The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus
Medieval Latin chronicle, c. 1200 CE · Oliver Elton, The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus (1894) · Public domain (US; published 1894) · uncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan
Book 1
Now Dan and Angul, with whom the stock of the Danes [lo]
begins, were begotten of Humble, their father, and were the
governors and not only the founders of our race. (Yet Dudo,^
the historian of Normandy, considers that the Danes are
sprung and named from the Danai.) And these two men,
though by the wish and favour of their country they gained
the lordship of the realm, and, owing to the wondrous deserts
of their bravery, got the supreme power by the consenting
voice of their countrymen, yet lived without the name of
king: the usage whereof was not then commonly resorted
to by any authority among our people.
Of these two, Angul, the fountain, so runs tradition, of the
beginnings of the Anglian race, caused his name to be applied
to the district which he ruled. This was an easy kind of
memorial wherewith to immortalise his fame: for his successors
a little later, when they gained possession of Britain, changed
the original name of the island for a fresh title, that of their
own land. This action was much thought of by the ancients :
witness Bede,* no mean figure among the writers of the Church,
who was a native of England, and made it his care to embody
1 The Ed. Pr. prefixes this book with the following title : " The first
book of the Danish History, concerning the origin of the Danes, gathered
from Danish records with much toil and keen judgment, by Saxo, man of
letters [grammatici] by calling, by nation a Zealander, and by far the most
eloquent writer of his time."
^ Dudo] De morihis et actis primorum Normanniae dwcum, Bk. i.
" Igitur JDaci nuihcupa^itur a suis Daimi, ml Dani, glorianturque se ex
Antenore progenitos." See Bydberg, pp. 22 (E. tr.), for the "Trojan-
migration" sag'a.
2 Bede] Hist. Eccl., i, 15 squ-
16 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
the doings of his country in the most hallowed treasury of his
pages ; deeming it equally a religious duty to glorify in writing
the deeds of his land, and to chronicle the history of the
Church.
From Dan, however, so saith antiquity, the pedigrees of our
kings have flowed in glorious series, like channels from some
parent spring. Grytha, a matron most highly revered among
the Teutons, bore him two sons. Humble and Lother.
The ancients, when they were to choose a king, were
[ii] wont to stand on stones planted in the ground, and to pro-
claim their votes, in order to foreshadow from the steadfast-
ness of the stones that the deed would be lasting. By this
ceremony Humble was elected king at his father's death, thus
winning a novel favour from his country ; but by the malice of
ensuing fate he fell from a king into a common man. For he
was taken by Lother in war, and bought his life by yielding
up his crown ; such, in truth, were the only terms of escape
offered him in his defeat. Forced, therefore, by the injustice
of a brother to lay down his sovereignty, he furnished the lesson
to mankind, that there is less safety, though more pomp, in
the palace than in the cottage. Also he bore his wrong so
meekly, that he seemed to rejoice at his loss of title as though
it were a blessing ; and I think he had a shrewd sense of the
quality of a king's estate. But Lother played the king as
insupportably as he had played the soldier, inaugurating his
reign straightway with arrogance and crime ; for he counted it
uprightness to strip all the most eminent of life or goods, and
to clear his country of its loyal citizens, thinking all his equals
in birth his rivals for the crown. He was soon chastised
for his wickedness ; for he met his end in an insurrection of
his country ; which had once bestowed on him his kingdom,
and now bereft him of his life.
Skiold, his son, inherited his natural bent, but not his
behaviour ; avoiding his inborn perversity by great discretion^
^ Discretion] industriam. The word is used in many senses in Saxo,
varying from " dUigenoe" to "wisdom''; but generally denotes a mixture
of parts and perseverance. Industria is a particular feature of Amleth,
Bks. Ill and iv.
m his tender years, and thus escaping all traces of his
father's taint. So he appropriated what was alike the more
excellent and the earlier share of the family character ; for he
wisely departed from his father's sins, and became a happy
counterpart of his grandsire's virtues. This man was famous
in his youth among the huntsmen of his father for his con-
quest of a monstrous beast : a marvellous incident, which
augured his future prowess. For he chanced to obtain leave
from his guardians, who were rearing him very carefully, to
go and see the hunting. A bear of extraordinary size met
him ; he had no spear, but with the girdle that he commonly
wore he contrived to bind it, and gave it to his escort to kill.
More than this, many champions of tried prowess were at the
same time of his life vanquished by him singly ; of these Attal
and Skat were renowned and famous. While but fifteen years
of age he was of unusual bodily size, and displayed mortal
strength in its perfection^; and so mighty were the proofs of
his powers that the rest of the kings of the Danes were called
after him by a common title, the Skioldungs. Those who
were wont to live an abandoned and flaccid life, and to sap
their self-control by wantonness, this man vigilantly spurred
to the practice of virtue in an active career. Thus the ripeness
of Skiold's spirit outstripped the fulness of his strength, and he [12]
fought battles at which one of his tender years could scarce look
on. And as he thus waxed^ in years and valour he beheld^ the
perfect beauty of Alfhild, daughter of the King of the Saxons,
sued for her hand, and, for her sake, in the sight of the armies of
the Teutons and the Danes, challenged and fought with Skat,
^ Perfection] Here, with the words specimen preferebat, begins the
Angers fragment (A), described in the Introduction. The variants in
the second handwriting (2 var.) of the glosses, conjectured to be Saxo's
own, are translated (when of any importance) in the notes : the variants
of the other scribe (var.), and the differences between A and the Ed. Pr.,
are given now and then.
-2 Waxed] procursu. Or, reading pirocinio (i.e., tirocinio) with 2 var.,
"during the novitiate of his years and valour."
^ Beheld] vntuitu. Or, reading gratia with 2 var., "wooed A. because
of her perfect beauty."
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18 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
governor of Allemannia, and a suitor for the same maiden;
whom he slew, afterwards crushing the whole nation of the
Allemannians, and forcing them to pay tribute,^ they being
subjugated by the death of their captain. Skiold was eminent
for patriotism as well as arms. For he annulled unrighteotis
laws, and most heedfully executed whatsoever made for the
amendment of his country's condition. Further, he regained
by his virtue the realm that his father's wickedness had lost.
He was the first to proclaim the law abolishing manumissions.
A slave, to whom he had chanced to grant his freedom, had
attempted his life by stealthy treachery, and he exacted a bitter
penalty : as though it were just that the guilt of one freedman
should be visited upon all. He paid off all men's debts from his
own treasury, and contended, so to say, with all other monarchs
in courage, bounty, and generous dealing. The sick he used
to foster, and charitably gave medicines to those sore stricken;
bearing witness that he had taken on him the care of his
country and not of himself. He used to enrich his nobles
not only with home taxes, but also with plunder taken in
war ; being wont to aver that the prize-money should flow to
the soldiers, and the glory to the general.
Thus delivered of his bitterest rival in wooing, he took as
the prize of combat the maiden, for the love of whom he had
fought, and wedded her in marriage. Soon after, he had by
her a son, Gram, whose wondrous parts savoured so strongly of
his father's virtues, that he was deemed to tread in their very
footsteps. The days of Gram's youth were enriched with
surpassing gifts of mind and body, and he raised them to the
crest of renown. Posterity did such homage to his greatness
that in the most ancient poems of the Danes royal dignity is
implied in his very name.^ He practised with the most
zealous training whatsoever serves to sharpen and strengthen
the bodily powers. Taught by the fencers, he trained himself
1 Forcing them to pay tribute] Saxo, or his scribe, laboured at this
expression. A has tributi Isge choereuit: var. has tributi ditione or
pp.nsinrif perdomuit.
2 Very name] Old Norse gramr, "chief".
by sedulous practice to parrying and dealing blows. He took
to wife the daughter of his upbringer.^ Koar, she being his
foster-sister and of his own years, in order the better to show
his gratefulness for his nursing. A little while after he gave
her in marriage to a certain Bess, since he had ofttimes used
his strenuous service. In this partner of his warlike deeds he [13]
put his trust ; and he has left it a question whether he has won
more renown by Bess's valour or his own.
Gram, chancing to hear that Groa, daughter of Sigtryg,
King of the Swedes, was plighted to a certain giant, and
holding accursed an union so unworthy of the blood royal,
entered on a Swedish war; being destined to emulate the
prowess of Hercules in resisting the attempts of monsters.
He went into Gothland, and, in order to frighten people out
of his path, strode on clad in goats' skins, swathed in the
motley hides of beasts, and grasping in his right hand a dread-
ful weapon, thus feigning the attire of a giant : when he met
Groa herself riding with a very small escort of women on
foot, and making her way, as it chanced, to the forest-pools
to bathe. She thought it was her betrothed who had hastened
to meet her, and was scared with feminine alarm at so
strange a garb : so, flinging up the reins, and shaking terribly
all over, she began in the song of her country, thus :
"I see that a giant, hated of the king, has come, and
darkens the highways with his stride. Or my eyes play me
false ; for it has oft befallen bold warriors to skulk behind
the skin of a beast."
Then began Bess : " Maiden, seated on the shoulders of the
steed, tell me, pouring forth in thy turn words of answer,
what is thy name, and of what line art thou born ?"
Groa replied : " Groa is my name ; my sire is a king, glorious
in blood, gleaming in armour. Disclose to us, thou also, who [14]
thou art, or whence sprung !"
To whom Bess : " I am Bess, brave in battle, ruthless to
1 Upbringer] educatoris. The iiar. glosses pedagogi. The foster-
father was charged with the rearing and teaching of his fosterling.
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20 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
foes, a terror to nations, and oft drenching my right hand
in the blood of foes."
Then said Groa : " Who, prithee, commands your lines ?
Under what captain raise ye the war-standards ? What prince
controls the battle ? Under whose guidance is the war made
ready ?"
Bess in answer : " Gram, the blest in battle, rules the array :
force nor fear can swerve him ; flaming pyre and cruel sword
and ocean billow have never made him afraid. Led by him,
maiden, we raise the golden standards of war."
Groa once more : " Turn your feet and go back hence, lest
Sigtryg vanquish you all with his own array, and fasten you
to a cruel stake, your throats haltered with the cord, and
[15] doom your carcases to the stiff noose, and, glaring evilly,
thrust out your corpses to the hungry raven."
Bess again : " Gram, ere he shall shut his own eyes in
death, shall first make him a ghost, and, smiting him on the
crest,-' shall send him to Tartarus. We fear no camp of the
Swedes. Why threaten us with ghastly dooms, maiden ?"
Groa answered him : " Behold, I will ride thence to see
again the roof of my father which I know, that I may not
rashly set eyes on the array of my brother^ who is coming.
And I pray that your death-doom may tarry for you who
abide."
Bess replied : " Daughter, to thy father go back with good
cheer ; nor imprecate swift death upon us, nor let choler shake
[16] thy bosom. For often has a woman, harsh at first and hard
to a wooer, yielded the second time."
Whereupon Gram could brook no longer to be silent, and
pitching his tones gruffly, so as to mimic a gruesome and
superhuman voice, accosted the maiden thus :
" Let not the maiden fear the brother of the -fleet giant, nor
1 Smiting him on the crest] mrtice plesrum ; 2 var. has cesum.
2 My brother] No brother has been mentioned. St. is inclined to
read patris, or to think "brother" a term of endearment for the giant to
whom she is promised. M. interprets "thy brother", i.e., "the giant
who looks like thee". None of these views are quite satisfactory.
turn pale because I am nigh her. For I am sent by Grip.^
and never seek the couch and embrace o£ damsels save when
their wish matches mine."
Groa answered : " Who so mad as to wish to be the leman
of giants ? Or what woman could love the bed that genders
monsters ? Who could be the wife of demons, and know the
seed whose fruit is monstrous ? Or who would fain share
her couch with a barbarous giant ? Who caresses thorns with
her fingers ? Who would mingle honest kisses with mire ?
Who would unite shaggy limbs to smooth ones which corre-
spond not ? Full ease of love cannot be taken when nature
cries out against it : nor doth the love customary in the use
of women sort with monsters."
Gram rejoined : " Oft with conquering hand I have tamed
the necks of mighty kings, defeating with stronger arm their
insolent pride. Thence take red-glowing gold, that the troth
may be made firm by the gift, and that the faith to be brought
to our wedlock may stand fast,"
Thus speaking, he cast off his disguises, and revealed his [17]
natural comeliness ; and by a single sight of him he filled the
damsel with well-nigh as much joy as he had struck her with
fear before at his counterfeit. She was even incited to his
embraces by the splendour of his beauty ; nor did he fail to
offer her the gifts of love. Going further, he learnt from those
he met, that the road was beset by two robbers. These he slew
simply by charging them as they rushed covetously forth to
despoil him. This done, loth to seem to have done any serv^ice
to the soil of an enemy, he put timbers^ under the carcases of
the slain, fastened them thereto, and stretched them so as to
counterfeit an upright standing position; so that in their
death they might menace in seeming those whom their life
had harmed in truth ; and that, terrible even after their
^ Grip] May be the giant to whom Groa is betrothed ; but the frag-
mentary nature o£ the song leaves thia doubtful. — A ends with the last
line of this speech.
^ He put timbers] For a similar device cp. those of Amleth in Bk. iv,
and Fridleif, Bk. iv ad fin.
22 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
decease, they might block the road in effigy as much as they
had once in deed. Whence it appears that in slaying the
robbers he took thought for himself and not for Sweden ; for
he betokened by so singular an act how great a hatred of
Sweden filled him. Having heard from the diviners that
Sigtryg could only be conquered by gold, he straightway
fi-xed a knob of gold to a wooden mace, equipped himself
therewith in the war wherein he attacked the king, and
obtained his desire. This exploit was besung by Bess in a
most zealous strain of eulogy :
" Gram, the fierce wielder of the prosperous mace, knowing
not the steel, rained blows on the outstretched sword, and with
a stock beat ofi" the lances of the mighty.
"Following the decrees and will of the gods, he brought
low the glory of the powerless Swedes, doing their king to
death and crushing him with the stifi" gold.
" For he pondered on the arts of war : he wielded in his
clasp the ruddy-flashing wood, and victoriously with noble
stroke made their fallen captain writhe.
" Shrewdly he conquered with the hardness of gold him
whom fate forbade should be slain by steel ; unsworded, waging
war with the worthier metal.
[ 1 8] " This treasure, for which its deviser claims glory and the
height of honour, shall abide yet more illustrious hereafter,
known far and wide in ampler fame."
Having now slain Sigtryg, the King of Sweden, Gram desired
to confirm his possession of the empire which he had won in
war ; and therefore, suspecting Swarin the governor of Goth-
land of aspiring to the crown, he challenged him to combat,
and slew him. This man's brethren, of whom he had seven
lawfully born, and nine the sons of a concubine, sought to
avenge their brother's death, but Gram, in an unequal contest,
cut them oif.
Gram, for his marvellous prowess, was granted a share in
the sovereignty by his father, who was now in extreme age,
and thought it better and likewise more convenient to give
his own blood a portion of the supremacy of, the realm, than
now in the setting of his life to administer it without a partner.
Therefore Ring, a nohly born Zealander, stirred the greater
part of the Danes with desire for insurrection ; fancying that
one of these men was unripe for his rank, and that the other
had run the course of his powers, alleging the weakness in
years of both, and declaring that the wandering wit of an old
man made the one, and that of a boy the other, unfit for royal
power. But they fought and crushed him, making him an
example to all men, that no season of life is to be deemed in-
compatible with valour.
Many other deeds also King Gram did. He declared war
against Sumble, King of the Finns ; but when he set eyes upon
the King's daughter, Signe, he laid down his arms, the foeman
turned into the suitor, and, promising to put away his own
wife, he plighted troth with her. But, while much busied
with a war against Norway, which he had taken up against
King Swipdag for debauching his sister and his daughter, he
heard from a messenger that Signe had, by Sumble's treachery,
been promised in marriage to Henry King of Saxony. Then,
inclining to love the maiden more than his soldiers, he left his
army, privily made his way to Finland, and came in upon the
wedding, which was already begun. Putting on a garb of the
utmost meanness, he lay down at table in a seat of no honour.
When asked what he brought, he professed skill in leechcraft.
At last, when all were drenched in drunkenness, he gazed at
the maiden, and amid the revels of the riotous banquet, cursing
deep the fickleness of women, and vaunting loud his own
deeds of valour, he poured out the greatness of his wrath in
a song like this :
"Singly against eight at once I drove the darts of death, [19]
and smote nine with back-swung sword, when I slew Swarin,
who wrongfully assumed his honours and tried to win fame
unmerited ; wherefore I have oft dyed in foreign blood my blade
red with death and reeking with slaughter, and have never
blenched at the clash of dagger or the sheen of helmet. Now
Signe, the daughter of Sumble, vilely spurns me, and endures
vows not mine, cursing her ancient troth ; and, conceiving an
24 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
ill-ordered love, commits a notable act of female lightness ;
for she entangles, lures, and bestains princes, rebuffing beyond
all others the lordly of birth ; yet remaining firm to none,
but ever wavering, and bringing to birth impulses doubtful
and divided."
And as he spoke he leapt up from where he lay, and there
he cut Henry down while at the sacred board and the embraces
of his friends, carried off his bride from amongst the brides-
maids, felled most of the guests, and bore her off with him in
his ship. Thus the bridal was turned into a funeral ; and
the Finns might learn the lesson, that hands should not be
laid upon the loves of other men.
After this Swipdag, King of Norway, destroyed Gram, who
was attempting to avenge the outrage on his sister and the
attempt on his daughter's chastity. This battle was notable
for the presence of the Saxon forces, who were incited to help
Swipdag, not so much by love of him, as by desire to avenge
Henry.
Guthorm and Hadding, the sons of Gram (Groa being the
mother of the first and Signe of the second), were sent over to
Sweden in a ship by their foster-father, Brage (Swipdag being
now master of Denmark), and put in charge of the giants
Wagnhofde and Hafle, for guard as well as rearing.
As I shall have briefly to relate doings of these folk, and
would fain not seem to fabricate what conflicts with common
belief or outsteps the faithful truth, it is worth the knowing
that there were in old times three kinds of magicians who by
diverse sleights practised extraordinary marvels. The first of
these were men of monstrous stock, termed by antiquity giants ;
these by their exceeding great bodily stature surpassed the
[20] size natural to mankind. Those who came after these were
the flrst who gained skill in divination from entrails, and
attained the Pythonic art. These surpassed the former in
briskness of mental parts as much as they fell behind them
in bodily condition. Constant wars for the supremacy were
waged between these and the giants ; till at last the sorcerers
prevailed, subdued the tribe of giants by arms, and acquired
not merely the privilege of ruling, but also the repute of being
divine. Both of these kinds had extreme skill in deluding the
eyesight, knowing how to obscure their own faces and those
of others with divers semblances, and to darken the true
aspects of things with beguiling shapes. But the third kind of
men, springing from the mutual union of the first two, did not
answer to the nature of their parents either in bodily size or
in practice of magic arts ; yet these gained credit for divinity
with minds that were befooled by their jugglings.
