Six Sagas of Adventure (44 page)

Now there was a fierce battle. King Eirek and Brynjolf killed many men. Mondul shot King Eirek through the arm with a shaft. Hrolf and Stefnir renewed their fierce attacks, because the battle had turned against them badly. They came to the place where Grim and Torfi and Knut had fought each other, and the ground was torn up. Their encounter had ended with Knut dead and Torfi crippled by his wounds. Grim was exhausted, yet by then he had killed even more men. Hrolf and Stefnir both struck at him at the same time, but he escaped down into the earth, as if into water.

Now we must relate what was happening at the same time, as Sturlaug and Eirek were fighting on the other wing of the army. Each one broke through the opposing ranks with powerful blows and mighty spear-thrusts. There was a tremendous slaughter. Sturlaug struck and stabbed left and right with the knife Vefreyja’s Gift. Anyone scratched by that weapon had no need to bind his wound. His son Eirek went with him and killed many men. Thord the Bald Man of Hlesey boldly went up against Sturlaug. He held his bald head in front of him; even if it were hewed with swords or axes, they wouldn’t cut, and thus he could advance in safety. Forty of Sturlaug’s men from Norway came against him, and they all attacked him, but he defended himself bravely.

Elsewhere, Styr the Strong met up with Brusi Bonejack, but Hadd, Gard, Birgir and Solvi came against them. Three of them attacked the pair, and they had all they could handle. Their attacks were both hard and fierce, and their blows and thrusts aren’t described in detail, but in the end, Styr and Brusi perished from exhaustion. By then, they had killed Hadd and Gard and cut off both of Solvi’s hands, and Birgir was badly wounded. Solvi rushed at one man and smashed his chest with his head, crushing his ribcage and killing him. After that, he knocked another man down and bit his windpipe in two. Then he was run through with a spear, laying down his life with great valor.

Lodin and Atli both attacked Gellir, and their encounter was savage, because he was the wickedest of men. They wounded him with many wounds. Gellir struck Atli with the blade of his thrusting spear, piercing and splitting his helmet so that the blade came to rest in his brain. Lodin wanted to avenge him and stabbed Gellir with his sword, through his mailcoat and into his thigh. That was a dreadful wound. Gellir struck at Lodin, and his blow landed on his collarbone, breaking it in two and slicing his heart, and he fell down dead. Then Sturlaug’s son Eirek came at Gellir and struck him his deathblow.

Now Tjosnir and Sturlaug met. Each struck at the other, but neither was wounded. Sturlaug chopped away all of Tjosnir’s shield, but had to retreat before Tjosnir’s mighty blows. Mondul saw this. He nocked an arrow on his bowstring and shot a barbed arrow into Tjosnir’s eye, so that it sank a long way up the shaft. Tjosnir gripped the shaft and tore out the arrow with his eye on it. Sturlaug was waiting for that, and at that moment he hewed Tjosnir apart in the middle, so that each half fell down. Now Sturlaug saw how Thord had done him such great damage that his forces were at the point of fleeing, and some were killed. He sought out where Thord was, but Thord turned to face him. Their combat was both fierce and long, until Sturlaug landed a direct hit on Thord. It landed on his bald head and failed no more than usual. The blow was so great that it split Thord’s head and his whole torso all the way through, so that he fell to the ground in two pieces. Sturlaug had accomplished an incredible deed. He dropped his long knife, and it pierced down into the earth and was never found. The books are in great disagreement concerning this event, for it is said in the
Saga of Sturlaug
and many other sagas that Sturlaug died of an illness at home in Ringerike and was buried in a mound there. But here it is said that after Thord’s fall, Grim Aegir came up out of the earth behind Sturlaug and struck him in the spine with a blade, chopping him in two at the middle. We don’t know which is closer to the truth.

Eirek his son saw this, because he was standing nearby. In his fury, he struck at Grim with his sword. The sword hit him on the shoulder and crashed against it as if it had struck a rock, but it didn’t cut. Grim turned to face Eirek and spewed such hot venom in his face that Eirik fell down dead at once. Everyone trembled at this sight, even though the battle was still raging and the slaughter was dreadful. When Hrolf heard the news, he flew into a rage, and he didn’t hold back Hreggvid’s Gift. He struck both hard and fast, so that everyone who had to face him shrank away. At times he killed two or three men at one blow, storming forward as if he were wading through a strong current.

This battle lasted all day, until it was so dark that there wasn’t enough light for fighting. Then King Eirek had the peace-shields raised, and the battle ended. The king went into the fortress with his own men, and Hrolf went to his tents, and the wounds of the men who were expected to live were bandaged. So many of Hrolf and Stefnir’s men had fallen than there were no more than two thousand men left out of all their host, and most of them were badly wounded. There was grumbling in the ranks. Men took their rest and fell asleep quickly after such dreadful exertion.

