with the inhabitants. You must say that you’re merchants, and say little about yourselves, until I come back.”

With that, Thorir left his ship that night and went so far ashore that he didn’t alert anyone that he’d come. He headed for the king’s seat. And when he didn’t think it likely that anyone had found out about his journey, he started killing both men and cattle. Everyone who saw him thought that the mightiest troll must have come to the land, and anyone who met him ran away, so that not a spear was raised against him.

CHAPTER XXIX

Now it is time to tell of King Hrolf. As soon as spring came, he summoned his forces and prepared to travel to Ireland. King Ælle offered him men from his own kingdom, as many as he might want. King Hrolf left his dragon-ship and all his larger ships behind, and took more and smaller ships. They had thirty ships from England, all of them small. Grim came to meet the king, as they had agreed. The kings parted cheerfully, and when King Hrolf’s forces were ready, he sailed away from England. They got a favorable wind and reached Ireland late in the evening. They anchored there for the night. It’s said that Hrolf the king of Ireland had found out about the coming of his namesake by means of his own sorcery and wisdom, and he had summoned many men.

In the morning, when the sworn brothers awoke, King Hrolf said to Asmund, “Wouldn’t it be best to bring forth our request for the maiden’s hand, and hear King Hrolf’s answer?”

Asmund said that that was certainly what he wished for.

The king said, “We shall go in peace, with no fighting or raiding, as long as no hostility is shown us.”

Then the king ordered a hundred men to come with him, and he ordered his men to arm themselves and be prepared for any fighting, if necessary, and to land and go into a forest near the fortress. King Hrolf traveled until he was approaching the fortress, and then they saw that men were coming to meet them, ready for battle. The king ordered his men to go forward. The men of the fortress came towards them, and when they met, it was the King of Ireland who had come there with six hundred men.

Hrolf the king of Ireland spoke: “I know very well who you are, Hrolf Gautreksson, and Asmund your sworn brother, son of Olaf the king of Scotland. I also know why you’ve come here; you don’t need to bring that up. I shall give you a quick choice, King Hrolf, because you’re more handsome and noble than any other king: I shall let you go home with all your men, safe and sound, and never come back on this mission, because there have been many bolder and nobler men who have come with the same intent and gotten nothing but shame and injury. If you’re not willing to agree to this offer of ours, then you’ll be dealt with, all the more shamefully since you think you are more worthy than other men.”

At the conclusion of Hrolf the Irish king’s speech, King Hrolf Gautreksson answered, “Because you are such a wise and foreseeing king that you know matters that have not yet happened, and the mind and intentions of every man, I suppose that it would be more prudent to accept this offer. But since I and my men have traveled from my home in Sweden, and I have promised my support and faithfulness in this matter to my sworn-brother Asmund, I can’t bear to turn back and leave matters as they stand, without putting your strength and might to the test any further.”

The King of Ireland said that he had made the worse choice for him and his men. King Hrolf warned his men and ordered them not to be slow to support each other. King Hrolf Gautreksson assumed that the Irish king couldn’t have more men than the ones they saw, and thought that his plans were well in hand. The Irish king had an overwhelming force, and Hrolf’s men didn’t know about it. But the Irish king also didn’t know that King Hrolf had men in the forest.

The Irish king ordered his men to attack. King Hrolf Gautreksson ordered his men to save themselves and retreat. A little while later, he charged the Irish king’s men. The Irish king ordered his men to retreat to the fortress. Many Irishmen fell before they made it into the fortress. King Hrolf’s men hotly pursued them into the fort.

When all of King Hrolf’s men had entered the fortress, men charged at them from all sides. Both sides formed up for battle. It’s said that the odds were no less than six Irishmen for every Swede. Many of them lost heart and felt that the odds were daunting for them to go up against such a huge mob. The battle broke out, and it was both long and hard-fought. The Irish attacked with great ferocity and in huge numbers, because they saw that their chieftain was a fearsome killer. The Irish king was shooting so fast that they saw two arrows in the air at once, and every one struck a man.