Nor must we marvel if, tempted by the prodigious miracles
of these folk, the barbaric world fell to worshipping a false
religion, when others like unto these, who were mere mortals,
but were reverenced with divine honours, beguiled even the
shrewdness of the Latins. I have touched on these things lest,
when I relate of sleights and marvels, I be checked by the
disbelief of the reader. Now I will leave these matters and
return to my theme.
Swipdag, now that he had slain Gram, was enriched with the
realms of Denmark and Sweden ; and because of the frequent
importunities of his wife he brought back from banishment
her brother Guthorm, upon his promising tribute, and made
him ruler of the Danes. But Hadding preferred to avenge
his father rather than take a boon from his foe.
This man's nature so waxed and throve that in the early
season of his youth he was granted the prime of manhood.
Leaving the pursuit of pleasure, he was constantly zealous in
warlike exercises ; remembering that he was the son of a
fighting father, and was bound to spend his whole span of
life in approved deeds of warfare. Hardgrep, daughter of
Wagnhofde, tried to enfeeble his firm spirit with her lures of
love, contending and constantly averring that he ought to
offer the first dues of the marriage bed in wedlock with her,
who had proffered to his childhood most zealous and careful
fostering, and had furnished him with his first rattle. Nor
was she content with admonishing in plain words, but began a
strain of song as follows :
" Why doth thy life thus waste and wander ? Why dost
26 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
[21] thou pass thy years unwed, following arms, thirsting for
throats ? Nor does my beauty draw thy vows. Carried away
by excess of frenzy, thou art little prone to love. Steeped in
blood and slaughter, thou judgest wars better than the bed, nor
refreshest thy soul with incitements. Thy fierceness finds no
leisure ; dalliance is far from thee, and savagery fostered.
Nor is thy hand free from blasphemy while thou loathest
the rites of love. Let this hateful strictness pass away, let
that loving warmth approach, and plight the troth of love to
me, who gave thee the first breasts of milk in childhood,
and helped thee, playing a mother's part, duteous to thy
needs."
When he answered that the size of her body was unwieldy
for the embraces of a mortal, since doubtless her nature was
framed in conformity to her giant stock, she said :
" Be not moved^ by my unwonted look of size. For my
substance is sometimes thinner, sometimes ampler; now
meagre, now abundant ; and I alter and change at my
pleasure the condition of my body, which is at one time
shrivelled up and at another time expanded : now my tall-
ness rises to the heavens, and now I settle down into a human
being, under a more bounded shape."
As he still faltered, and was slow to believe her words, she
added the following song :
" Youth, fear not the converse of my bed. I change my
bodily outline in twofold wise, and am wont to enjoin a double
law upon my sinews. For I conform to shapes of different
figure in turn, and am altered at my own sweet will ; now
my neck is star-high, and soars nigh to the lofty Thunderer ;
then it falls and declines to human strength, and plants again
on earth that head which was near the firmament. Thus I
lightly shift my body into diverse phases, and am beheld
in varying wise ; for changefully now cramped stiffness draws
in my limbs, now the virtue of my tall body unfolds them, and
[22] suffers them to touch the cloud-tops. Now I am short and
1 Be not moved] Cp. Preface of Saxo ad Jin. for this power of alter-
ing size.
straitened, now stretch out with loosened knee ; and I have
mutably changed myself like wax into strange aspects. He
who knows of Proteus should not marvel at me. My shape
never stays the same, and my aspect is twofold : at one time
it contracts its outstretched limbs, at another shoots them out
when closed ; now disentangling the members and now rolling-
them back into a coil. I dart out my ingathered limbs, and
presently, while they are strained, I wrinkle them up, dividing
my countenance between shapes twain, and adopting two
forms; with the greater of these I daunt the fierce, while
with the shorter I seek the embraces of men."
By thus averring she obtained the embraces of Hadding ;
and her love for the youth burned so high that when she
found him desirous of revisiting his own land, she did not
hesitate to follow him in man's attire, and counted it as joy to
share his hardships and perils. While upon the journey she
had undertaken, she chanced to enter in his company, in order
to pass the night, a dwelling, the funeral of whose dead master
was being conducted with melancholy rites. Here, desiring
to pry into the purposes of heaven by the help of a magical
espial, she graved on wood some very dreadful spells, and
caused Hadding to put them under the dead man's tongue ;
thus forcing him to utter, with the voice so given, a strain
terrible to hear.
[Follows the strain magically uttered ^ :]
" Perish accursed he who hath dragged me back from those
below, let him be punished for calling a spirit out of bale !
"Whoso hath called me, who am lifeless and dead, back
from the abode below, and hath brought me again into upper
air, let him pay full penalty with his own death in the dreary
shades beneath livid Styx.^ Behold, counter to my will and
purpose, I must declare some bitter tidings. For as ye go
1 Follows . . .] in Ed. Pr. Omitted by St. as probably the copyist's
insertion.
2 Styx] i.e.. Hell. "Bale", above, renders Tartaro. Saxo often
Latinises Norse mythological words, and we have sometimes followed
him in translating.
28 SAXO GKAMMATICUS.
away from this house ye will come to the narrow path of a
grove, and will be a prey to demons all about. Then she
who hath brought our death back from out the void, and
has given us a sight of this light once more, by her prayers
wondrously drawing forth the ghost and casting it into the
bonds of the body, shall bitterly bewail her rash enterprise.
" Perish accursed he who hath dragged me back from those
below, let him be punished for calling a spirit out of bale !
" For when the black pestilence of the blast that en-
[23] genders monsters has crushed out the inmost entrails with
stern effort, and when their hand has swept away the living
with cruel nail, tearing off limbs and rending ravished
bodies ; then, Hadding, thy life shall survive, nor shall the
nether realms bear off thy ghost, nor thy spirit pass heavily
to the waters of Styx ; but the woman who hath made
the wretched ghost come back hither, crushed by her own
guilt, shall appease our dust ; she shall be dust herself.
" Perish accursed he who hath dragged me back from those
below, let him be punished for calling a spirit out of bale !"
So, while they were passing the night in the forest foretold
them, in a shelter framed of twigs, a hand of extraordinary
size was seen to wander over the inside of the dwelling.
Terrified at this portent, Hadding entreated the aid of his
nurse. Then Hardgrep, expanding her limbs and swelling to
a mighty bigness, gripped the hand fast and held it to her
foster-child to hew off. What flowed from the noisome
wounds he dealt was not so much blood as corrupt matter.
But she paid the penalty of this act, presently being torn
in pieces by her kindred of the same stock ; nor did her con-
stitution or her bodily size help her against feeling the attacks
of her foes' claws.
Hadding, thus bereft of his foster-mother, chanced to be
made an ally in a solemn covenant to a rover, Lysir,^ by a
certain man of great age that had lost an eye, who took pity on
bis loneliness. Now the ancients, when about to make a league,
' Query Lyfir.
were wont to besprinkle their footsteps with the blood of one
another, so to ratify their pledge of friendship by reciprocal
barter of blood. Lysir and Hadding, being bound thus in the
strictest league, declared war against Loker, the tyrant of
the Kurlanders. They were defeated ; and the old man afore-
mentioned took Hadding, as he fled on horseback, to his own
house, and there refreshed him with a certain pleasant draught,
telling him that he would find himself quite brisk and sound
in body. This prophetic advice he confirmed by a song as
follows :
" As thou farest hence, a foe, thinking thee a deserter, will [24]
assail thee, that he may keep thee bound and cast thee to be
devoured by the mangling jaws of beasts. But fill thou the
ears of the warders with divers tales, and when they have
done the feast and deep sleep holds them, snap off the fetters
upon thee and the loathly chains. Turn thy feet thence, and
when a little space has fled, with all thy might rise up against
a swift lion who is wont to toss the carcases of the prisoners,
and strive with thy stout arms against his savage shoulders,
and with naked sword search his heart-strings. Straightway
put thy throat to him and drink the steaming blood, and
devour with ravenous jaws the banquet of his body. Then
renewed strength will come to thy limbs, then shall un-
dreamed-of might enter thy sinews, and an accumulation of
stout force shall bespread and nerve thy frame throughout.
I myself will pave the path to thy prayers, and will subdue
the henchmen in sleep, and keep them snoring throughout the
lingering night."
And as he spoke, he took back the young man on his horse,
and set him where he had found him. Hadding cowered
trembling under his mantle ; but so extreme was his wonder
at the event, that with keen vision he peered through its
holes. And he saw that before the steps of the horse lay the
sea ; but was told not to steal a glimpse of the forbidden thing,
and therefore turned aside his amazed eyes from the dread
spectacle of the roads that he journeyed. Then he was taken
by Loker, and found by very sure experience that every point
30 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
of the prophecy was fulfilled upon him. So he assailed
Handvan/ king of the Hellespont, who was entrenched behind
an impregnable defence of wall in his city Duna, and with-
stood him not in the field, but with battlements. Its summit
defying all approach by a besieger, he ordered that the divers
kinds of birds who were wont to nest in that spot should be
caught by skilled fowlers, and he caused wicks^ which had
been set on fire to be fastened beneath their wings. The
birds sought the shelter of their own nests, and filled the
city with a blaze ; all the townsmen flocked to quench it, and
left the gates defenceless. He attacked and captured Handvan,
but suffered him to redeem his life with gold for ransom.
Thus, when he might have cut off his foe, he preferred to grant
him the breath of life ; so far did his mercy qualify his rage.
After this he prevailed over a great force of men of the
East, and came back to Sweden. Swipdag met him with a
[25] great fleet off Gottland^; but Hadding attacked and destroyed
him. And thus he advanced to a lofty pitch of renown, not
only by the fruits of foreign spoil, but by the trophies of
his vengeance for his brother and his father. And he
exchanged exile for royalty, for he became king, of his own
land as soon as he regained it.
At this time there was one Odin, who was credited over all
Europe with the honour, which was false, of godhead, but
used more continually to sojourn at Upsala ; and in this spot,
either from the sloth of the inhabitants or from its own
pleasantness, he vouchsafed to dwell with somewhat especial
constancy. The kings of the North, desiring more zealously
1 Handvan] Handvamu. See Rydberg, p. 204, E. tr. The " Helles-
pont" is strange. The Danes in the Middle Ages believed in some sea
route from the Baltic through Scythia to the South and the Egean.
^ Wicks] fwnqos. Cp. Verg. Oeorg. i. 392. Possibly the word means
tinder or touchwood of some kind, or some alow-burning fungus. Both
Sch. and Grundtvig have simply Svampe. " mushrooms''. The word and
the device are repeated in Bk. 11, and also at the end of Bk. iv.
' Gottland] Oudlandia, the island. So the Ed. Pr., though the
paraphrasts have Guthlandia and Gothlandia, which might possibly be
Gothland. But Saxo's invariable word for the latter is Oothia.
to worship his deity, embounded his likeness in a golden
image ; and this statue, which betokened their homage, they
transmitted with much show of worship to Byzantium,^ fetter-
ing even the effigied arms with a serried mass of bracelets.
Odin was overjoyed at such notoriety, and greeted warmly
the devotion of the senders. But his queen Frigga,^ desiring
to go forth more beautified, called smiths, and had the gold
stripped from the statue. Odin hanged them, and mounted
the statue upon a pedestal, which by the marvellous skill of
his art he made to speak when a mortal touched it. But still
Frigga preferred the splendour of her own apparel to the
divine honours of her husband, and submitted herself to the
embraces of one of her servants ; and it was by this man's
device she broke down the image, and turned to the service
of her private wantonness that gold which had been devoted
to public idolatry. Little thought she of practising unchastity,
that she might the easier satisfy her greed, this woman so
unworthy to be the consort of a god ; but what should I
here add, save that such a godhead was worthy of such a
wife? So great was the error that of old befooled the
minds of men. Thus Odin, wounded by the double trespass
of his wife, resented the outrage to his image as keenly as
that to his bed ; and, ruffled by these two stinging dishonours,
took to an exile overflowing with noble shame, imagining so to
wipe off" the slur of his ignominy.
When he had retired, one Mit-othin, who was famous for
his juggling tricks, was likewise quickened, as though by
inspiration from on high, to seize the opportunity of feigning
to be a god ; and, wrapping the minds of the barbarians in
fresh darkness, he led them by the renown of his jugglings to
pay holy observance to his name. He said that the wrath of
the gods could never be appeased nor the outrage to their
deity expiated by mixed and indiscriminate sacrifices, and [26]
therefore forbade that prayers for this end should be put up
without distinction, appointing to each of those above his
1 Byzantium] See below, Bk. in, note.
" Corp. Poet. Bar., i. 243 (HyndluljoS).
32 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
especial drink-offering. But when Odin was returning, he
cast away all help of jugglings, went to Finland^ to hide him-
self, and was there attacked and slain by the inhabitants.
Even in his death his abominations were made manifest, for
those who came nigh his barrow were cut off by a kind of
sudden death ; and after his end, he spread such pestilence
that he seemed almost to leave a filthier record in his death
than in his life : it was as though he would extort from the
guilty a punishment for his slaughter. The inhabitants, being
in this trouble, took the body out of the mound, beheaded it,
and impaled it through the breast with a sharp stake ; and
herein that people found relief.
The death of Odin's wife revived the ancient splendour of
his name, and seemed to wipe out the disgrace upon his deity ;
so, returning from exile, he forced all those, who had used
his absence to assume the honours of divine rank, to resign
them as usurped ; and the gangs of sorcerers that had arisen
he scattered like a darkness before the advancing glory of
his godhead. And he forced them by his power not only
to lay down their divinity, but further to quit the country,
deeming that they, who tried to foist themselves so iniquitously
into the skies, ought to be outcasts from the earth.
Meanwhile Asmund, the son of Swipdag, fought with
Hadding to avenge his father. And when he heard that
Henry his son, his love for whom he set even before his own
life, had fallen fighting valiantly, his soul longed for death,
and loathed the light of day, and he made a song in a strain
like this :
"What brave hath dared put on my armour ? The sheen
of the helmet serves not him who tottereth, nor doth the
breastplate fitly shelter him that is sore spent.^ Our son is
slain, let us riot in battle ; my eager love of him driveth me
to my death, that I may not be left outliving my dear child.
In each hand I am fain to grasp the sword; now without
shield let us ply our warfare bare-breasted, with flashing
Finland] Pheouia, so M. ; perhaps Fiunia (Funen), as Sch. has it.
2 Sore spent] fumm; perhaps rather " prosti ate"
blades. Let the rumour of our rage beacon forth : boldly let
us grind to powder the column of the foe ; nor let the battle
be long and chafe us ; nor let our onset be shattered in rout
and be still."
When he had said this, he gripped his hilt with both hands,
and, fearless of peril, swung his shield upon his back and slew [27]
many. Hadding therefore called on the powers with which
he was allied to protect him, and on a sudden Wagnhofde rode
up to fight on his side. And when Asmund saw his crooked
sword, he cried out, and broke into the following strain :
" Why fightest thou with curved sword ? The short sword
shall prove thy doom, the javelin shall be flung and bring
forth death. Thou shouldst conquer thy foe by thy hand, but
thou trustest that he can be rent by spells ; thou trustest
more in words than vigour, and puttest thy strength in thy
great resource. Why dost thus beat me back with thy shield,
threatening with thy bold lance, when thou art so covered
with wretched crimes and spotted all over ? Thus hath the
brand of shame bestained thee, rotting in sin, lubber-lipped."
While he thus clamoured, Hadding, flinging his spear by the
thong, pierced him through. But Asmund lacked not comfort
even for his death ; for while his life flickered in the socket he
wounded the foot of his slayer, and by this short instant of
revenge he memorized his fall, punishing the other with an
incurable limp. Thus crippling of a limb befell one of them
and loss of life the other. Asmund's body was buried in
solemn state at Upsala and attended with royal obsequies.
His wife Gunnhild, loth to outlive him, cut ofi" her own life
with the sword, choosing rather to follow her lord in death
than to forsake him by living. Her friends, in consigning
her body to burial, laid her with her husband's dust, thinking
her worthy to share the mound of the man, her love for whom
she had set above life. So there lies Gunnhild, clasping her
lord somewhat more beautifully in the tomb than she had
eyer done in the bed.
After this Hadding, now triumphant, wasted Sweden. But
Asmund's son, named Vi¥e, shrinking from a conflict, trans-
D
34 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
ported his army into Denmark, thinking it better to assail the
house of his enemy than to guard his own, and deeming it a
timely method of repelling his wrongs to retaliate upon his foe
wliat he was suffering at his hands. Thus the Danes had to
return and defend their own, preferring the safety of their
land to lordship of a foreign realm ; and TJffe went back to
his own country, now rid of an enemy's arms.
[28] Hadding, on returning from the Swedish war, perceived
that his treasury, wherein he was wont to store the wealth he
had gotten by the spoils of war, had been forced and robbed,
and straightway hanged its keeper Glumer, proclaiming by a
crafty device, that, if any of the culprits brought about the
recovery of the stolen goods, he should have the same post of
honour as Glumer had filled. Upon this promise, one of the
guilty men became more zealous to reap the bounty than to
hide his crime, and had the money brought back to the king.
His confederates fancied he had been received into the king's
closest friendship, and believed that the honours paid him
were as real as they were lavish ; and therefore they also,
hoping to be as well rewarded, brought back their moneys
and avowed their guilt. Their confession was received at first
with promotion and favours, and soon visited with punish-
ment, thus bequeathing a signal lesson against being too
confiding. I should judge that men, whose foolish blabbing
brought them to destruction, when wholesome silence could
have ensured their safety, well deserved to atone upon the
gallows for their breach of reticence.
After this Hadding passed the whole winter season in the
utmost preparation for the renewal of the war. When the
frosts had been melted by the springtide sun, he went back to
Sweden and there spent five years in warfare. By dint of
this prolonged expedition, his soldiers, having consumed all
their provision, were reduced almost to the extremity of
emaciation, and began to assuage their hunger with mush-
rooms from the wood. At last, under stress of extreme
necessity, they devoured their horses, and finally satisfied
themselves with the carcasses of dogs. Worse still, they did
BOOK'' ONE. 35
not scruple to feed upon human limbs. So, when the Danes
were brought unto the most desperate straits, there sounded
in the camp, in the first sleep of the night, and no man
uttering it, the following song :
" With foul augury have ye left the abode of your country,
thinking to harry these fields in War.-' What idle notion
mocks your minds ? What blind self-confidence has seized
your senses, that ye think this soil can thus be won ? The
might of Sweden cannot yield or quail before the War of the
stranger ; but the whole of your column shall melt away
when it begins to assault our people in War. For when flight
has broken up the furious onset, and the straggling part of
the fighters wavers, then to those who prevail in the War is
given free scope to slay those who turn their backs, and they
have earned power to smite the harder when fate drives the [29]
renewer of the war headlong. Nor let him whom cowardice
deters aim the spears."