CHAPTER XXXII

As soon as the men were asleep, Hrolf stood up silently. He walked over to Dulcifal, got on his back and rode until he came to Hreggvid’s burial mound. The moonlight was bright. Hrolf dismounted and walked up onto the mound. He saw King Hreggvid sitting outside by the mound, facing the moon and saying:

Hreggvid is glad

of the great journey

of brave-hearted Hrolf

here to this land.

This valiant man

will avenge the king

upon Eirek

and all his crew.

Hreggvid is glad

of Grim’s death,

of Thord’s and his scoundrels’

short time to live.

This fearsome flock

of foes of mine

won’t stand before Hrolf;

they’ll sink to earth.

Hreggvid is glad

that Hrolf will win

Ingigerd,

the girl so young.

He’ll have the rule

in Russian lands:

the son of Sturlaug.

The song is ended.”

Hrolf came before him and greeted him in a worthy manner. The king accepted his greeting and asked how matters were going for him.

Hrolf said, “You’ll understand clearly even if I say nothing about it. The fighting has gone badly for us, on account of the huge losses that we have taken. Now you need to give us some good advice that can help us.”

Hreggvid said, “I believe there’s a good chance that you’ll manage to avenge me. Victory will be destined for you, though it may seem unlikely. Here are two buckets that you should take. You should serve drink from one of them to all your men as soon as they wake in the morning. You and Stefnir should drink from the smaller bucket, and from then on you’ll never have a falling-out. I can tell you this: Stefnir intended my daughter Ingigerd for himself as soon as he saw how beautiful she was, not for his own father Thorgnyr, nor for you. Now I grant her to you to enjoy. Stefnir will be well satisfied with what you want to do, once you two have drunk from the bucket. Here also are a knife and belt that I will give you. No treasures like these are to be found in all the Northlands. You are to give them to the one man whom you think deserves them best. But now we two must part and never see each other again. You must close up the mound, as I told you before. Bring my greetings to my daughter Ingigerd. My will is that all the valor and good fortune that once followed me should come to you. Fare hale and well now, and may everything go as you wish.”

Then Hreggvid walked backwards inside the mound. Hrolf closed the mound back up as he was ordered. Then he mounted Dulcifal and turned homewards. When he had gone most of the way to the camp, Stefnir came towards him, fully armed and very angry. He said, “You’ve acted wrongly, Hrolf, entering Hreggvid’s mound and wanting fame for yourself alone. You think you’ll get Princess Ingigerd as well, but that isn’t any more certain.”

Hrolf said, “I haven’t won any fame, even if I traveled farther than you all night long. I have no intention of marrying the princess. The one who is fated will enjoy her, which I never thought to do.”

Then Hrolf told Stefnir about his journey to the mound and showed him the buckets. They sat down and drank from the bucket, and they felt themselves grow much stronger from that drink. Stefnir grew cheerful with Hrolf and said that he was the most deserving of Ingigerd—“and it’s true that you’ll win her, rather than my father, as old as he is.” They went straight to their tents and slept for the remaining part of the night.

Early in the morning, Hrolf awakened his men and served them all from the bucket. As soon as each man had drunk, he didn’t feel his wounds, even if he had been crippled as soon as he had been struck. Those who had once wanted most keenly to flee now encouraged each other most to fight. Mondul looked into the bucket and said that such a thing brought friendship—“but I don’t want to drink this ale. All terrors may flee, so that good help to win this fight may come to us before this day is over.
The men will have some stories to tell.”

Everyone put on his armor and prepared for battle. Mondul said, “Now the day has come when you’ll need your cloak, Hrolf. Here is a brown silk veil that you must tuck up under the cloak’s hood. Never let it drop from in front of your face, even if it feels hot to you.”
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Hrolf accepted the veil and arranged it as the dwarf had said. They went to the battlefield and deployed their forces, showing themselves ready to fight. They took up a different battlefield, since their previous one was unusable because of all the slain warriors. Mondul walked twice widdershins around the fallen. He blew and whistled in all directions and muttered ancient magic over them, and said that the fallen would come to no harm.

CHAPTER XXXIII

The evening after the battle, King Eirek had gone into the fort to bind the wounds of his men. He had suffered heavy casualties and had lost all his champions: of all of those who had come with Grim and Thord, Sorli Longnose alone had survived. Many men from the provinces came to the king, night and day. King Eirek and Grim thought that they had Hrolf and his men well in hand, thanks to their superior numbers. Grim prepared himself with many spells through the night, as did Brynjolf. The arm wound that King Eirek took from Mondul’s arrow began to swell badly, and his hand was crippled.