King Hrolf Gautreksson fought with a brave heart. All his men followed him staunchly and bravely and won glory as they died, although we aren’t able to tell of each man’s defenses and attacks. It was clear that many of them had been the greatest warriors. As long as they had their strength, they felled many men to earth and never turned to flee, even though the odds were greatly against them. Grim, whom we have spoken of before, distinguished himself in this battle. He was both skillful and valiant, and the boldest in attacking. King Hrolf Gautreksson advanced with great fierceness in this battle, and struck right and left with the sword Giant’s Gift. He never protected himself with a helmet, nor a shield, nor a mail coat. He sent many men to Hel and always broke through the opposing ranks, on account of his great courage. Asmund advanced in similar fashion, and he struck often and strongly and wrought great destruction as he defended himself. The fighting grew fierce, and the most terrible slaughter occurred on both sides. But it happened there, as it always must, that the men of the land got the upper hand. The slaughter turned against King Hrolf Gautreksson and his men, and as soon as the Irish found that the killing was turning against their enemies, they boldly charged forward. King Hrolf Gautreksson’s men fell, one across the other. They were attacked on all sides, with battle cries and shouts of encouragement.

When King Hrolf saw that his men were falling so that few were left, he ordered them to retreat to the fortress walls and let them be their protection. His men said that they would flee and find out if they could reach their ships. The king said that he didn’t want to flee, and said that he would rather fall with all his men. For that reason, none of his men fled; instead, each fell at the feet of the others, all together, so that no more than twelve men were standing, and they were badly wounded and terribly exhausted.

King Hrolf said to Asmund, “Now, sworn brother, it’s more than likely that we’ll need to work a bit to become the Irish king’s in-laws, which you were so eager to achieve for us. I’ve felt slow and sluggish on this expedition. Now I shall not hold back from helping you with all my strength and fetching the maiden’s dowry home.”

King Hrolf Gautreksson clasped his sword’s grip with both hands, and struck to right and left, both frequently and powerfully, and he brought quick death to many. Asmund and Grim gave him able assistance. It’s said that they piled up so many dead men all around them that they could hardly fight. All of King Hrolf’s men had fallen except for Asmund and Grim, and by then they were so badly wounded and terribly exhausted that they could hardly stand up. Shields were pressed on them from all sides. Before they captured King Hrolf, he had killed fifteen men in front of them. But in the end, as the saying goes, ‘one can’t withstand great numbers’. They were all captured and stripped of clothes and weapons. They had fought all day and much of the night, and so many of them fell that not a one escaped, and they had striven to do nothing but give their king the best assistance they could. So many of the Irish king’s men had fallen that there were no more than five hundred survivors, and all were wounded and weary.

Now Hrolf the Irish king boasted of his victory. He said to King Hrolf, “Now it’s gone as I thought it would: you and all your men have been overcome. It would have been better for you to have gratefully accepted the choice that was offered to you, and so kept your men unhurt.”

King Hrolf Gautreksson answered, “You haven’t improved your reputation. You have prevailed more through tricks and craftiness than manliness or boldness, on account of the great host that you sent against us. It may yet be that you will be paid back for that.”

The Irish king said, “You’ll cling to your pride for a long time, because you don’t understand what you have to deal with, because there’s nothing nastier in this place than what you’re going into.”

King Hrolf Gautreksson said, “Truly you now have us fellows in your power. The way for bold men to die is to have their heads cut off.”

The Irish king said, “First I shall put you in my guest-house, and there you’ll starve all the way to Hel.
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”

He had them brought out into the yard. There they clearly saw a deep pit down in the earth. Many men were needed before they could fling King Hrolf down in the pit. It was quite deep, and if they had thrown the king down on his head, he would have quickly lost his life, but he landed on his feet. There was a foul stench, and human corpses under him. Asmund and Grim were also flung down. The king caught them in midair and set them down next to him. Then a great slab was brought over the pit, so large that ten men could hardly manage to move it. The Irish king’s men went away and took their rest.
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CHAPTER XXX

King Hrolf Gautreksson said to Asmund, “Sworn brother, I think my namesake means for you to sleep here, rather than next to his daughter Ingibjorg. What do you think of these preparations for us?”

Asmund said that he found them terrible—“I would rather have fallen today, under the weapons of brave men, than be in this calamity. We must be meant to suffer here until we die.”

King Hrolf said, “Well spoken, sworn brother. But as the saying goes, ‘it’s always darkest before dawn.’
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There may yet be something good in store for us.” They were standing barefoot on human corpses, in their undershirts and linen breeches.