This prophecy was accomplished on the morrow's dawn
by a great slaughter of the Danes. On the next night the
warriors of Sweden heard an utterance like this, none knowing
who spake it :
" Why doth USe thus defy me with grievous rebellion ?
He shall pay the utmost penalty. For he shall be buried and
transpierced under showers of lances, and shall fall lifeless in
atonement for his insolent attempt. Nor shall the guilt of
his wanton rancour be unpunished ; and, as I forebode, as soon
as he joins battle and fights, the points shall fasten in his
limbs and strike his body everywhere, and his raw gaping
wounds no bandage shall bind up ; nor shall any remedy
heal over thy wide gashes."
On that same night the armies fought ; when two hairless
old men, of appearance fouler than human, and displaying
their horrid baldness in the twinkling starlight, divided their
monstrous efibrts with opposing ardour, one of them being
zealous on the Danish side, and the other as fervent for the
'■ War] Several times repeated in the song, always Mars in Saxo.
The Norse original probably had some proper name.
d2
36 SAXO GRAMMA.TICUS.
Swedes. Hadding was conquered and fled to Helsingland/
where, while washing in the cold sea-water his body which
was scorched with heat, he attacked and cut down with
many blows a beast of unknown kind, and having killed
it had it carried into camp. As he was exulting in this deed
a woman met him and addressed him in these words :
"Whether thou tread the fields afoot, or spread canvas
overseas, thou shalt suffer the hate of the gods, and through
all the world shalt behold the elements oppose thy pur-
[30] poses. Afield thou shalt fall, on sea thou shalt be tossed, an
eternal tempest shall attend the steps of thy wandering, nor
shall frost-bind ever quit thy sails ; nor shall thy roof -tree
roof thee, but if thou seekest it, it shall fall smitten by the
hurricane ; thy herd shall perish of bitter chill. All things
shall be tainted, and shall lament that thy lot is there. Thou
shalt be shunned like a pestilent tetter, nor shall any plague
be fouler than thou. Such chastisement doth the power of
heaven mete out to thee, for truly thy sacrilegious hands have
slain one of the dwellers above, disguised in a shape that
was not his : thus here art thou, the slayer of a benignant
god ! But when the sea receives thee, the wrath of the prison
of Eolus shall be loosed upon thy head. The West and the
furious North, the South wind shall beat thee down, shall
league and send forth their blasts in rivalry ; until with better
prayers thou hast melted the sternness of heaven, and hast
lifted with appeasement the punishment thou hast earned."
So, when Hadding went back, he suffered all things after
this one fashion, and his coming brought disquiet upon all
peaceful places. For when he was at sea a mighty storm
arose and destroyed his fieet in a great tempest: and when, a
shipwrecked man, he sought entertainment, he found a sudden
downfall of that house. Nor was there any cure for his
trouble, ere he atoned by sacrifice for his crime, and was
able to return into favour with heaven. For, in order to
appease the deities, he sacrificed dusky victims to thegodFrey.
This manner of propitiation by sacrifice he repeated as an
1 Helsingland] In Sweden, on the Gulf of Bothnia.
annual feast, and left posterity to follow. This rite the
Swedes call Froblod [the sacrifice or feast of Frey].
Hadding chanced to hear that a certain giant had taken
in troth Ragnhild, daughter of Hakon, King of the Nithe-
rians^; and, loathing so ignominious a state of affairs, and
utterly abominating the destined union, he forestalled the
marriage by noble daring. For he went to Norway and over-
came by arms him that was so foul a lover for a princess.
For he thought so much more of valour than of ease, that,
though he was free to enjoy all the pleasures of a king, he
accounted it sweeter than any delight to repel the wrongs done,
not only to himself, but to others. The maiden, not knowing
him, ministered with healing tendance to the man that had
done her kindness and was bruised with many wounds. And
in order that lapse of time might not make her forget him, she
shut up a ring in his wound, and thus left a mark on his leg.
Afterwards her father granted her freedom to choose her own
husband ; so, when the young men were assembled at banquet,
she went along them and felt their bodies carefully, searching [31]
for the tokens she had stored up long ago. All the rest she
rejected, but Hadding she discovered by the sign of the secret
ring ; then she embraced him, and gave herself to be the wife
of him who had not suffered a giant to win her in marriage.
While Hadding was sojourning with her a marvellous
portent befell him. While he was at supper, a woman bearing
hemlocks was seen to raise her head beside the brazier, and,
stretching out the lap of her robe, seemed to ask, " in what
part of the world such fresh herbs had grown in winter?"
The king desired to know ; and, wrapping him in her mantle,
she drew him with her underground, and vanished. I take
it that the nether gods purposed that he should pay a visit
in the flesh to the regions whither he must go when he died.
So they first pierced through a certain dark misty cloud, and
' Nitherians] Niflieri. M. says these are unknown. Holder (Index)
says " Nid-Elven, in Norway". Gheysmer, in his Compendium, has
Rxitenorum, Russians. Query, the mythical Niars? See Weyland's srrg,
Corp. Poet. Bor., i, 170.
38 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
then advancing along a path that was worn away with long
thoroughfaring, they beheld certain men wearing rich robes,
and nobles clad in purple ; these passed, they at last ap-
proached sunny regions which produced the herbs the woman
had brought away. Going further, they came on a swift and
tumbling river of leaden waters, whirling down on its rapid
current divers sorts of missiles, and likewise made passable
by a bridge. When they had crossed this, they beheld two
armies encountering one another with might and main. And
when Hadding inquired of the woman about their estate :
" These", she said, " are they who, having been slain by the
sword, declare the manner of their death by a continual
rehearsal, and enact the deeds of their past life in a living
spectacle." Then a wall hard to approach and to climb
blocked their further advance. The woman tried to leap it,
but in vain, being unable to do so even with her slender
wrinkled body ; then she wrung off the head of a cock which
she chanced to be taking down with her, and flung it beyond
the barrier of the walls ; and forthwith the bird came to life
again, and testified by a loud crow to its recovery of its
breathing.
Then Hadding turned back and began to make homewards
with his wife ; some rovers bore down on him, but by swift
sailing he baffled their snares ; for though it was almost the
same wind that helped both, they were behind him as he
clove the billows, and, as they had only just as much sail, could
not overtake him.
Meantime Uffe, who had a marvellously fair daughter,
decreed that the man who slew Hadding should have her.
This sorelj'' tempted one Thuning, who got together a band of
men of Perm [Byarmenses], being fain so to win the desired
advancement. Hadding was going to fall upon him, but
[32] while he was passing Norway in his fleet he saw upon the
beach an old man signing to him, with many wavings of his
mantle, to put into shore. His companions opposed it, and
declared that it would be a ruinous diversion from their
journey ; but he took the man OQ board, and was instructed
by him how to order his army. For this man, in arranging
the system of the columns, used to take special care that the
front row consisted of two, the second of four, while the
third increased and was made up to eight, and likewise
each row was double that in front of it. Also the old man
bade the wings of the slingers go back to the extremity
of the line, and put with them the ranks of the archers.
So when the squadrons were arranged in the wedge, he
stood himself behind the warriors, and from the wallet which
was slung round his neck drew an arbalist. This seemed
small at first, but soon projected with more prolonged tip,
and accommodated ten arrows to its string at once, which
were shot all at once at the enemy in a brisk volley, and
inflicted as many wounds. Then the men of Perm, quitting
arms for cunning, by their spells loosed the sky in clouds of
rain, and melted the joyous visage of the air in dismal drench-
ing showers. But the old man, on the other hand, drove back
with a cloud the heavy mass of storm which had arisen, and
checked the dripping rain by this barrier of mist. Thus
Hadding prevailed. But the old man, when he parted from
him, foretold that the death whereby he would perish would
be inflicted, not by the might of an enemy, but by his own
hand. Also he forbade him to prefer obscure wars to such as
were glorious, and border wars to those remote.
Hadding, after leaving him, was bidden by Uff"e to Upsala
on pretence of an interview ; but lost all his escort by
treachery, and made his escape sheltered by the night. For
when the Danes sought to leave the house into which they had
been gathered on pretext of a banquet, they found one await-
inar them, who mowed oflT the head of each of them with his
sword as it was thrust out of the door. For this wrongful
act Hadding retaliated and slew Uffe ; but put away his hatred
and consigned his body to a sepulchre of notable handiwork,
thus avowing the greatness of his foe by his pains to beautify
his tomb, and decking in death with costly distinctions the
man whom he used to pursue in his life with hot enmity.
Then, to win the hearts of the people he had subdued, he
40 SAXO GRAMMATICXJS.
appointed Hunding, the brother of Uife, over the realm, that
the sovereignty might seem to be maintained in the house of
Asmund, and not to have passed into the hand of a stranger.
Thus his enemy was now removed, and he passed several
[33] years without any stirring events and in utter disuse of arms ;
but at last he pleaded the long while he had been tilling the
earth, and the immoderate time he had forborne from exploits
on the seas ; and seeming to think war a merrier thing than
peace, he began to upbraid himself with slothfulness in a
strain like this :
" Why loiter I thus in darksome hiding, in the folds of
rugged hills, nor follow seafaring as of old ? The continual
howling of the band of wolves, and the plaintive cry of harmful
beasts that rises to heaven, and the fierce impatient lions, all
rob my eyes of sleep. Dreary are the ridges and the desola-
tion to hearts that trusted to do wilder work. The stark
rocks and the rugged lie of the ground bar the way to spirits
who are wont to love the sea. It were better service to sound
the firths with the oars, to revel in plundered wares, to pursue
the gold of others for my coffer, to gloat over sea-gotten gains,
than to dwell in rough lands and winding woodlands and
barren glades."
Then his wife, loving a life in the country, and weary of
the matin harmony of the sea-birds, declared how great joy
she found in frequenting the woodlands, in the following
strain :
" The shrill bird vexes me as I tarry by the shore, and
with its chattering rouses me when I cannot sleep. Where-
fore the noisy sweep of its boisterous rush takes gentle rest
from my sleeping eye, nor doth the loud-chattering sea-mew
suflTer me to rest in the night, forcing its wearisome tale into
my dainty ears ; nor when I would lie down doth it suffer
me to be refreshed, clamouring with doleful modulation of its
ill-boding voice. Safer and sweeter do I deem the enjoyment
of the woods. How are the fruits of rest plucked less by
day or night than by tarrying tossed on the shifting sea ? "
[34] At this time one Toste emerged, from the obscure spot of
Jutland where he was born, into bloody notoriety. For by all
manner of wanton attacks upon the common people he spread
wide the fame of his cruelty, and gained so universal a re-
pute for rancour, that he was branded with the name of the
Wicked. Nor did he even refrain from wrongdoing to for-
eigners, but, after foully harrying his own land, went on to
assault Saxony. The Saxon general Syfrid, when his men were
hard put to it in the battle, entreated peace. Toste declared
that he should have what he asked, but only if he would
promise to become his ally in a war against Hadding. Syfrid
demurred, dreading to fulfil the condition, but by sharp menaces
Toste induced him to promise what he asked. For threats
can sometimes gain a request which soft-dealing cannot com-
pass. Hadding was conquered by this man in an affair by
land ; but in the midst of his flight he came on his enemy's
fleet, and made it unseaworthy by boring the sides^ ; then he
got a skiff and steered it out to sea. Toste thought he was
slain, but though he sought long among the indiscriminate
heaps of dead, could not find him, and came back to his
fleet ; when he saw from afar off' a light boat tossing on the
ocean billows. Putting out some vessels, he resolved to give
it chase, but was brought back by peril of shipwreck, and
only just reached the shore. Then he quickly took some
sound craft, and accomplished the journey which he had
before begun. Hadding, seeing he was caught, proceeded to
ask his companion whether he was a skilled and practised
swimmer ; and when the other said he was not, Hadding,
despairing of flight, deliberately turned the vessel over and
held on inside to its hollow, thus making his pursuers think
him dead. Then he attacked Toste, who, careless and un-
aware, was greedily watching over the remnants of his spoil ;
cut down his army, forced him to quit his plunder, and
avenged his own rout by that of Toste.
But Toste lacked not heart to avenge himself. For, not
having store enough in his own land to recruit his forces — so
1 Boring the sides] For another instance of this device see Ek. ii,
p. 48.
42 SAXO GBAMMATICUS.
heavy was the blow he had received — he went to Britain,
calling himself an ambassador. Upon his outward voyage,
for sheer wantonness, he got his crew together to play dice,
and when a wrangle arose from the throwing of the cubes, he
taught them to wind it up with a fatal affray. And so, by
means of this peaceful sport, he spread the spirit of strife
through the whole ship, and the jest gave place to quarrelling,
which engendered bloody combat. Also, fain to get some gain
out of the misfortunes of others, he seized the moneys of the
slain, and attached to him a certain rover then famous,
[35] named Koll ; and a little after returned in his company to his
own land, where he was challenged and slain by Hadding,
who preferred to hazard his own fortune rather than that
of his soldiers. For generals of antique valour were loth to
accomplish by a general massacre what could be decided by
the lot of a few.
After these deeds the figure of Hadding's dead wife appeared
before him in his sleep, and sang thus :
" A monster is born to thee that shall tame the rage of wild
beasts, and crush with fierce mouth the fleet wolves."
Then she added a little : " Take thou heed ; from thee hath
issued a bird of harm, in choler a wild screech-owl, in tongue
a tuneful swan."
On the morrow the king, when he had shaken off slumber,
told the vision to a man skilled in interpretations, who
explained the wolf to denote a son that would be truculent,
and the word swan as signifying a daughter; and foretold
that the son would be deadly to enemies and the daughter
treacherous to her father. The result answered to the pro-
phecy. Hadding's daughter, Ulfhild, who was wife to a
certain private person called Guthorm, was moved either by
anger at her match, or with aspirations to glory, and, throwing
aside all heed of daughterly love, tempted her husband to slay
her father ; declaring that she preferred the name of queen
to that of princess. I have resolved to set forth the manner
of her exhortation almost in the words in -which she uttered
it ; they were nearly these ;
" Miserable am I, whose nobleness is shadowed by an un-
equal yoke ! Hapless am I, to whose pedigree is bound the
lowliness of a peasant ! Luckless issue of a king, to whom a
common man is equal by law of marriage ! Pitiable daughter
of a prince, whose comeliness her spiritless father hath made
over to base and contemptible embraces ! Unhappy child of
thy mother, with thy happiness marred by consorting with
this bed ! thy purity is handled by the impurity of a peasant,
thy nobility is bowed down by ignoble commonness, thy high
birth is impaired by the estate of thy husband ! But thou, if
any pith be in thee, if valour reign in thy soul at all, if thou
deem thyself fit husband for a king's daughter, wrest the
sceptre from her father, retrieve thy lineage by thy valour,
balance with courage thy lack of ancestry, requite by bravery
thy detriment of blood. Power won by daring is more pros-
perous than that won by inheritance. Boldness climbs to the
top better than inheritance, and worth wins power better thati
birth. Moreover, it is no shame to overthrow old age, which [36]
of its own weight sinks and totters to its fall. It shall be
enough for my father to have borne the sceptre for so long ;
let the dotard's power fall to thee ; if it elude thee, it will
pass to another. Whatsoever rests on old age is near its
fall. Think that his reign has been long enough, and be
it thine, though late in the day, to be first. Further, I would
rather have my husband than my father king — would rather
be ranked a king's wife than daughter. It is better to embrace
a monarch in one's home, than to give him homage from afar ;
it is nobler to be a king's bride than his courtier. Thou, too,
must surely prefer thyself to thy wife's father for bearing the
sceptre ; for nature has made each one nearest to himself. If
there be a will for the deed, a way will open ; there is nothing
but yields to the wit of man. The feast must be kept, the
banquet decked, the preparations looked to, and my father
bidden. The path to treachery shall be smoothed by a pre-
tence of friendship, for nothing cloaks a snare better than
the name of kindred. Also his soddenness shall open a short
way to his slaughter j for when the king shall be intent upon
44 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
the dressing of his hair, and his hand is upon his beard and
his mind upon stories ; when he has parted his knotted locks,
either with hairpin or disentangling comb, then let him feel
the touch of the steel in his flesh. Busy men commonly
devise little precaution. Let thy hand draw near to punish
all his sins. It is a righteous deed to put forth thy hand
to avenge the wretched !"
Thus Ulfhild importuned, and her husband was overcome
by her promptings, and promised his help to the treachery.
But meantime Hadding was warned in a dream to beware of his
son-in-law's guile. He went to the feast, which his daughter
had made ready for him with a show of love, and posted an
armed guard hard by to use against the treachery when
need was. As he ate, the henchman who was employed to do
the deed of guile silently awaited a fitting moment for his
crime, his dagger hid under his robe. The king, remarking
him, blew on the trumpet a signal to the soldiers who were
"--- stationed near ; they straightway brought aid, and he made
the guile recoil on its deviser.
Meanwhile Hunding, King of the Swedes, heard false
tidings that Hadding was dead, and resolved to greet them
with obsequies. So he gathered his nobles together, and filled
a jar of extraordinary size with ale, and had this set in the
midst of the feasters for their delight, and, to omit no mark of
solemnity, himself assumed a servant's part, not hesitating to
play the cupbearer. And while he was passing through the
palace in fulfilment of his ofiice, he stumbled and fell into
the jar, and, being choked by the liquor, gave up the ghost;
thus atoning either to Orcus, whom he was appeasing by a
[37] baseless performance of the rites, or to Hadding, about whose
death he had spoken falsely. Hadding, when he heard this,
wished to pay like thanks to his worshipper, and, not enduring
to survive his death, hanged himself in sight of the whole
people.
END OF BOOK I.