Early in the morning, King Eirek rode out of the fort with all his host. He formed his ranks, and a shield-castle formed up around him. Brynjolf was to defend the shield-castle, but a man named Snak
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carried the standard, with Grim Aegir and Sorli Longnose on the other flank. The forces were so unequally matched that Eirek had six men for each of Hrolf’s.

When Hrolf saw that, he said to his men that they should not form ranks. “We will charge in detachments of thirty or forty in a group, so that we can’t be surrounded by their superior numbers. I will face Grim Aegir, and Stefnir and Torfi will face King Eirik. Dwarf Mondul, I expect you to counter Grim’s magic, so that he can’t murder our men with his sorcery.”

Mondul came forth. He’d come in a black cloak, and no part of him was exposed. Under one arm he had a large bag; the inside was made of animal skin, but the outside was gold cloth. He had a bow and a quiver in the other hand. Everyone found his outfit strange.

Grim went to where the slain men were lying, and rolled the dead men over and wanted them to rise up—but he couldn’t do it.
[71]
His appearance grew so terrifying that most men didn’t dare to look at him, because his eyes were like fire, and black smoke and the foulest stench billowed from his nostrils and mouth.

Soon after that, both sides screamed their battle cries and charged each other. Grim bellowed so loudly that his howling could be heard above all the battle cries. He rushed forward ahead of his ranks, shaking a sack and driving a black mist out of it at Hrolf’s men. When Mondul saw that, he advanced and shook his bag, and strong winds blew out against the mist, driving the mist back into the eyes of Grim’s men.
[72]
This struck them blind at once, and they fell on their faces and were trampled to death by their own men. Grim was enraged. He nocked an arrow on the string and shot at Mondul, but Mondul shot back, and their arrows hit each other, right on their points, and fell down. This happened three times.
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At the same moment, fierce fighting broke out, as each man encouraged another with crashes and shouts, because Hrolf’s men were so bold that they held nothing back and acted as if victory was certain. Stefnir charged against King Eirek, and Torfi and Birgir went with him. They quickly cleared a path before them, and it would take a long time to recount their strikes and thrusts. They killed so many men that they could hardly be counted. Brynjolf also charged forward with Snak the standard-bearer, killing forty knights in the first onslaught.

Hrolf charged Grim Aegir and struck at him, but he turned into a flying dragon and escaped up into the air, spewing venom over Hrolf. Mondul was standing nearby and held the bag out underneath, so that it filled with the venom. He rushed at Sorli Longnose with the bag and poured it out in his face so that he fell dead. Grim turned into a man, even though he had killed nine men with the venom. He rushed at the dwarf and wanted to catch him, but Mondul didn’t want to wait and plunged down into the earth right where he was standing. Grim went down after him, so that the earth closed over their heads together.

Hrolf now charged, striking to left and right. Resistance slackened before him as one man fell across another. He needed to give no one more than a single blow. Everyone whom he caught with his sword got death in exchange for life. Both his arms were bloody up to the shoulders. His charge struck fear into most men. The battle was a huge slaughter on both wings.

The next thing that happened was that some men in the battle saw fifteen ships rowing to land as fast as they could. They laid up at an anchorage. A huge and warlike force came from the ships. Two men were the tallest of them all, wearing masks in front of their faces. They went straight into battle alongside Hrolf and attacked King Eirek’s left flank in force, and many in his ranks began to turn and flee. The masked men were the boldest, striking hard and fast. Now the battle was so fierce that there was never one like it before. There one might see many a shield cloven and many a strong helm shattered, mailcoats slashed and many men of high degree laid low. No one took warning from another’s woe.
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Spears, javelins, thong-spears, hand-axes and many other missile weapons were flung.

Hrolf now attacked the shield-castle and encountered fierce resistance. Grim Aegir returned to the battle, scowling horribly and killing everyone in his way. Birgir and Torfi came against him, along with both masked men, and they all attacked him with great valor, but they couldn’t wound him. He dealt them many large blows. They grew both wounded and weary.

At the same moment, Stefnir encountered Sval and struck at him with his sword. The blow penetrated the shield, cutting off what it hit and chopping the banner-staff in two. Sval struck in return, splitting Stefnir’s shield completely in two, but Stefnir wasn’t wounded. He struck at Sval, and the blow struck his helm and glanced off his beard and plunged down onto his shoulder, splitting his shoulder blade in two and penetrating his chest. That was the death of him, and King Eirek’s banner fell in the grass.