The daughter of the Irish king had watched the battle that day, and saw how bravely King Hrolf and his men fought. She was much grieved that such a noble king should lose his life so soon. She had a bower and lived in it with many handmaids. She was wise and well-beloved and very lovely and courteous. She had one chambermaid whom she trusted more than all the others. This maid was the daughter of a powerful man in Ireland, and she was named Sigrid. When the battle was all over, she called the maid to her and said, “You must go to the pit where King Hrolf Gautreksson is with his men, and ask what he most wants that I can offer him.”
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She went, and she called down into the pit and asked whether anyone was alive there. The king answered, and said that three men were alive. The maid said, “The daughter of the Irish king told me to ask you, King Hrolf Gautreksson, what she can give you that you would most readily choose to help you.”

The king said, “That’s an easy choice. I would most want her to get my sword. It is easy to recognize among the slain bodies, on account of its length and size. When I was captured, I took care of it by throwing it as far as I could among the fallen bodies, where I think it lies.”

The maid ran to the bower, found Ingibjorg and told her what had happened, and said that this must be a completely stupid man, if out of all things he chose what was of no use to him, as badly off as he was. The princess said, “Yet we’ve heard that King Hrolf is wiser than anyone. Now you must go look for the sword.”

The maid said that she didn’t dare to search the fallen alone at night, wading through blood and stepping on corpses. She said that that was no errand for a lady. The princess ordered her to go, and said that they wouldn’t hurt her. With her encouragement, she went, but she went timidly. She searched for the sword but didn’t find it. She came back and said that dead men were walking all around. The princess said that she was timid and foolish if she was afraid of dead men—“Now I shall go with you.” They both went out and searched the slain. The princess went quite boldly, and she found the sword. They dragged it behind them to the bower.

The princess spoke again to the maid: “Go to the pit and ask King Hrolf what he would most prefer, of all that I can give him.” The maid went and found the pit and asked what they needed most, and said that they had gotten the sword. The king said that matters were looking more promising.

The maid said, “Now what would you choose above all? Tell me.”

The king replied, “Most of all, we would like to have some cloth under our feet. It’s cold and nasty, standing on dead men’s corpses. I see that there’s a hatch under the slab on one side. It can go in there.”

The maid went and told their request to the princess. Ingibjorg answered, “King Hrolf has shown further that he is braver and nobler than any other king. Many would be more impatient for help, if they could get it in a situation such as he’s in now. And it’s a bad thing that such brave men should end their lives so soon.”

Now she took them all the things that they needed: food and drink, good ointments and healing herbs, clothes and torches and everything they needed. She went with her maid and brought them these things. They had a rope, and they lowered these things down to them. They brought King Hrolf’s sword in the same way. He was overjoyed at this, and thanked them with fair words. Now he felt the wounds of Asmund and Grim, and neither of them had deadly wounds. At once they dressed and made themselves comfortable, and then they ate and drank. They felt that their situation looked promising, but they were still in a tight squeeze.

CHAPTER XXXI

     Now it’s time to tell about what happened in Sweden, Denmark, and Gautland. Thorir Ironshield held the stewardship of Sweden after King Hrolf went away, as was mentioned before. Ingjald and Ketil took it very badly that they had stayed behind. But after Thorir left Sweden, Queen Thornbjorg sent word to Ketil and Ingjald to summon forces and help King Hrolf Gautreksson. They lost no time and called out the levy from Denmark and Gautland, and the queen assembled a host from Sweden. Then she took a shield and sword and rode off on the journey with her son Gautrek. He was twelve years old at the time, and the most handsome man, tall and strong.

They all met together at the appointed place, with many men. The queen took command and organized their forces. Again it happened, as often before, that Ketil showed more impatience than foresight or caution. He wanted everything on his journey to happen all at once. Now let’s let them set off when they like.

CHAPTER XXXII

It had happened in Ireland one day, after Hrolf the King of Ireland had summoned all his forces and found out through his sorcery that King Hrolf Gautreksson had come, and thus called his men together half a month before King Hrolf arrived, that a huge troll came to the country around the king’s residence, so evil and fierce that no one raised a shield against him. He slaughtered men and cattle and burned farms, and spared no one, but struck down every living being and did the most wicked deeds. Those who survived fled into the woods and forests.