/
Book 2
Hadding was succeeded by Frode, his son, whose fortunes [38]
were many and changeful. When he had passed the years of
a stripling he displayed the fulness of a warrior's prowess ;
and being loth that this should be spoilt by slothfulness, he
sequestered his mind from delights, and perseveringly con-
strained it to arms. Warfare having drained his father's
treasury, he lacked a stock of pay to maintain his troops,
and cast about diligently for the supplies that he required;
and while thus employed, a man of the country met him and
roused his hopes by the following strain :
" Not far off is an island rising in delicate slopes, hiding-
treasure in its hills and ware of its rich booty. Here a noble
pile is kept by the occupant of the mount, who is a snake
wreathed in coils, doubled in many a fold, and with tail drawn
out in winding whorls, shaking his manifold spirals and
shedding venom. If thou wouldst conquer him, thou must use
thy shield and stretch thereon bulls' hides, and cover thy
body with the skins of kine, nor let thy limbs lie bare to the
sharp poison ; his slaver burns up what it bespatters. Though
the three-forked tongue flicker and leap out of the gaping
mouth, and with awful yawn menace ghastly wounds
remember to keep the dauntless temper of thy mind ; nor let
the point of the jagged tooth trouble thee, nor the starkness
of the beast, nor the venom spat from the swift throat.
Though the force of his scales spurn thy spears, yet know
there is a place under his lowest belly whither thou mayst
1 The Ed. Pr. has in the same hand as the corresponding inscription in
Bk. i: "Here follows the Second [book] concerning Frotho son of
Hadingus, who was the seventh king of Dacia, and was commonly called
Frothe geffmylde, that is liberal."
46 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
plunge the blade ; aim at this with thy sword, and thou shalt
probe the snake to his centre. Thence go fearless up to the
hill, drive the mattock, dig and ransack the holes ; soon fill
thy pouch with treasure, and bring back to the shore thy
.craft laden."
[39] Frode believed, and crossed alone to the island, loth to
attack the beast with any stronger escort than that where-
with it was the custom for champions to attack.^ When it
had drunk water and was repairing to its cave, its rough and
sharp hide spurned the blow of Frode's steel. Also the darts
that he flung against it rebounded idly, foiling the effort of
the thrower. But when the hard back yielded not a whit,
he noted the belly heedfuUy, and its softness gave entrance
to the steel. The beast tried to retaliate by biting, but only
struck the sharp point of its mouth upon the shield. Then
it shot out its flickering tongue again and again, and gasped
away life and venom together.
The money which the King found made him rich ; and with
this supply he approached in his fleet the region of the Kur-
landers, whose king Dorn, dreading a perilous war, is said to
have made a speech of the following kind to his soldiers :
" Nobles ! Our enemy is a foreigner, begirt with the arms
and the wealth of almost all the West ; let us, by endeavouring
to defer the battle for our profit, make him a prey to famine,
which is an inward malady ; and he will find it very hard
to conquer a peril among his own people. It is easy to oppose
the starving. Hunger will be a better weapon against our
foe than arms, famine will be the sharpest lance we shall hurl
at him. For lack of food nourishes the pestilence that eats
away men's strength, and lack of victual undermines store
of weapons. Let this whirl the spears while we sit still, let
this take up the prerogative and the duty of fighting. Unim-
perilled, we shall be able to imperil others ; we can drain their
^ Champions to attack] This refers to the holm-ganga, or single combat
on an island. See Icel. Diet. a. v. The meaning is that Frode goes
alone. Op. the combat of Ket and Wig with Athisl in Bk. iv, where it
is said to be shameful for two men to fight one.
blood and lose no drop of ours. One may defeat an enemy
by inaction. "Who would not rather fight safely than at a loss?
Who would strive to suffer chastisement when he may con-
tend unhurt ? Our success in arms will be more prosperous,
if hunger joins battle first. Let hunger captain us, and so let
us take the first chance of conflict. Let it decide the day in
our stead, and let our camp remain free from the stir of war ;
if hunger retreat beaten, we must break off idleness. He who
is fresh easily overpowers him who is shaken with languor.
The hand that is flaccid and withered will come fainter to the
battle. He whom any hardship has first wearied, will bring
slacker hands to the steel. When he that is wasted with sick-
ness engages with the sturdy, the victory hastens. Thus,
undamaged ourselves, we shall be able to deal damage to
others."^
Having said this, he wasted all the places which he saw
would be hard to protect, distrusting his power to guard them, [40]
and he so far forestalled the ruthlessness of the foe in ravag-
ing his own land, that he left nothing untouched which could
be seized by those who came after. Then he shut up the
greater part of his forces in a town of undoubted strength,
and suffered the enemy to blockade him. Frode, distrusting his
power of attacking this town, commanded several trenches of
unwonted depth to be made within the camp, and the earth
to be secretly carried out in baskets and cast quietly into the
river bordering the walls. Then he had a mass of turf put
over the trenches to hide the trap : wishing to cut off the
unwary enemy by tumbling them down headlong, and thinking
that they would be overwhelmed unawares by the slip of the
subsiding earth. Then he feigned a panic, and proceeded to
forsake the camp for a short while. The townsmen fell upon
it, missed their footing everywhere, rolled forward into the
pits, and were massacred by him under a shower of spears.
Thence he travelled and fell in with Trannon, the monarch
of the Ruthenians. Desiring to spy out the strength of his
1 Damage to others] aliis danmorum arwtores esse poterimus. This is
the plaus'.ble emendation rf St. for the aliis Hanoi um of Ed. Pr.
48 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
navy, he made a number of pegs out of sticks, and loaded a
skiff with them ; and in this he approached the enemy's fleet by
night, and bored the hulls of the vessels with an auger. And,
to save them from a sudden influx of the waves, he plugged up
the open holes with the pegs he had before provided, and by
these pieces of wood he made good the damage done by the auger.
But when he thought there were enough holes to drown the
fleet, he took out the plugs, thus giving instant access to the
waters, and then made haste to surround the enemy's fleet
with his own. The Ruthenians were beset with a double
peril, and wavered whether they should flrst withstand waves
or weapons. Fighting to save their ships from the foe, they
were shipwrecked. Within, the peril was more terrible than
■without : within, they fell back before the waves, while
drawing the sword on those without. For the unhappy men
were assaulted by two dangers at once; it was doubtful
whether the swiftest way of safety was to swim or to battle
to the end ; and the fray was broken off at its hottest by
a fresh cause of doom. Two forms of death advanced in a
single onset ; two paths of destruction offered united peril :
it was hard to say whether the sword or the sea hurt them
more. While one man was beating off the swords, the waters
stole up silently and took him. Contrariwise, another was
struggling with the waves, when the steel came up and encom-
passed him. The flooding waters were befouled with the
gory spray.
Thus the Ruthenians were conquered, and Frode made his
way back home. Finding that some envoys, whom he had
sent into Russia to levy tribute, had been horribly murdered
through the treachery of the inhabitants, he was stung by the
double wrong and besieged very closely their town Rotel.
Loth that the intervening river should delay his capture of
[4 1 J the town, he divided the entire mass of the waters by making
new and different streams, thus changing what had been a
channel of unknown depth into passable fords ; not ceasing
till the speed of the eddy, slackened by the division of its
outlet, rolled its waves onward in fainter current, and, winding
along its slender reaches, slowly thinned and dwindled into a
shallow. Thus he prevailed over the river ; and the town,
which lacked natural defences, he overthrew, his soldiers
breaking in without resistance. This done, he took his army
to the city of Paltisca.'- Thinking no force could overcome
it, he exchanged war for guile. He went into a dark and
unknown hiding-place, only a very few being in the secret,
and ordered a report of his death to be spread abroad, so as to
inspire the enemy with less fear ; his obsequies being also
held, and a barrow raised, to give the tale credit. Even the
soldiers bewailed his supposed death with a mourning which
was in the secret of the trick. This rumour led Vespasius,
the king of the city, to show so faint and feeble a defence,
as though the victory was already his, that the enemy got a
chance of breaking in, and slew him as he sported at his ease.
Frode, when he had taken this town, aspired to the empire
of the East, and attacked the city of Handwan.^ This king,
warned by Hadding's having once fired his town, accord-
ingly cleared the tame birds out of all his houses, to save
himself from the peril of like punishment. But Frode
was not at a loss for new trickery. He exchanged garments
with the serving-maids, and feigned himself to be a maiden
skilled in fighting^; and having thus laid aside the garb of
man and imitated that of woman, he went to the town, calling
himself a deserter. Here he reconnoitred everything narrowly,
and on the next day sent out an attendant with orders that the
army should be up at the walls, promising that he would see
to it that the gates were opened. Thus the sentries were
eluded and the city despoiled while it was buried in sleep ; so
that it paid for its heedlessness with destruction, and was
more pitiable for its own sloth than by reason of the valour of
1 Paltisca] Polotzk {Plescovia), in the government of Vitebzk, in
Western Russia.
2 Hand wan] See p. 30, note 1. " The East" here is a vague expression
for Finland and Western Russia.
2 Maiden skilled in fighting] i.e., an Amazon of the type of Alfhild, in
Bk. VII.
E
50 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
the £oe. For in warfare nought is found to be more ruinous
than that a man, made foolhardy by ease, should neglect and
slacken his affairs and doze in arrogant self-confidence.
Handwan, seeing that the fortunes of his country were lost
and overthrown, put all his royal wealth on shipboard and
drowned it in the sea, so as to enrich the waves rather than
his enemy. Yet it had been better to forestall the goodwill
of his adversaries with gifts of money than to begrudge the
profit of it to the service of mankind. After this, when Erode
sent ambassadors to ask for the hand of his daughter, he
answered, that he must take heed not to be spoiled by his
thriving fortunes, or to turn his triumph into haughtiness ;
but let him rather bethink him to spare the conquered, and
[42] in this their abject estate to respect their former bright con-
dition ; let him learn to honour their past fortune in their
present pitiable lot. Therefore, said Handwan, he must mind
that he did not rob of his empire the man with whom he sought
alliance, nor bespatter her^ with the filth of ignobleness whom
he desired to honour with marriage : else he would tarnish
the honour of the union with covetousness. The courtliness
of this saying not only won him his conqueror for son-in-law,
but saved the freedom of his realm.
Meantime Thorhild, wife of Hunding, King of the Swedes,
possessed with a boundless hatred for her stepsons Ragnar and
Thorwald, and fain to entangle them in divers perils, at last
made them the king's shepherds. But Swaiihwid, daughter of
Hadding, wished to arrest by woman's wit the ruin of natures
so noble ; and taking her sisters to serve as retinue, journeyed
to Sweden. Seeing the said youths beset with sundry prodigies
while busy watching at night over their flocks, she forbade
her sisters, who desired to dismount, in a poem of the following
strain :
" Monsters I behold^ taking swift leaps and flinging them-
1 Her] reading quam with the Ed. Pr. (altered by St. to quern).
- Monsters I behold] The Latin names of the various kinds of mon-
ster, Fauni, Satyri, Panes, Manes, Sylvam, Aquili, Pa/iitua, come from
Marc. Capella, Bk. 11. There are also Larvae, Lamiae, Puriae, and Simi
selves over the night places. The demon is at war, and the
unholy throng, devoted to the mischievous fray, battles in the
mid-thoroughfare. Prodigies of aspect grim to behold pass
by, and suffer no mortal to enter this country. The ranks
galloping in headlong career through the void bid us stay our
advance in this spot ; they warn us to turn our rein and hold
off from the accursed fields, they forbid us to approach the
country beyond. A scowling horde of ghosts draws near, and
scurries furiously through the wind, bellowing drearily to the
stars. Fauns join Satyrs, and the throng of Pans mingles
with the Spectres and battles with fierce visage. The Swart
Ones meet the Woodland Spirits, and the pestilent Phantoms
strive to share the path with the Witches. Furies poise them-
selves on the leap, and on them huddle the Phantoms, whom
Foreboder [Fantua^] joined to the Flatnoses [Satyrs], jostles.
The path that the footfarer must tread brims with horror.
It were safer to burden the back of the tall horse."
Thereon Ragnar declared that he was a slave of the king,
and gave as reason of his departure so far from home that, [43]
when he had been banished to the country on his shepherd's
business, he had lost the flock of which he had charge, and,
despairing to recover it, had chosen rather to forbear from
returning than to incur punishment. Also, loth to say nothing
about the estate of his brother, he further spoke the following
poem :
"Think us men, not monsters ; we are slaves who drove our
lingering flocks for pasture through the country. But while
we took our pastime in gentle sports, our flock chanced to
stray and went into far-off fields. And when our hope of
finding them, our long quest, failed, trouble came upon the
(Flatnoses). The Norse song is lost, so that it is impossible to say
whether any accurate distinction between the various forms of supernatural
beings known in Scandinavia is intended. ( For a good account of these
see B. Mogk, Grmidriss der germ. Fhilologie, Bd. i, Ab. vi, p. 1018 sqq.)
Probably Saxo amplifies in his usual rhetorical way.
1 Fantua] According to Facciolati, a witch who foretells to women as
her husband Faunus does to men (fatuari). Marc. Cap. applies the term
to an old witch or Sibyl ( = spaewife).
E 2
52 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
mind of the wretched culprits. And when sure tracks of
our kine were nowhere to be seen, dismal panic filled our
guilty hearts. That is why, dreading the penal stripe of the
rod, we thought it doleful to return to our own roof. We sup-
posed it safer to hold aloof from the familiar hearth than to
bear the hand of punishment. Thus we are fain to put off
the punishment ; we loathe going back, and our wish is to lie
hid here and escape our master's eye. This will aid us to elude
the avenger of his neglected flock ; and this is the one way of
escape that remains safe for us.''
Then Swanhwid gazed intently, and surveying his features,
which were very comely, admired them ardently, and said :
" The radiant flashing of thine eyes is eloquent that thou
art of kingly and not of servile stock. Beauty announces
blood, and loveliness of soul glitters in the flash of the eyes.
A keen glance betokens lordly birth, and it is plain that he
whom fairness, that sure sign of nobleness, commends, is of
no mean station. The outward alertness of thine eyes signifies
a spirit of radiance within. Face vouches for race ; and the
lustre of forefathers is beheld in the brightness of the
countenance. For an aspect so benign and noble could never
have issued from base parentage. The grace of thy blood
makes thy brow mantle with a kindred grace, and the estate
of thy birth is reflected in the mirror of thy countenance,
It is no obscure craftsman, therefore, that has finished the
portrait of so choice a chasing. Now therefore turn aside
with all speed, seek constantly to depart out of the road, shun
encounters with monsters, lest ye yield your most gracious
bodies to be the prey and pasture of the vilest hordes."
But Ragnar was seized with great shame for his unsightly
attire, which he thought was the only possible device to dis-
[44] guise his birth. So he rejoined, " That slaves were not
always found to lack manhood ; that a strong hand was often
hidden under squalid raiment, and sometimes a stout arm
was muffled under a dusky cloak ; thus the fault of nature
was retrieved by valour, and deficiency in race requited by
nobleness of spirit. He therefore feared the might of no
supernatural prowess, save of the god Thor only, to the great-
ness of whose force nothing human or divine could fitly be
compared. The hearts of men ought not to be terrified at
phantoms, which were only awful from their ghastly foul-
ness, and whose semblances, marked by counterfeit ghostliness,
were wont for a moment to borrow materiality from the fluent
air. Swanhwid therefore erred in trying, womanlike, to sap
the firm strength of men, and to melt in unmanly panic that
might which knew not defeat."
Swanhwid marvelled at the young man's steadfastness, and
cast off the cloud of mist which overshadowed her, dispelling
the darkness which shrouded her face, till it was clear and
cloudless. Then, promising that she would give him a sword
fitted for divers kinds of battle, she revealed the marvellous
maiden beauty of her lustrous limbs. Thus was the youth
kindled, and she plighted her troth with him, and proffering
the sword, she thus began :
" King, in this sword, which shall expose the monsters to
thy blows, take the first gift of thy betrothed. Show thyself
duly deserving hereof ; let hand rival sword, and aspire to add
lustre to its weapon. Let the might of steel strengthen the
defenceless point of thy wit, and let spirit know how to work
with hand. Let the bearer match the burden : and that thy
deed may sort with thy blade, let equal weight in each be thine.
What avails the javelin when the breast is weak and faint,
and the quivering hands have dropped the lance ? Let steel
join soul, and be both the body's armour ! Let the right hand
be linked with its hilt in alliance. These fight famous battles,
because they always keep more force when together ; but less
when parted. Therefore if it be joy to thee to win fame by
the palm of war, pursue with daring whatsoever is hard
pressed by thy hand. "
After thus discoursing long in harmoniously-adjusted strains,
she sent away her retinue, and passed all the night in combat
against the foulest throngs of monsters ; and at return of day-
break she perceived fallen all over the fields diverse shapes of
phantoms, and figures extraordinary to look on ; and among [45]
54 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
them was seen the semblance of Thorhild herself covered
with wounds. All these she piled in a heap and burnt,
liindling a huge pyre, lest the foul stench of the filthy
carcases might spread in pestilent vapour and hurt those who
came nigh with its taint of corruption. This done, she won
the throne of Sweden for Ragnar, and Ragnar for her husband.
And though he deemed it uncomely to inaugurate his first
campaign with a wedding, yet, moved by gratitude for the pre-
servation of his safety, he kept his promise.
Meantime one Ubbe, who had long since wedded Ulfhild the
sister of Frode, trusting in the high birth of his wife, seized
the kingdom of Denmark, which he was managing carelessly
as deputy. Frode was thus forced to quit the wars of the East,
and fought a great battle in Sweden with his sister Swanhwid,
in which he was beaten. So he got on board a skiff, and
sailed stealthily in a circuit, seeking some way of boring
through the enemy's fleet. When surprised by his sister,
and asked why he was rowing silently and following divers
meandering courses, he cut short her inquiry by a similar
question ; for Swanhwid had also, at the same time of the
night, taken to sailing about alone, and was stealthily search-
ing out all the ways of approach and retreat through devious
and dangerous windings. So she reminded her brother of
the freedom he had given her long since, and went on to
ask him that he should allow her full enjoyment of the
husband she had taken; since, before he started on the
Russian war, he had given her the boon of marrying as she
would ; and that he should hold valid after the event what he
had himself allowed to happen. These reasonable entreaties
touched Frode, and he made a peace with Ragnar, and forgave,
at his sister's request, the wrongdoing which Ragnar seemed
to have begun because of her wantonness. They presented
him with a force equal to that which they had caused him to
lose : a handsome gift, in which he rejoiced as compensation
for so ugly a reverse.
Then, entering Denmark, he captured Ubbe, had him brought
licfoi-',', liiiii, and pardoned liiui, preferring to ^isit his ill
deserts with grace rather than chastisement ; because the
man seemed to have aimed at the crown rather at his wife's
instance than of his own ambition, and to have been the
imitator and not the cause of the wi'ong. But he took Ulfhild
away from him and forced her to wed his friend Scot,
the same man that founded the Scottish name ; esteeming
change of wedlock a punishment for her. As she went away
he even escorted her in the royal chariot, requiting evil with
good ; for he regarded the kinship of his sister rather than her
disposition, and took more thought for his own good name [46]
than of her iniquity. But the fair deeds of her brother
did not make her obstinate and wonted hatred slacken a whit ;
she wore the spirit of her new husband with her design of
slaying Frode and mastering the sovereignty of the Danes.
For whatsoever design the mind has resolutely conceived, it
is slow to quit ; nor is a sin that is long schemed swept away
by the stream of years. For the temper of later life
follows the mind of childhood ; nor do the traces easily fade
of vices which have been stamped upon the character in
the impressible age. Finding the ears of her husband deaf,
she diverted her treachery from her brother against her lord,
hiring bravoes to cut his throat while he slept. Scot was told
about this by a waiting-woman, and retired to bed in his
cuirass on the night on which he had heard the deed of murder
was to be wrought upon him. Ulfhild asked him why he had
exchanged his wonted ways to wear the garb of steel; he
rejoined that such was just- then his fancy. The agents of
the treachery, when they imagined him in a deep sleep,
burst in ; but he slipped from his bed and cut them down.
The result was, that he prevented Ulfhild from weaving
plots against her brother, and also left a warning to others to
beware of treachery from their wives.
Meantime the design occurred to Frode of a campaign
against Friesland ; he was desirous to dazzle the eyes of the
West with the glory he had won in conquering the East. He
put out to Ocean, and his first contest was with Witthe, a rover
of the Frisians ; and in this battle he bade his crews patiently
66 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
bear the first brunt of the enemy's charge by merely opposing
their shields, ordering that they should not use their missiles
before they perceived that the shower of the enemy's spears
was utterly spent. This the Frisians hurled as vehemently as
the Danes received it impassively ; for Witthe supposed that
the long-suffering of Erode was due to a wish for peace.
High rose the blast of the trumpet, and loud whizzed the
javelins everywhere, till at last the heedless Frisians had not
a single lance remaining, and they were conquered, over-
whelmed by the missiles of the Danes. They fled hugging
the shore, and were cut to pieces amid the circuitous windings
of the canals. Then Frode explored the Rhine in his fleet,
and laid hands on the farthest parts of Germany. Then he
went back to the Ocean, and attacked the Frisian fleet, which
had struck on shoals ; and thus he crowned shipwreck with
slaughter. Nor was he content with the destruction of so
great an army of his foes, but assailed Britain, defeated its
king, and attacked Melbrik, the Governor of the Scottish
district. Just as he was preparing to fight him, he heard
from a scout that the King of the Britons was at hand, and
[47] could not look to his diront and his rear both at once. So he
assembled the soldiers, and ordered that they should abandon
their chariots, fling away all their goods, and scatter every-
where over the fields the gold which they had about them ;
for he declared that their one chance was to squander their
treasure ; and that, now they were hemmed in, their only
remaining help was to tempt the enemy from combat to
covetousness. They ought cheerfully to spend on so extreme
a need the spoil they had gotten among foreigners ; for the
enemy would drop it as eagerly, when it was once gathered,
as they would snatch it when they first found it ; for it would
be to them more burden than profit.
Then Thorkill, who was a more notable miser and a better
orator than them all, dishelming and leaning on his shield,
said:
" 0 King ! most of us who rate high what we have bought
with our life-blood find thy bidding hard. We take it ill that
we should fling away what we have won with utmost hazard ;
and men are loth to forsake what they have purchased at
peril of their lives. For it is utter madness to spurn away
like women what our manly hearts and hands have earned,
and enrich the enemy beyond their hopes. What is more
odious than to anticipate the fortune of war by despising the
booty which is ours, and, in terror of an evil that may never
come, to quit a good which is present and assured ? Shall we
scatter our gold upon the earth, ere we have set eyes upon
the Scots ? Those who faint at the thought of warring when
they are out for war, what manner of men are they to be
thought in the battle ? Shall we be a derision to our foes,
we who were their terror ? Shall we take scorn instead
of glory ? The Briton will marvel that he was conquered by
men whom he sees fear is enough to conquer. We struck
them before with panic ; shall we be panic-stricken by them ?
We scorned them when before us ; shall we dread them when
they are not here ? When will our bravery win the treasure
which our cowardice rejects ? Shall we shirk the fight, in scorn
of the money which we fought to win, and enrich those whom
we should rightly have impoverished ? What deed more des-
picable can we do than to squander gold on those whom we
should smite with steel ? Panic must never rob us of the
spoils of valour ; and only war must make us quit what in
warfare we have won. Let us sell our plunder at the price
at which we bought it ; let the purchase-money be weighed
out in steel. It is better to die a noble death, than to moulder
away too much in love with the light of life. In a fleeting
instant of time life forsakes us, but shame pursues us past the
grave. Further, if we cast away this gold, the greater the
enemy thinks our fear, the hotter will be his chase. Besides,
whichever the issue of the day, the gold is not hateful to us.
Conquerors, we shall triumph in the treasure which now we [48]
bear ; conquered, we shall leave it to pay our burying."
So spoke the old man ; but the soldiers regarded the advice
of their king rather than of their comrade, and thought more
of the former than of the latter counsel. So each of them
58 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
eagerly drew his wealth, whatever he had, from his pouch ;
they unloaded their ponies of the various goods they were
carrying ; and having thus cleared their money-bags, girded
on their arms more deftly. They went on, and the Britons
came up, but broke away after the plunder which lay spread
out before them. Their king, when he beheld them too
greedily busied with scrambling for the treasure, bade them
" take heed not to weary with a load of riches those hands
which were meant for battle, since they ought to know that
a victory must be culled ere it is counted. Therefore let
them scorn the gold and give chase to the possessors of the
gold ; let them admire the lustre, not of lucre, but of con-
quest ; remembering, that a trophy gave more reward than
gain. Courage was worth more than dross, if they measured
aright the quality of both ; for the one furnished outward
adorning, but the other enhanced both outward and inward
grace. Therefore they must keep their eyes far from the
sight of money, and their soul from covetousness,. and devote
it to the pursuits of war. Further, they should know that
the plunder had been abandoned by the enemy of set purpose,
and that the gold had been scattered rather to betray them
than to profit them. Moreover, the honest lustre of the silver
was only a bait on the barb of secret guile. It was not to be
thought that they, who had first forced the Britons to fly,
would lightly fly themselves. Besides, nothing was more
shameful than riches which betrayed into captivity the
plunderer whom they were supposed to enrich. For the
Danes thought that the men to whom they pretended to have
ofiered riches ought to be punished with sword and slaughter.
Let them therefore feel that they were only giving the enemy
a weapon if they siezed what he had scattered. For if they
were caught by the look of the treasure that had been exposed,
they must lose, not only that, but any of their own money
that might remain. What could it profit them to gather what
they must straightway disgorge ? But if they refused to
abase themselves before money, they would doubtless abase
the foe. Thus it was better for them to stand erect in valour
than be grovelling in greed ; with their souls not sinking into
covetousness, but up and doing for renown. In the battle they
would have to use not gold but swords."
As the king ended, a British knight, shewing them all his
lapful of gold, said :
" 0 King ! From thy speech can be gathered two feelings ;
and one of them witnesses to thy cowardice and the other
to thy illwill : inasmuch as thou forbiddest us the use of the
wealth because of the enemy, and also thinkest it better that
we should serve thee needy than rich. What is more odious
than such a wish ? What more senseless than such a counsel ?
We recognise these as the treasures of our own homes, and [49]
having done so, shall we falter to pick them up ? We were
on our way to regain them by fighting, we were zealous to
win them back by our blood : shall we shun them when they
are restored unasked ? Shall we hesitate to claim our own ?
Which is the greater coward, he who squanders his winnings,
or he who is fearful to pick up what is squandered ? Look
how chance has restored what compulsion took ! These are
not spoils from the enemy, but from ourselves; the Dane took
gold from Britain, he brought none. Beaten and loth we
lost it ; it comes back for nothing, and shall we run away
from it ? Such a gift of fortune it were a shame to take in
an unworthy spirit. For what were madder than to spurn
wealth that is set openly before us, and to desire it when
it is shut up and kept from us ? Shall we squeamishly yield
what is set under our eyes, and clutch at it when it vanishes ?
Shall we seek distant and foreign treasure, refraining from
what is made public property ? If we disown what is ours,
when shall we despoil the goods of others ? No anger of
heaven can I experience which can force me to unload of its
lawful burden the lap which is filled with my father's and
my grandsire's gold. I know the wantonness of the Danes :
never would they have left jars full of wine had not fear
forced them to flee. They would rather have sacrificed their
life than their liquor. This passion we share with them, and
herein we are like them. Grant that their flight is feigned ;
60 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
yet they will light upon the Scots ere they can come back.
This gold shall never rust in the country, to be trodden under-
foot of swine or brutes : it will better serve the use of men.
Besides, if we plunder the spoil of the army that prevailed
over us, we transfer the luck of the conqueror to ourselves.
For what surer omen of triumph could be got, than to bear
off' the booty before the battle, and to capture ere the fray
the camp which the enemy have forsaken ? Better conquer
by fear than by steel."
The knight had scarce ended, when behold ! the hands of
all were loosed upon the booty and everywhere plucked up the
shining treasure. There you might have marvelled at their
disposition of filthy greed, and watched a portentous spectacle
of avarice. You could have seen gold and grass clutched
up together; the birth of domestic discord ; fellow-country-
men in deadly combat, heedless of the foe ; neglect of the
bonds of comradeship and of reverence for ties ; greed the
object of all minds, and friendship of none.
Meantime Frode traversed in a great march the forest
which separates Scotland and Britain, and bade his soldiers
[50] arm. When the Scots beheld his line, and saw that they had
only a supply of light javelins, while the Danes were furnished
with a more excellent style of armour, they forestalled the
battle by flight. Frode pursued them but a little way, fearing
a sally of the British, and on returning met Scot, the husband
of Ulfhild, with a great army ; he had been brought from
the utmost ends of Scotland by the desire of aiding the
Danes. Scot entreated him to abandon the pursuit of the
Scottish and turn back into Britain. So he eagerly regained
the plunder which he had cunningly sacrificed ; and got back
his wealth with the greater ease, that he had so tranquilly let
it go. Then did the British repent of their burden and pay
for their covetousness with their blood. They were sorry to
have clutched at greed with insatiate arms, and ashamed to
have hearkened to their own avarice rather than to the counsel
of their king.
Then he attacked London, the most populous city of the
island ; but the strength of its walls gave him no chance
of capturing it. Therefore he feigned to be dead, and
his guile strengthened him. For Daleman, the governor of
London, on hearing the false news of his death, accepted the
surrender of the Danes, offered them a native general, and
suffered them to enter the town, that they might choose him
out of a great throng. They feigned to be making a careful
choice, but beset Daleman in a night surprise and slew him.
When he had done these things, and gone back to his own
land, one Skat entertained him at a banquet, desirous to
mingle his toilsome warfare with joyous licence. Frode was
lying in his house, in royal fashion, upon cushions of cloth
of gold, and a certain Hunding challenged him to light. Then,
though he had bent his mind to the joys of wassail, he had
more delight in the prospect of a fray than in the presence of
a feast, and wound up the supper with a duel and the duel
with a triumph. In the combat he received a dangerous
wound ; but a taunt of Hakon the champion again roused
him, and, slaying his challenger, he took vengeance for the
disturbance of his rest. Two of his chamber-servants were
openly convicted of treachery, and he had them tied to vast
stones and drowned in the sea ; thus chastising the weighty
guilt of their souls by fastening boulders to their bodies.
Some relate that Ulfhild gave him a coat which no steel
could pierce, so that when he wore it no missile's point could
hurt him. Nor must I omit how Frode was wont to sprinkle
his food with brayed and pounded atoms of gold, as a resource [51]
acj-ainst the usual snares of poisoners. While he was attacking
Kagnar, the King of Sweden, who had been falsely accused of
treachery, he perished, not by the spears, but stifled in the
weight of his arms and by the heat of his own body.
He left three sons, Halfdan, Eo,.and Skat, who were
equal in valour, and were seized with an equal desire for
the throne. All thought of sway, none was constrained by
brotherly regard: for love of others forsaketh him who is
eaten up with love of self, nor can any man take thought at
once for his own advancement and for his friendship with
62 SAXO GEAMMATICXJS.
others. Halfdan, the eldest son, disgraced his birth with the
sin of slaying his brethren, winning his kingdom by the
murder of his kin ; and, to complete his display of cruelty,
arrested their adherents, first confining them in bonds, and
presently hanging them. The most notable thing in the for-
tunes of Halfdan was this, that though he devoted every
instant of his life to the practice of cruel deeds, yet he died
of old age, and not by the steel.
His sons were Ro and Helgi. Ro is recorded to have
been the founder of Roskild,^ which was later increased in
population and enhanced in power by Sweyn, who was
famous for the surname Forkbeard. Ro was short and
spare, while Helgi was rather tall of stature. Dividing the
realm with his brother, Helgi was allotted the domain of the
sea ; and attacking Skalk, the King of Sklavia, with his
naval force, he slew him. Having reduced Sklavia into a
province, he scoured the various arms of the sea in a wander-
ing voyage. Savage of temper as Helgi was, his cruelty was
not greater than his lust. For he was so immoderately
prone to love, that it was doubtful whether the heat of his
tyranny or of his concupiscence was the greater. In
Thorey^ he ravished the maiden Thora, who bore a daughter,
to whom she afterwards gave the name .of Urse. Then he
conquered in battle, before the town of Stad, the son of
Syrik, King of Saxony, Hunding ; whom he challenged,
attacked, and slew in duel. For this he was called Hunding's-
Bane, and by that name gained glory of his victory. He
took Jutland out of the power of the Saxons, and entrusted
its management to his generals, Heske, Eyr, and Ler. In
Saxony he enacted that the slaughter of a freedman and of
a noble should be visited with the same punishment ; as
though he wished it to be clearly known that all the house-
holds of the Teutons were held in equal slavery, and that
the freedom of all was tainted and savoured equally of
dishonour.
1 Eoskild] i.e., Ro's ( = Hrothgar's) Kild, well or spring.
2 Thorey] " Thora's Isle. "
Then he went back freeboofcing to Thorey. But Thora had
not ceased to bewail her lost virginity, and planned a shameful
device in abominable vengeance for her rape. For she [52]
deliberately sent down to the beach her daughter, who was
of marriageable age, and prompted her father to deflower
her. And though she yielded her body to the treacherous
lures of delight, yet she must not be thought to have abjured
her integrity of soul, inasmuch as her fault had a ready
excuse by virtue of her ignorance. Insensate mother, who
allowed the forfeiture of her child's chastity in order to
avenge her own ; caring nought for the purity of her own
blood, so she might stain with incest the man who had cost
her her own maidenhood at first ! Infamous-hearted woman,
who, to punish her defiler, measured out as it were a second
defilement to herself, whereas she clearly by the selfsame act
rather swelled than lessened the transgression ! Surely, by
the very act wherewith she thought to reach her revenge, she
accumulated guilt ; she added a sin in trying to remove a crime :
she played the stepdame to her own offspring, not sparing her
daughter abomination in order to atone for her own disgrace.
Doubtless her soul was brimming over with shamelessness,
since she swerved so far from shamefastness, as without a
blush to seek solace for her wrong in her daughter's infamy.
A great crime, with but one atonement ; namely, that the guilt
of this intercourse was wiped away by a fortunate progeny,
its fruits being as delightful as its repute was evil. For
Rolf, the son of Urse, retrieved the shame of his birth by
signal deeds of valour; and their exceeding lustre is honoured
with bright laudation by the memory of all succeeding time.
For lamentation sometimes ends in laughter, and foul begin-
nings pass to fair issues. So that the father's fault, though
criminal, was fortunate, being afterwards atoned for by a son
of such marvellous splendour.
Meantime Ragnar died in Sweden ; and Swanhwid his wife
passed away soon after of a malady which she had taken
from her sorrow ; following in death the husband from whom
she had not endured severance in life. For it often happens
64 SAXO GRAMMATICXTS.
that some people desire to follow out of life those whom
they loved exceedingly when alive. Their son Hothbrodd
succeeded them. Fain to extend his empire, he warred upon
the East, and after a huge massacre of many peoples begat two
sons, Athisl and Hotlier, and appointed as their tutor a certain
Gewar,! who was bound to him by great services. Not content
with conquering the East, he assailed Denmark, challenged
its king, Ro, in three battles, and slew him. Helgi, when he
heard this, shut up his son Rolf in Leire, wishing, however he
[53] might have managed his own fortunes,^ to see to the safety
of his heir. When Hothbrodd sent in governors, wanting to
free his country from alien rule, he posted his people about
the city and prevailed and slew them. Also he annihilated
Hothbrodd himself and all his forces in a naval battle ; so
avenging fully the wrongs of his country as well as of his
brother. Hence he who had before won a nickname for slay-
ing Hunding, now bore a surname for the slaughter of Hod-
brodd. Besides, as if the Swedes had not been enough
stricken in the battles, he punished them by stipulating
for most humiliating terms ; providing by law that no wrong
done to any of them should receive amends according to the
form of legal covenants. After these deeds, ashamed of his
former infamy, he hated his country and his home, went back
to the East, and there died. Some think that he was affected
by the disgrace which was cast in his teeth, and did himself
to death by falling upon his drawn sword.
He was succeeded by his son Rolf, who was comely with
every gift of mind and body, and graced his mighty stature
with as high a courage. In his time Sweden was subject
to the sway of the Danes ; wherefore Athisl, the son of Hoth-
brodd, in pursuit of a crafty design to set his country free,
contrived to marry Rolf's mother, Urse, thinking that his
1 Gewar] On this name, which M. identifies with Jofur (?), see
Rydberg, Teutonic Mythology, § 90 (pp. 456-7, Eng. tr.).
^ However he might have managed his own fortunes] utcunque suam
fortunam tractasset. So Ed. Pr.: St., followed by M. and Holder, alters
to fortuna, " however fortune might have dealt with his own (safety)''.
kinship by marriage would plead for him, and enable him to
prompt his stepson more effectually to relax the tribute ; and
fortune prospered his wishes. But Athisl had from his boy-
hood been imbued with a hatred of liberality, and was so
grasping of money, that he accounted it a disgrace to be called
open-handed. Urse, seeing him so steeped in filthy covetous-
ness, desired to be rid of him ; but, thinking that she must act
by cunning, veiled the shape of her guile with a marvellous
skill. Feigning to be unmotherly, she spurred on her husband
to grasp his freedom, and urged and tempted him to insur-
rection ; causing her son to be summoned to Sweden with
a promise of vast gifts. For she thought that she would best
gain her desire if, as soon as her son had got his stepfather's
gold, she could snatch up the royal treasures and flee, robbing
her husband of bed and money to boot. For she fancied
that the best way to chastise his covetousness would be to
steal away his wealth. This deep guilefulness was hard to
detect, from such recesses of cunning did it spring ; because
she dissembled her longing for a change of wedlock under [54]
a show of aspiration for freedom. Blind-witted husband,
fancying the mother kindled against the life of the son, never
seeing that it was rather his own ruin being compassed !
Doltish lord, blind to the obstinate scheming of his wife,
who, out of pretended hatred of her son, devised opportunity
for change of wedlock ! Though the heart of woman should
never be trusted, he believed in a woman all the more
insensately, because he supposed her faithful to himself and
treacherous to her son.
Accordingly, Rolf, tempted by the greatness of the gifts,
chanced to enter the house of Athisl. He was not recognised
by his mother owing to his long absence and the cessation of
their common life ; so in jest he first asked for some victual to
appease his hunger. She advised him to ask the king for a
luncheon. Then he thrust out a torn piece of his coat, and
begged of her the service of sewing it up. Finding his
mother's ears shut to him, he observed, " That it was hard
to discover a friendship that was firm and true, when a mother
66 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
refused her son a meal, and a sister refused a brother the
help of her needle." Thus he punished his mother's error,
and made her blush deep for her refusal of kindness. Athisl,
when he saw him reclining close to his mother at the banquet,
taunted them both with wantonness, declaring that it was an
impure intercourse of brother and sister. Rolf repelled the
charge against his honour by an appeal to the closest of
natural bonds, and answered, that it was honourable for a
son to embrace a beloved mother. Also, when the f casters
asked him what kind of courage he set above all others, he
named Endurance. When they also asked Athisl, what was
the virtue which above all he desired most devotedly; he
declared. Generosity. Proofs were therefore demanded of
bravery on the one hand and munificence on the other, and
Eolf was asked to give an evidence of courage first. He was
placed to^ the fire, and defending with his target the side
that was most hotly assailed, had only the firmness of his
endurance to fortify the other, which had no defence. How
dexterous, to borrow from his shield protection to assuage
the heat, and to guard his body, which was exposed to the
fiames, with that which sometime sheltered it amid the hurt-
ling spears ! But the glow was hotter than the fire of spears;
and though it could not storm the side that was entrenched
by the shield, yet it assaulted the flank that lacked its protec-
tion. But a waiting-maid who happened to be standing near
the hearth, saw that he was being roasted by the unbearable
heat upon his ribs ; so taking the stopper^ out of a cask,
she spilt the liquid and quenched the flame, and by the timely
kindness of the shower checked in its career the torturing
blaze. Rolf was lauded for supreme endurance, and then came
the request for Athisl's gifts. And they say that he showered
[55] treasures on his stepson, and at last, in order to crown the
gift, bestowed on him an enormously heavy necklace.
1 See Grimnismdl, Corp. Poet. Bar., i, 69-70.
2 Stopper] clepsedra, so explained by St., lit. a " water-clock" ; the
■word being applied to a bung or stopper of a cask, the hole at the bottom
of the wattr-clock apparently suggetsting the analogy.
Now Urse, who had watched her chance for the deed of
guile, on the third day of the banquet, without her husband
ever dreaming of such a thing, put all the king's wealth into
carriages, and going out stealthily, stole away from her own
dwelling and fled in the glimmering twilight, departing with
her son. Thrilled with fear of her husband's pursuit, and
utterly despairing of escape beyond, she begged and bade her
companions to cast away the money, declaring that they must
lose either life or riches ; the short and only path to safety lay
in flinging away the treasure, nor could any aid to escape
be found save in the loss of their possessions. Therefore,
said she, they must follow the example of the manner in which
Frode was said to have saved himself among the Britons.^
She added, that it was not paying a great price to lay down
the Swedes' own goods for them to regain ; if only they could
themselves gain a start in flight, by the very device which
would check the others in their pursuit, and if they seemed
not so much to abandon their own possessions as to restore
those of other men. Not a moment was lost; in order to make
the flight swifter, they did the bidding of the queen. The
gold is cleared from their purses ; the riches are left for the
enemy to seize. Some declare that Urse kept back the money,
and strewed the tracks of her flight with copper that was gilt
over. For it was thought credible that a woman who could
scheme such great deeds could also have painted with lying
lustre the metal that was meant to be lost, mimicking riches
of true worth with the sheen of spurious gold. So Athisl,
when he saw the necklace that he had given to Kolf left
among the other golden ornaments, gazed fixedly upon the
dearest treasure of his avarice, and, in order to pick up the
plunder, glued his knees to the earth and deigned to stoop
his royalty unto greed. Rolf, seeing him lie abjectly on his face
in order to gather up the money, smiled at the sight of a man
prostrated by his own gifts, just as if he were seeking covetously
to regain what he had craftily yielded up. The Swedes were
content with their booty, and Rolf quickly retired to his ships,
and managed to escape by rowing violently.
1 Among the Britons] P. hd sqq.
f2
68 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
Now they relate that Rolf used with ready generosity
to grant at the first entreaty whatsoever he was begged to
bestow, and never put off the request till the second time of
asking. For he preferred to forestall repeated supplication
by speedy liberality, rather than mar his kindness by delay.
This habit brought him a great concourse of champions; valour
having commonly either rewards for its food or glory for its
spur.
[56] At this time, a certain Agnar, son of Ingell, being about to
wed Rute, the sister of Rolf, celebrated his bridal with a great
banquet. The champions were rioting at this banquet with
every sort of wantonness, and flinging from all over the room
knobbed bones^ at a certain Hjalte ; but it chanced that his
messmate, named Bjarke, received a violent blow on the head
through the ill aim of the thrower ; at whom, stung both by
the pain and the jeering, he sent the bone back, so that he
twisted the front of his head to the back, and wrung the
back of it to where the front had been ; punishing the wryness
of the man's temper by turning his face sidelong. This deed
moderated their wanton and injurious jests, and drove the
champions to quit the palace. The bridegroom, nettled at this
afiront to the banquet, resolved to fight Bjarke, in order to
seek vengeance by means of a duel for the interruption to
their mirth. At the outset of the duel there was a long
dispute, which of them ought to have the chance of striking
first. For of old,^ in the ordering of combats, men did not
try to exchange their blows thick and fast ; but there was a
pause, and at the same time a definite succession in striking ;
the contest being carried on with few strokes, but those
terrible, so that honour was paid more to the mightiness
than to the number of the blows. Agnar, being of higher
rank, was put first; and the blow which he dealt is said
to have been so furious, that he cut through the front of
the helmet, wounded the skin on the scalp, and had to let go
1 Knobbed bones] nodosa ossa. The O. Norse name of the sport was
hn'&tu-haist. See Vita AVphegae.
2 The older description of fighting, still in use among native Australians.
I
his sword, which became locked in the vizor-holes. Then
Bjarke, who was to deal the return-stroke, leaned his foot
against a stock, in order to give the freer poise to his steel,
and passed his fine-edged blade through the midst of Agnar's
body. Some declare that Agnar, in supreme suppression
of his pain, gave up the ghost with his lips relaxed into
a smile. The champions passionately sought to avenge him,
but were visited by Bjarke with like destruction ; for he
used a sword of wonderful sharpness and unusual length
which he called Lovi.^ When he was triumphing in these
deeds of prowess, a beast of the forest furnished him fresh
laurels. For he met a huge bear in a thicket, and slew it
with a javelin ; and then bade his companion Hjalte put his
lips to the beast and drink the blood that came out, that
he might be the stronger afterwards. For it was believed
that a draught of this sort caused an increase of bodily
strength. By these valorous achievements he became intimate
with the most illustrious nobles, and even became a favourite
of the king ; took to wife his sister Rute, and had the bride
of the conquered as the prize of the conquest. When Rolf
was harried by Athisl he avenged himself on him in battle
and overthrew Athisl in war. Then Rolf gave his sister
Skulde in marriage to a youth of keen wit, called Hiartuar, [57]
and made him governor of Sweden, ordaining a yearly tax ;
wishing to soften the loss of freedom to him by the favour
of an alliance with himself.
Here let me put into my work a thing that it is mirthful to
record. A youth named Wigg, scanning with attentive eye
the bodily size of Rolf, and smitten with great wonder thereat,
proceeded to inquire in jest who was that " Krage"^ whom
Nature in her bounty had endowed with such towering stature ?
meaning humorously to banter his uncommon tallness. For
"Krage" in the Danish tongue means a tree-trunk, whose
branches are pollarded, and whose summit is climbed in such
1 Lovi] Leaf, O. Norse lauf. Bronze-swords often have leaf-shapen
blades.
2 Krage] The Icelandic surname of Rolf is KraU. This pole-ladder
is still used.
70 SAXO GRAMMATICtrS.
wise that the foot uses the lopped timbers as supports, as if
leaning on a ladder, and, gradually advancing to the higher
parts, finds the shortest way to the top. Rolf accepted this
random word as though it were a name of honour for him,
and rewarded the wit of the saying with a heavy bracelet.
Then Wigg, thrusting out his right arm decked with the
bracelet, put his left behind his back in affected shame,
and walked with a ludicrous gait, declaring that he, whose
lot had so long been poverty-stricken, was glad of a scanty
gift. When he was asked why he was behaving so, he said
that the arm which lacked ornament and had no splendour to
boast of was mantling with the modest blush of poverty
to behold the other. The ingenuity of this saying won
him a present to match the first. For Rolf made him bring
out to view, like the other, the hand which he was hiding.
Nor was Wigg heedless to repay the kindness ; for he
promised, uttering a strict vow, that, if it befell Rolf to
perish by the sword, he would himself take vengeance on
his slayers. Nor should it be omitted that in old time
nobles who were entering the court used to devote to their
rulers the first-fruits of their service by vowing some
mighty exploit ; thus bravely inaugurating their first
campaign.
~^ Meantime Skulde was stung with humiliation at the pay-
ment of the tribute, and bent her mind to devise deeds of
horror. Taunting her husband with his ignominious estate,
she urged and egged him to break off his servitude, in-
duced him to weave plots against Rolf, and filled his mind
with the most abominable plans of disloyalty, declaring that
[58] everyone owed more to their freedom than to kinship. Accord-
ingly she ordered huge piles of arms to be muffled up under
divers coverings, and carried by Hiartuar into Denmark, as
if they were tribute : these would furnish a store wherewith to
slay the king by night. So the vessels were loaded with the
mass of pretended tribute, and they proceeded to Leire, a
town which Rolf had built and adorned with the richest
treasure of his realm, and which, being a royal foundation and
a royal seat, surpassed in importance all the cities of the
neighbouring districts. The king welcomed the coming of
Hiartuar with a splendid banquet, and drank very deep,
while his guests, contrary to their custom, shunned im-
moderate tippling. So while all the others were sleeping
soundly, the Swedes, who had been kept from their ordi-
nary rest by their eagerness on their guilty purpose, began
furtively to slip down from their sleeping-rooms. Straight-
way uncovering the hidden heap of weapons, each girded on
his arms silently and then went to the palace. Bursting into
its recesses, they drew their swords upon the sleeping figures.
Many awoke; but, invaded as much by the sudden and dreadful
carnage as by the drowsiness of sleep, they faltered in their
resistance ; for the night misled them and made it doubtful
whether those they met were friends or foes. Hjalte, who
was foremost in tried bravery among the nobles of the king,
chanced to have gone out in the dead of that same night into
the country and given himself to the embraces of a harlot.
But when his torpid hearing caught from afar the rising din
of battle, preferring valour to wantonness, he chose rather
to seek the deadly perils of the War-god than to yield to
the soft allurements of Love. What a love for his king, must
we suppose, burned in this warrior ! For he might have
excused his absence by feigning not to have known ; but he
thought it better to expose his life to manifest danger than save
it for pleasure. As he went away, his mistress asked him
how aged a man she ought to marry if she were to lose him ?
Then Hjalte bade her come closer, as though he would speak
to her more privately ; and, resenting that she needed a suc-
cessor to his love, he cut off her nose and made her unsightly,
punishing the utterance of that wanton question with a
shameful wound, and thinking that the lecherousness of her
soul ought to be cooled by outrage to her face. When he had
done this, he said he left her choice free in the matter she had
asked about. Then he went quickly back to the town and
plunged into the densest of the fray, mowing down the opposing
ranks as he gave blow for blow. Passing the sleeping-room
72 SAXO GEAMMATIOUS.
of Bjarke, who was still slumbering, he bade him wake up,
addressing him as follows :
[59] " Let him awake speedily, whoso showeth himself by service
or avoweth himself in mere loyalty, a friend of the king!
Let the princes shake off slumber, let shameless lethargy
begone ; let their spirits awake and warm to the work ; each
man's own right hand shall either give him to glory, or steep
him in sluggard shame ; and this night shall be either end or
vengeance of our woes.
"I do not now bid ye learn the sports of maidens, nor
stroke soft cheeks, nor give sweet kisses to the bride and press
the slender breasts, nor desire the flowing wine and chafe the
soft thigh and cast eyes upon snowy arms. I call you out to
the sterner fray of War. We need the battle, and not light
love ; nerveless languor has no business here : our need calls
for battles. Whoso cherishes friendship for the king, let him
take up arms. Prowess in war is the readiest appraiser of
men's spirits. Therefore let warriors have no fearfulness and
the brave no fickleness : let pleasure quit their soul and yield
place to arms. Glory is now appointed for wages ; each can be
the arbiter of his own renown, and shine by his own right
hand. Let nought here be tri-cked out with wantonness : let
all be full of sternness, and learn how to rid them of this
calamity. He who covets the honours or prizes of glory must
not be faint with craven fear, but go forth to meet the brave,
nor whiten at the cold steel."
At this utterance, Bjarke, awakened, roused up his chamber-
page Skalk speedily, and addressed him as follows :
" Up, lad, and fan the fire with constant blowing ; sweep
the hearth clear of wood, and scatter the fine ashes. Strike
out sparks from the fire, rouse the fallen embers, draw out
the smothered blaze. Force the slackening hearth to yield
light by kindling the coals to a red glow with a burning log.
It will do me good to stretch out my fingers when the fire is
brought nigh. Surely he that takes heed for his friend should
have warm hands, and utterly drive away blue and hurtful
chill."
Hjalte said again : " Sweet is it to repay the gifts received
from our lord, to grip the swords, and devote the steel to
glory. Behold, each man's courage tells him loyally to follow [60]
a king of such deserts, and to guard our captain with fitting
earnestness. Let the Teuton swords, the helmets, the shining
armlets, the mail-coats that reach the heel, which Eolf of
old bestowed upon his men, let these sharpen our mindful
hearts to the fray. The time requires, and it is just, that
in time of war we should earn whatsoever we have gotten
in the deep idleness of peace, that we should not think more
of joyous courses than of sorrowful fortunes, or always prefer
prosperity to hardship. Being noble, let us with even soul
accept either lot, nor let fortune sway our behaviour, for it be-
seems us to receive equably difficult and delightsome days; let
us pass the years of sorrow with the same countenance where-
with we took the years of joy. Let us do with brave hearts
all the things that in our cups we boasted with sodden lips ;
let us keep the vows which we swore by highest Jove and the
mighty gods. My master is the greatest of the Danes : let each
man,as he is valorous, stand by him ; far, far hence be all cowards !
We need a brave and steadfast man, not one that turns his
back on a dangerous pass, or dreads the grim preparations
for battle. Often a general's greatest valour depends on his
soldiery, for the chief enters the fray all the more at ease
that a better array of nobles throngs him round. Let the
thane catch up his arms with fighting fingers, setting his right
hand on the hilt and holding fast the shield : let him charge
upon the foes, nor pale at any strokes. Let none offer himself
to be smitten by the enemy behind, let none receive the swords
in his back ; let the battling breast ever front the blow. 'Eagles
fight brow foremost,' and with swift gaping beaks speed
onward in the front : be ye like that bird in mien, shrinking
from no stroke, but with body facing the foe.
"See how the enemy,furious and confident overduly, his limb«
defended by the steel, and his face with a gilded helmet,
charges the thick of the battle- wedges, as though sure 0.
victory, fearless of rout and invincible by any endeavour
74 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
[6i] Ah, misery! Swedish assurance spurns the Danes. Behold,
the Goths with savage eyes and grim aspect advance with
crested helms and clanging spears ; wreaking heavy slaughter
in our blood, they wield their swords and their battle-axes
hone-sharpened.
" Why name thee, Hiartuar, whom Skulde hath filled with
guilty purpose, and hath suffered thus to harden in sin ? Why
sing of thee, villain, who hast caused our peril, betrayer of a
noble king ? Furious lust of sway hath driven thee to at-
tempt an abomination, and, stung with frenzy, to screen thy-
self behind thy wife's everlasting guilt. What error hath
made thee to hurt the Danes and thy lord, and hurled thee
into such foul crime as this ? Whence entered thy heart
the treason framed with such careful guile ?
" Why do I linger ? Now we have swallowed our last mor-
sel. Our king perishes, and utter doom overtakes our hapless
city. Our last dawn has risen, unless perchance there be one
here so soft that he fears to offer himself to the blows, or so
unwarlike that he dares not avenge his lord, and disowns
all honours worthy of his valour.
" Thou, Eute, rise and put forth thy snow-white head, come
forth from thy hiding into the battle. The carnage that is
being done without calls thee. By now the. council-chamber
is shaken with warfare, and the gates creak with the dreadful
fray. Steel rends the mail-coats, the woven mesh is torn apart,
and the midriff gives under the rain of spears. By now the
huge axes have hacked small the shield of the king ; by now
the long swords clash, and the battle-axe clatters its blows
upon the shoulders of men, and cleaves their breasts. Why
are your hearts afraid ? Why is your sword faint and
blunted ? The gate is cleared of our people, and is filled with
the press of the strangers."
And when Hjalte had wrought very great carnage and
stained the battle with blood, he stumbled for the third time
on Bjarke's berth, and thinking he desired to keep quiet
because he was afraid, made trial of him with such taunts at
bis cowardice as these :
"Bjarke, why art thou absent? doth deep sleep hold thee?
I prithee, what makes thee tarry ? Come out, or the fire will
overcome thee. Ho ! choose the better way, charge with me !
Bears may be kept off" with fire ; let us spread fire in the
recesses, and let the blaze attack the door-posts first. Let
the firebrand fall upon the bedchamber, let the falling roof
offer fuel for the flames and serve to feed the fire. It is right
to scatter conflagration on the doomed gates. But let us who [62]
honour our king with better loyalty form the firm battle-
wedges, and, having measured the phalanx in safe rows,i go
forth in the way the king taught us : our king, who laid low
Rorik, the son of Bok the covetous, and wrapped the coward
in death. He was rich in wealth, but in enjoyment poor,
stronger in gain than bravery ; and thinking gold better
than warfare, he set lucre above all things, and ingloriously
accumulated piles of treasure, scorning the service of noble
friends. And when he was attacked by the navy of Eolf, he
bade his servants take the gold from the chests and spread
it out in front of the city gates, making ready bribes
rather than battle, because he knew not the soldier, and thought
that the foe should be attempted with gifts and not with arms:
as though he could fight with wealth alone, and prolong the
war by using, not men, but wares ! So he undid the heavy
coffers and the rich chests, he brought forth the polished
bracelets and the heavy caskets ; they only fed his destruction.
Rich in treasure, poor in warriors, he left his foes to take
away the prizes which he forbore to give to the friends of his
own land. He who once shrank to give little rings of his own
will, now unwillingly squandered his masses of wealth, rifling
his hoarded heap. But our king in his wisdom spurned him
and the gifts he proffered, and took from him life and goods
at once ; nor was his foe profited by the useless wealth which
he had greedily heaped up through long years. But Rolf the
righteous assailed him, slew him, and captured his vast wealth,
and shared among worthy friends what the hand of avarice
1 Safe rows] tutisque . . . ordmibits. Perhapa we should read texHs
^=nexis), close-knit.
76 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
had piled up in all those years ; and, bursting into the camp
which was wealthy but not brave, gave his friends a lordly
booty without bloodshed. Nothing was so fair to him that
he would not lavish it, or so dear that he would not give it
to his friends, for he used treasure like ashes, and measured
his years by glory and not by gain. Whence it is plain that
the king who hath died nobly lived also most nobly, that the
hour of his doom is beautiful, and that he graced the years
of his life with manliness. For while he lived his glowing
valour prevailed over all things, and he was allotted might
worthy of his lofty stature. He was as swift to war as a
rg,-| torrent tearing down to sea, and as speedy to begin battle
as a stag is to fly with cleft foot upon his fleet way.
" See now, among the pools dripping with human blood, the
teeth struck out of the slain are carried on by the full torrent
of gore, and are polished on the rough sands. Dashed on
the slime they glitter, and the torrent of blood bears along
splintered bones and flows above lopped limbs. The blood of
the Danes is wet, and the gory flow stagnates far around,
and the stream pressed out of the steaming veins rolls back
the scattered bodies. Tirelessly against the Danes advances
Hiartuar, lover of battle, and challenges the fighters with out-
stretched spear. Yet here, amid the dangers and dooms of
war, I see Frode's grandson smiling joyously, who once sowed
the fields of Fyriswald^ with gold. Let us also be exalted with
an honourable show of joy, following in death the doom
of our noble father. Be we therefore cheery in voice and
bold in daring ; for it is right to spurn all fear with words
of courage, and to meet our death in deeds of glory. Let
fear quit heart and face ; in both let us avow our dauntless
endeavours, that no sign anywhere may show us to betray
faltering fear. Let our drawn sword measure the weight of
our service. Fame follows us in death, and glory shall out-
live our crumbling ashes ! and that which perfect valour hath
1 Fyriawald] Ed. Pr. has Sirttmllinos. Holder adopts the emendation
Firivallinos, explaining "Fyriawald, Upland in Sweden". The confusion
between ' F' and ' S' seems to show an early MS.
achieved during its span shall not fade for ever and ever.
What want we with closed doors ? Why doth the locked
bolt close the folding-gates ? For it is now the third cry,
Bjarke, that calls thee, and bids thee come forth from the
barred room."
Bjarke rejoined : " Warlike Hjalte, why dost thou call me
so loud ? I am the son-in-law of Eolf. He who boasts loud
and with big words challenges other men to battle, is bound
to be venturous and act up to his words, that his deed may
avouch his vaunt. But stay till I am armed and have girded
on the dread attire of war.
"And now I tie my sword to my side, now first I get [64]
my body guarded with mail-coat and headpiece, the helm
keeping my brows and the stout iron shrouding my breast.
None shrinks more than I from being burnt a prisoner inside,
and made a pyre together with my own house : though an
island brought me forth, and though the land of my birth be
bounded, I shall hold it a debt to repay to the king the twelve
kindreds^ which he added to my honours. Hearken, warriors !
Let none robe in mail his body that shall perish, let him last of
all draw tight the woven steeP; let the shields go behind the
back ; let us fight with bared breasts, and load all your arms
with gold. Let your right hands receive the bracelets, that
they may swing their blows the more heavily and plant the
grievous wound. Let none fall back ! Let each zealously
strive to meet the swords of the enemy and the threatening
spears, that we may avenge our beloved master. Happy
beyond all things is he who can mete out revenge for such a
crime, and with righteous steel punish the guilt of treacheries.
1 Twelve kindreds] Bissenas gentes. The gentes are the familias of
Beda, the hides of Alfred's version. Cf. Berhtwulf'a Wootton charter:
" ego B. cyning sile Fordrede minuin ^egne nigon higida lond in W."
2 Let him last of all draw tight the woven steel] extremum perstringat
nexile ferrum ; i.e., taking extremum adverbially, and understanding some
word like quisque from the preceding nemo. This is not satisfactory,
and M. takes the passage thus : "let the woven steel (corslet of
mail) cover, compress the hindmost (laggard)" ; as in Extremum occwpet
78 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
"Lo, methinks I surely pierced a wild stag with the Teutonic
sword which is called Snyrtir : from which I won the name of
Warrior/ when I felled Agnar, son of Ingell, and brought the
trophy home. He shattered and broke with the bite the sword
Hoding which smote upon my head, and would have dealt
worse wounds if the edge of his blade had held out better.
In return I clove asunder his left arm and part of his left
side and his right foot, and the piercing steel ran down his
limbs and smote deep into his ribs. By Hercules ! no man
ever seemed to me stronger than he. For he sank down
half -conscious, and, leaning on his elbow, welcomed death with
a smile, and spurned destruction with a laugh, and passed
rejoicing into the world of Elysium. Mighty was the man's
courage, which knew how with one laughto cover his death-
hour, and with a joyous face to suppress utter anguish of
mind and body !
"Now also with the same blade I searched the heart of
one sprung from an illustrious line, and plunged the steel deep
in his breast. He was a king's son, of illustrious ancestry, of
a noble nature, and shone with the brightness of youth. The
[65] mailed metal could not avail him, nor his sword, nor the
smooth target-boss; so keen was the force of my steel, it
knew not how to be stayed by obstacles.
" Where, then, are the captains of the Goths, and the soldiery
of Hiartuar ? Let them come, and pay for their might with
their life-blood. Who can cast, who whirl the lance, save scions
of kings ?^ War springs from the nobly born : famous pedigrees
are the makers of War. For the perilous deeds which chiefs
attempt are not to be done by the ventures of common men.
Renowned nobles are passing away. Lo ! greatest Rolf, thy
great ones have fallen, thy holy line is vanishing. No dim
and lowly race, no low-born dead, no base souls are Pluto's
scabies, Hor., A. P., 417. This perhaps gives a strained aetne to perslrvngat.
In either case the "-woven steel" is piobally the helmit. See Corp,
Foet. Bor. i, 241 (Lay of Righ) and ii, 475.
1 Name of Warrior] Belligeri, Bodvar.
2 Corp. Poet. Bor., i, 240.
prey, but he weaves the dooms of the mighty, and fills
Phlegethon with noble shapes.
"I do not remember any combat wherein swords were
crossed in turn and blow dealt out for blow more speedily. I
take three for each I give ; thus do the Goths requite the
wounds I deal them, and thus doth the stronger hand of
the enemy avenge with heaped interest the punishment that
they receive. Yet singly in battle I have given over the bodies
of so many men to the pyre of destruction, that a mound like
a hill could grow up and be raised out of their lopped limbs,
and the piles of carcases would look like a burial-barrow. And
now what doeth he, who but now bade me come forth, vaunt-
ing himself with mighty praise, and chafing others with his
arrogant words, and scattering harsh taunts, as though in his
one body he enclosed twelve lives ? "
Hjalte answered : " Though I have but scant help, I am not
far off. Even here, where we stand, there is need of aid, and
nowhere is a force or a chosen band of warriors ready for battle
wanted more. Already the hard edges and the spear-points
have cleft my shield in splinters, and the ravening steel has
rent and devoured its portions bit by bit in the battle. The
first of these things testifies to and avows itself. Seeing is
better than telling, eyesight faithfuller than hearing. For of
the broken shield only the fastenings remain, and the boss, r^Qi
pierced and broken in its circle, is all left me. And now,
Bjarke, thou art strong, though thou hast come forth more
tardily than was right, and thou retrievest by bravery the loss
caused by thy loitering."
But Bjarke said : " Art thou not yet weary of girding at me
and goading me with taunts ? Many things often cause delay.
The reason why I tarried was the sword in my path, which
the Swedish foe whirled against my breast with mighty effort.
Nor did the guider of the hilt drive home the sword with
little might ; for though the body was armed he smote it as
far as one may when it is bare or defenceless ; he pierced the
armour of hard steel like yielding waters ; nor could the rough,
heavy breastplate give me any help.
80 SAXO GHAMMATIGUS.
" But where now is he that is commonly called Odin, the
mighty in battle, content ever with a single eye ? If thou see
him anywhere, Rute, tell me."
Rute replied : " Bring thine eye closer and look under my
arm akimbo^ : thou must first hallow thine eyes with the vic-
torious sign, if thou wilt safely know the War-god face to
face."
Then said Bjarke : " If I may look on the awful husband of
Frigg, howsoever he be covered with his white shield, and
guide his tall steed, he shall in no wise go safe out of Leire ;
it is lawful to lay low in war the war- waging god. Let a
noble death come to those that fall before the eyes of their
king. While life lasts, let us strive for the power to die
honourably and to reap a noble end by our deeds. I will die
overpowered near the head of my slain captain, and at his feet
thou also shalt slip on thy face in death, so that whoso scans
the piled corpses may see in what wise we rate the gold our
lord gave us. We shall be the prey of ravens and a morsel
for hungry eagles, and the ravening bird shall feast on the
banquet of our body. Thus should fall princes dauntless in
war, clasping their famous king in a common death."^
I have composed this particular series of harangues in
[pj] metrical shape, because the gist of the same thoughts is found
arranged in a short form in a certain ancient Danish song,
which is repeated by heart by many conversant with antiquity.
Now, it came to pass that the Goths gained the victory and
all the array of Rolf fell, no man save Wigg remaining out of
all those warriors. For the soldiers of the king paid this
1 Arm akimbo] nostras prospice chelas. This, adopted by M., is by
far the best of the eight interpretations quoted by St. Saxo probably had
in his mind Verg., Georg. , i, 33. where the chelae are the claws of the Scor-
pion in the Zodiac, and are in the next line called brachia. Bjarke was
to gain second sight by looking through the bent arm of Rute. This
rendering doubtless involves the awkwardness of taking prospice as equal
to perspice. The " conquering sign" in the next line {nctrici signo) is
probably the broad arrow of Tew, the sign of which was to be made before
second sight could be gained.
2 Cf. Beowulf and Bryhtnoth's. Lay.
homage to his noble virtues in that battle, that his slaying
inspired in all the longing to meet their end, and union with
him in death was accounted sweeter than life.
HiARTUAR rejoiced, and had the tables spread for feasting,
bidding the banquet come after the battle, and fain to honour
his triumph with a carouse. And when he was well filled
therewith, he said that it was a matter of great marvel to
him, that out of all the army of Rolf no man had been found
to take thought for his life by flight or fraud. Hence, he
said, it had been manifest with what zealous loyalty they had
kept their love for their king, because they had not endured
to survive him. He also blamed his ill fortune, because it
had not suflered the homage of a single one of them to be
left for himself: protesting that he would very willingly
accept the service of such men. Then Wigg came forth, and
Hiartuar, as though he were congratulating him on the gift,
asked him if he were willing to fight for him. Wigg assent-
ing, he drew and proffered him a sword. But Wigg refused the
point, and asked for the hilt, saying first that this had been
Rolf's custom when he handed forth a sword to his soldiers.
For in old time those who were about to put themselves in
dependence on the king used to promise fealty by touching
the hilt of the sword. And in this wise Wigg clasped the
hilt, and then drove the point through Hiartuar; thus gain-
ing the vengeance which he had promised Rolf to accomplish for
him. When he had done this, and the soldiers of Hiartuar
rushed at him, he exposed his body to them eagerly and
exultantly, shouting that he felt more joy in the slaughter
of the tyrant than bitterness at his own. Thus the feast was
turned into a funeral, and the wailing of burial followed the
joy of victory. Glorious, ever memorable hero, who valiantly
kept his vow, and voluntarily courted death, staining with
blood by his service the tables of the despot ! For the lively
valour of his spirit feared not the hands of the slaughterers,
when he had once beheld the place where Rolf had been
wont to live bespattered with the blood of his slayer. Thus
the royalty of Hiartuar was won and ended on the same day,
G
82 SAXO GEAMMATICtrS.
For whatsoever is gotten with guile melts away in like fashion
as it is sought, and no fruits are long-lasting that have been
[68] won by treachery and crime. Hence it came to pass that the
Swedes, who had a little before been po^essors of Denmark,
came to lose even their own liberty. For they were straight-
way cut off by the Zealanders, and paid righteous atonement
to the injured shades of Rolf. In this way does stern fortune
commonly avenge the works of craft and ciuming.
END OF BOOK TWO.
Book 3
After Hiartuar, Hother,, whom I mentioned above, the [69]
brother of Athisl, and also the fosterling of King Gewar,
became sovereign of both realms. It will be easier to relate
his times if I begin with the beginning of his life. For
if the earlier years of his career are not doomed to silence, the
latter ones can be more fully and fairly narrated.
When Helgi had slain Hodbrodd, his son Hother passed the
length of his boyhood under the tutelage of King Gewar.
While a stripling, he excelled in strength of body all his foster-
brethren and compeers. Moreover he was gifted with many
accomplishments of mind. He was very skilled in swimming
and archery, and also with the gloves ; and further was as
nimble as such a youth could be, his training being equal
to his strength. Though his years were unripe, his richly-
dowered spirit surpassed them. None was more skilful on
lyre or harpi ; and he was cunning on the timbrel, on the lute,
and in every modulation of stringed instruments. With his
changing measures he could sway the feelings of men to what
passions he would : he knew how to fill human hearts with joy
or sadness, with pity or with hatred, and used to enwrap the
soul with the delight or terror of the ear. All these accom-
plishments of the youth pleased Nanna, the daughter of Gewar,
mightily, and she began to seek his embraces. For the valour T
of a youth will often kindle a maid, and the courage of those
whose looks are not so winning is often acceptable. . For love
1 Lyre or harp] Saxo names ohelae, lyre, sistrum, ba/rbiton, but it is
unlikely that he meant them to answer to distinct forma of instrument.
He piles up the Latin equivalents much as in Bk. 11, p. 50. See M., not.
wber. ii. 108, and Maurer's Island, p. 451.
g2
84 SAXO GRAMMATICirS.
hath many avenues : the path of pleasure is opened to some
[70] by grace, to others by bravery of soul, and to some by skill
in accomplishments. Courtesy brings to some stores of Love,
while most are commended by brightness of beauty. Nor
do the brave inflict a shallower wound on maidens than the
comely.
Now it befell that Balder the son of Odin was troubled
at the sight of Nanna bathing, and was seized with boundless
love. He was kindled by her fair and lustrous body; and his
heart was set on fire by her manifest beauty; for nothing
exciteth passion like comeliness. Therefore he resolved to
slay with the sword Hother, who, he feared, was likeliest to
baulk his wishes ; so that his love, which brooked no post-
ponement, might not be delayed in the enjoyment of its desire
by any obstacle.
About this time Hother chanced, while hunting, to be led
astray by a mist, and he came on a certain lodge in which were
wood-maidens ; and when they greeted him by his own name,
he asked who they were. They declared that it was their
guidance and government that mainly determined the fortunes
of war. For they often invisibly took part in battles, and
by their secret assistance won for their friends the coveted
victories. They averred, indeed, that they could win'triumphs
and inflict defeats as they would ; and further told him how
Palder had seen his foster-sister Nanna while she bathed, and
been kindled with passion for her ; but counselled Hother not
to attack him in war, worthy as he was of his deadliest hate,
for they declared that Balder was a demigod, sprung secretly
from celestial seed. When Hother had heard this, the place
melted away and left him shelterless, and he found himself
standing in the open and out in the midst of the flelds, with-
out a vestige of shade. Most of all he marvelled at the swift
flight of the maidens, the shifting of the place, and the delusive
semblance of the building. For he knew not that all that
had passed around him had been a mere mockery and an
unreal trick of the arts of magic.
Returning thence, he related to Gewar the mystification that
had followed on his straying, and straightway asked him for
his daughter. Gewar answered that he would most gladly
fg,vour him, but that he feared, if he rejected Balder, he would
incur his wrath ; for Balder, he said, had proffered him a like
request. For he said that the sacred strength of Balder 's body
was proof even against steel ; adding, however, that he knew
of a sword which could deal him his death, which was fastened
up in the closest bonds ; this was in the keeping of Miming,
the Satyr of the woods, who also had a bracelet of a secret
and marvellous virtue, that used to increase the wealth of the
owner. Moreover, the way to these regions was impassable
and filled with obstacles, and therefore hard for mortal men [71]
to travel. For the greater part of the road was perpetually
beset with extraordinary cold. So he advised him to harness
a car with reindeer, by means of whose great speed he could
cross the hard-frozen ridges. And when he had got to the
place, he should set up his tent away from the sun in such
wise that it should catch the shadow of the cave where
Miming was wont to be ; while he should not in return
cast a shade upon Miming, so that no unaccustomed darkness
might be thrown and prevent the Satyr from going out.
Thus both the bracelet and the sword would be ready to
his hand, one being attended by fortune in wealth and the
other by fortune in war, and each of them thus bringing a
great prize to the owner. Thus much said Gewar ; and
Hother was not slow to carry out his instructions. Planting
his tent in the manner aforesaid, he passed the nights in
anxieties and the days in hunting. But through either season
he remained very wakeful and sleepless, allotting the divisions
of night and day so as to devote the one to reflection on events,
and to spend the other in providing food for his body. Once
as he watched all night, his spirit was drooping and dazed
with anxiety, when the Satyr east a shadow on his tent.
Aiming a spear at him, he brought him down with the blow,
stopped him, and bound him, while he could not make his
escape. Then in the most dreadful words he threatened him
with the worst, and demanded the sword and bracelets. The
86 SAXO GKAMMATICUS.
Satyr was not slow to tender him the ransom o£ his life for
which he was asked. So surely do all prize life beyond
wealth ; for nothing is ever cherished more among mortals
than the breath of their own life. Hother, exulting in the
treasure he had gained, went home enriched with trophies
which, though few, were noble.
When Gelder, the King of Saxony, heard that Hother had
gained these things, he kept constantly urging his soldiers to
go and carry oflP such glorious booty ; and the warriors
speedily equipped a fleet in obedience to their king. Gewar,
being very learned in divining and an expert in the know-
ledge of omens, foresaw this ; and summoning Hother, told
him, when Gelder should join battle with him, to receive his
spears with patience, and not let his own fly until he saw the
enemy's missiles exhausted : and further to bring up the curved
scythes wherewith the vessels could be rent and the helmets
and shields plucked from the soldiers. Hother followed his
advice and found its result fortunate. For he bade his men,
when Gelder began to charge, to stand their ground and
defend their bodies with their shields, affirming that the
victory in that battle must be won by patience. But the
[72] enemy nowhere kept back their missiles, spending them all
in their extreme eagerness to fight ; and the more patiently
they found Hother bear himself in his reception of their
spears and lances, the more furiously they began to hurl
them. Some of these stuck in the shields and some in the ships,
and few were the wounds they inflicted ; many of them were
seen to be shaken oif idly and to do no hurt. For the soldiers
of Hother performed the bidding of their king, and kept off
the attack of the spears by a penthouse of interlocked shields^ ;
while not a few of the spears smote lightly on the bosses and
fell into the waves. When Gelder was emptied of all his
store, and saw the enemy picking it up, and swiftly hurling
it back at him, he covered the summit of the mast with a
crimson shield, as a signal of peace, and surrendered to save
^ Penthouse of interlocked shields] conserta clypeorum Ustudine, See
XceJ, I)iet, a, v. shialdborg.
his life. Hother received him with the friendliest face and
the kindliest words, and conquered him as much by his gentle-
ness as he had by his skill.
At this time Helgi, King of Halogaland, was sending fre-
quent embassies to press his suit for Thora, daughter of Cuse,
sovereign of the Finns and Perms. Thus is weakness ever
known by its wanting help from others. For while all other
young men of that time used to sue in marriage with their •
own lips, this man was afflicted with so faulty an utterance
that he was ashamed to be heard not only by strangers, but
by those of his own house. So much doth calamity shun
all witnesses; for natural defects are the more vexing the
more manifest they are. Cuse despised his embassy, answering
that that man did not deserve a wife who trusted too little to
his own manhood, and borrowed by entreaty the aid of others
in order to gain his suit. When Helgi heard this, be besought
Hother, whom he knew to be an accomplished pleader, to
favour his desires, promising that he would promptly perform
whatsoever he should command him. The earnest entreaties
of the youth prevailed on Hother, and he went to Norway
with an armed fleet, intending to achieve by arms the end
which he could not by words. And when he had pleaded for
Helgi with the most dulcet eloquence, Cuse rejoined that his
daughter's wish must be consulted, in order that no paternal
strictness might forestall anything against her will. He called
her in and asked her whether she felt a liking for her wooer;
and when she assented he promised Helgi her hand. In this
way Hother, by the sweet sounds of his fluent and well-
turned oratory, opened the ears of Cuse, which were before
deaf to the suit he urged.
While this was passing in Halogaland, Balder entered the
country of Gewar armed, in order to sue for Nanna. Gewar
bade him learn Nanna's own mind ; so he approached the [73]
maiden with the most choice and cajoling words ; and when
he could win no hearing for his prayers, he persisted in
asking the reason of his refusal. She replied, that a god
could not wed with a mortal, because the vast difference of
88 SAXO 6RAMMATICUS.
their natures prevented any bond of intercourse. Also the
gods sometimes used to break their pledges ; and the bond
contracted between unequals was apt to snap suddenly. There
was no firm tie between those of differing estate ; for beside
the great the fortunes of the lowly were always dimmed.
Also lack and plenty dwelt in diverse tents, nor was there
any fast bond of intercourse between gorgeous wealth and
obscure poverty. In fine, the things of earth would not mate
with those of heaven, being sundered by a great original gulf
through a difference in nature; inasmuch as mortal man was
infinitely far from the glory of the divine majesty. With this
shuffling answer she eluded the suit of Balder, and shrewdly
wove excuses to refuse his hand.
When Hother heard this from Gewar, he complained long
to Helgi of Balder 's insolence. Both were in doubt as to
what should be done, and beat their brains over divers plans ;
for converse with a friend in the day of trouble, though it
removeth not the peril, yet maketh the heart less sick. Amid
all the desires of their souls the passion of valour prevailed,
and a naval battle was fought with Balder. One would have
thought it a contest of men against gods, for Odin and Thor
and the holy array of the gods fought for Balder. There one
could have beheld a war in which divine and human might
were mingled. But Hother was clad in his steel-defying tunic,
and charged the closest bands of the gods, assailing them as
vehemently as a son of earth could assail the powers above.
However, Thor was swinging his club with marvellous might,
and shattered all interposing shields, calling as loudly on his
foes to attack him as upon his friends to back him up. No kind
of armour withstood his onset, no man could receive his stroke
and live. Whatsoever his blow fended off it crushed ; neither
shield nor helm endured the weight of its dint ; no greatness
of body or of strength could serve. Thus the victory would
have passed to the gods, but that Hother, though his line had
already fallen back, darted up, hewed off the club at the haft,
and made it useless. And the gods, when they had lost this
weapon, fled incontinently. But that antiquity vouches for
J
it, it were quite against common belief to think that men pre- --,
vailed against gods. (We call them gods in a supposititious
rather than in a real sense ; for to such we give the title of [j74]
deity by the custom of nations, not because of their nature.)
As for Balder, he took to flight and was saved. The con-
querors either hacked his ships with their swords or sunk them
in the sea ; not content to have defeated gods, they pursued
the wrecks of the fleet with such rage, as if j' they would destroy
them to satiate their deadly passion' for war. Thus^doth
prosperity commonly whet the edge of licence. The haven,
recalling by its name Balder's flight^, bears witness to the war.
Gelder, the King of Saxony, who met his end in the same
war, was set by Hother upon the corpses of his oarsmen, and
then laid on a pyre built of vessels, and magnificently honoured
in his funeral by Hother, who not only put his ashes in a noble
barrow, treating them as the remains of a king, but also graced
them with most reverent obsequies. Then, to prevent any
more troublesome business delaying his hopes of marriage,
he went back to Gewar and enjoyed the coveted embraces
of Nanna. Next, having treated Helgi and Thora very
generously, he brought his new queen back to Sweden, being
as much honoured by all for his victory as Balder was
laughed at for his flight.
At this time the nobles of the Swedes repaired to Denmark ^
to pay their tribute ; but Hother, who had been honoured as \
a king by his countrymen for the splendid deeds of his father, \
experienced what a lying pander Fortune is. For he was con-
quered in the field by Balder, whom a little before he had
crushed, and was forced to flee to Gewar, thus losing while
a king that victory which he had won as a common man.
The conquering Balder, in order to slake his soldiers, who
were parched with thirst, with the blessing of a timely draught,
pierced the earth deep and disclosed a fresh spring. The
1 The haven recalling by its name Balder's flight] This place has not
been certainly identified, according to M., who thinks that it may have
been called either Balder's haven or Balder's refuge (Balderslee), a name
mentioned in tradition for a certain village in Sleswig.
90 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
thirsty ranks made with gaping lips for the water that gushed
forth everywhere. The traces of these springs, eternised by
the name,^ are thought not quite to have dried up yet, though
they have ceased to well so freely as of old. Balder was
continually harassed by night with phantoms feigning the
likeness of Nanna, and fell into such ill health that he
could not so much as walk, and began the habit of going his
journeys in a two-horse car or a four-wheeled carriage. So
great was the love that had steeped his heart and now
had brought him down almost to the extremity of decline. For
he thought that his victory had brought him nothing if
Nanna was not his prize. Also Frey, the regent^ of the gods,
took his abode not far from Upsala, where he exchanged
[7S] for a ghastly and infamous sin-offering the old custom of
prayer by sacrifice, which had been used by so many ages
and generations. For he paid to the gods abominable offer-
ings, by beginning to slaughter human victims.
Meantime Hother^ learned that Denmark lacked leaders, and
that Hiartuar had swiftly expiated the death of Rolf; and
he used to say that chance had thrown into his hands that to
which he could scarce have aspired. For first, Rolf, whom
he ought to have killed, since he remembered that Rolfs
father had slain his own, had been punished by the help of
another; and also, by the unexpected bounty of events, a
chance had been opened to him of winning Denmark. In
truth, if the pedigree of his forefathers were rightly traced,
that realm was his by ancestral right !* Thereupon he took
possession, with a very great fleet, of Isefjord, a haven of
Zealand, so as to make use of his impending fortune. There the
people of the Danes met him and appointed him king; and
a little after, on hearing of the death of his brother Athisl,
whom he had bidden rule the Swedes, he joined the Swedish
1 Eternised by the name] Baldershrynd, Balder's spring.
2 Regent] satrapa.
^ Meantime Hother] Saxo now goes back to the history of Denmark.
All the events hitherto related in Bk. in, after the first paragraph, are a
digression in retrospect.
* Namely, through his grandmother Swanhwid, wife of Bagnar and
daughter of Hadding. See above, p. 54.
_ empire to that of Denmark. But Athisl was cut off by an
ignominious death. For whilst, in great jubilation of spirit,
he was honouring the funeral rites of Rolf with a feast, he
drank too greedily, and paid for his filthy intemperance by
his sudden end. And so, while he was celebrating the death
of another with immoderate joviality, he forced on his own
apace.
While Hother was in Sweden, Balder also came to Zealand
with a fleet ; and since he was thought to be rich in arms and
of singular majesty, the Danes accorded him with the readiest
of voices whatever he asked concerning the supreme power.
With such wavering judgment was the opinion of our fore-
fathers divided. Hother returned from Sweden and attacked
him. They both coveted sway, and the keenest contest
for the sovereignty began between them ; but it was cut
short by the flight of Hother. He retired to Jutland, and
caused to be named after him the village in which he was
wont to stay,^ Here he passed the winter season, and then
went back to Sweden alone and unattended. There he sum-
moned the grandees, and told . them that he was weary of the
light of life because of the misfortunes wherewith Balder had
twice victoriously stricken him. Then he took farewell of all,
and went by a circuitous path to a place that was hard of access,
traversing forests uncivilised. For it oft happens that those
upon whom has come some inconsolable trouble of spirit, seek,
as though it were a medicine to drive away their sadness, far
and sequestered retreats, and cannot bear the greatness of their [76]
grief amid the fellowship of men : so dear, for the most part,
is solitude to sickness. For filthiness and grime are chiefly
pleasing to those who have been stricken with ailments of the
soul. Now he had been wont to give out from the top of a
high hill decrees to the people when they came to consult him ;
and hence when they came they upbraided the sloth of the
1 The village in which he was wont to stay] According to M., the
author of the tale probably thought of the town in Jutland called Horsens,
in Latin Boihersnesia. This name, he adds, might easily give rise to the
legend, but ia likely to be a corruption of Urossc^ws, " horse-ne§s."
92 SAXO GRAMMATIOUS.
king for hiding himself, and his absence was railed at by all
with the bitterest complaints.
But Hother, when he had wandered through remotest by-
ways and crossed an uninhabited forest, chanced to come upon
a cave where dwelt some maidens whom he knew not ; but
they proved to be the same who had once given him the
invulnerable coat. Asked by them wherefore he had come
thither, he related the disastrous issue of the war. So he
began to bewail the ill luck of his failures and his dismal
misfortunes, condemning their breach of faith, and lamenting
that it had not turned out for him as they had promised him.
But the maidens said, that though he had seldom come off vic-
torious, he had nevertheless inflicted as much defeat on the
enemy as they on him, and had dealt as much carnage as he
had shared in. Moreover, the favour of victory would be
speedily his, if he could first lay hands upon a food of
extraordinary delightsomeness which had been devised to
increase the strength of Balder. For nothing would be difiS-
cult if he could only get hold of the dainty which was meant
to enhance the vigour of his foe.
Hard as it sounded for earthborn endeavours to make armed
assault upon the gods, the words of the maidens inspired
Hother's mind with instant confidence to fight with Balder.
Also some of his own people said that he could not safely
contend with those above; but all regard for their majesty
was expelled by the boundless fire of his spirit. For in
brave souls vehemence is not always sapped by reason, nor
doth counsel defeat rashness. Or perchance it was that Hother
remembered how the might of the lordliest oft proveth unstable,
and how a little clod can batter down great chariots.
On the other side, Balder mustered the Danes to arms and
met Hother in the field. Both sides made a great slaughter ;
the carnage of the opposing parties was nearly equal, and
night stayed the battle. About the third watch, Hother, un-
known to any man, went out to spy upon the enemy, anxiety
about the impending peril having banished sleep. Thus strong
excitement favours not bodily rest, and inward disquiet suffers
not outward repose. So when he came to the camp of the [77]
enemy he heard that three maidens had gone out carrying
the secret feast of Balder. He ran after them (for their foot-
steps in the dew betrayed their flight), and at last entered
their accustomed dwelling. When they asked him who he
was, he said, a lutanist, nor did the trial belie his profession.
For when the lyre was offered him, he tuned its strings,
ordered and governed the chords with his quill, and with
ready modulation poured forth a melody pleasant to the ear.
Now they had three snakes, of whose venom they were wont
to mix a strengthening compound for the food of Balder, and
even now a flood of slaver was dripping on the food from the
open mouths of the serpents. And some of the maidens
would, for kindness' sake, have given Hother a share of the
dish, had not the eldest of the three forbidden them, de-
claring that Balder would be cheated if they increased the
bodily powers of his enemy. He had said, not that he was
Hother, but that he was one of his company. Now the same
nymphs, in their gracious kindliness, bestowed on him a belt
of perfect sheen and a girdle which assured victory.
Eetracing the path by which he had come, he went back on
the same road, and meeting Balder plunged his sword into
his side, and laid him low half-dead. When the news was
told to the soldiers, a cheery shout of triumph rose from all
the camp of Hother, while the Danes held a public mourning
for the fate of Balder. He, feeling no doubt of his impending
death, and stung by the anguish of his wound, renewed the
battle on the morrow ; and, when it raged hotly, bade that
he should be borne on a litter into the fray, that he might
not seem to die ignobly within his tent. On the night follow-
ing, Proserpine^ was seen to stand by him in a vision, and to
promise that on the morrow he should have her embrace. The
boding of the dream was not idle ; for when three days had
passed, Balder perished from the excessive torture of his
wound ; and his body was given a royal funeral, the army
causing it to be buried in a barrow which they had made.
1 Proserpine] i.e., Hela. We have, aa often, kept the Latin name.
94 ^AXO GRAMMATtdtfg.
Certain men of our day, chief among whom was Harald/
since the story of the ancient burial-place still survived, made
a raid on it by night in the hope of finding money, but abandoned
their attempt in sudden panic. For the hill split, and from its
crest a sudden and mighty torrent of loud-roaring waters
seemed to burst ; so that its flying mass, shooting furiously
down, poured over the fields below, and enveloped whatsoever
[78] it struck upon. And at its onset the delvers were dislodged,
flung down their mattocks, and fled divers ways ; thinking
that if they strove any longer to carry through their
enterprise they would be caught in the eddies of the water
that was rushing down. Thus the guardian gods of that
spot smote fear suddenly into the minds of the youths,
taking them away from covetousness, and turning them to
see to their safety ; teaching them to neglect their greedy
purpose and be careful of their own lives. Now it is certain
that this apparent flood was not real but phantasmal; not
born in the bowels of the earth (since Nature sufiereth not
liquid springs to gush forth in a dry place), but produced by
some magic agency. All men afterwards to whom the story
of that breaking in had come down, left this hill undisturbed.
Wherefore it has never been made sure whether it really
contains any wealth ; for the dread of peril has daunted any-
one since Harald from probing its dark foundations.
But Odin, though he was accounted the chief of the gods,
began to inquire of the prophets and diviners concerning the
way to accomplish vengeance for his son, as well as all others
whom he had heard were skilled in the most recondite arts of
soothsaying. For godhead that is incomplete is oft in want of
the help of man. Rostioph [Hrossthiolf], the Finn, foretold
to him that another son must be born to him by Rinda
[Wrinda], daughter of the King of the Ruthenians ; this son
was destined to exact punishment for the slaying of his brother.
1 Harald] M. conjectures that this was a certain Harald, the bastard
son of Erik the Good, and a wild and dissolute man, who died in 1135,
not long before the probable date of Saxo's birth.
For the gods had appointed to the brother that was yet to be
born the task of avenging his kinsman. Odin, when he heard
this, muffled his face with a cap, that his garb might not betray
him, and entered the service of the said king as a soldier;
and being made by him captain of the soldiers, and given an
army, won a splendid victory over the enemy. And for his
stout achievement in this battle the king admitted him into
the chief place in his friendship, distinguishing him as
generously with gifts as with honours. A very little while
afterwards Odin routed the enemy single-handed, and returned,
at once the messenger and the doer of the deed. All
marvelled that the strength of one man could deal such
slaughter upon a countless host. Trusting in these services, he
privily let the king into the secret of his love, and was re-
freshed by his most gracious favour; but when he sought
a kiss from the maiden, he received a cuff. But he was not
driven from his purpose either by anger at the slight or by
the odiousness of the insult.
Next year, loth to quit ignobly the quest he had taken up
so eagerly, he put on the dress of a foreigner and went back
to dwell with the king. It was hard for those who met him
to recognise him ; for his assumed filth obliterated his true
features, and new grime hid his ancient aspect. He said that [79]
his name was Roster [Hrosstheow], and that he was skilled in
smithcraft. And his handiwork did honour to his professions:
for he portrayed in bronze many and many a shape most
beautifully, so that he received a great mass of gold from
the king, and was ordered to hammer out the ornaments of
the matrons. So, after having wrought many adornments
for women's wearing, he at last offered to the maiden a
bracelet which he had polished more laboriously than the
rest, and several rings which were adorned with equal care.
But no services could assuage the wrath of Rinda ; when he
was fain to kiss her she cuffed him ; for gifts offered by one
we hate are unacceptable, while those tendered by a friend
are far more grateful : so much doth the value of the offer-
96 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
ing oft turn on the offerer. For this stubborn-hearted maiden
never doubted that the crafty old man was feigning generosity
in order to seize an opening to work his lust. His temper,
moreover, was keen and indomitable ; for she knew that his
homage covered guile, and that under the devotion of his
gifts there lay a desire for crime. Her father fell to upbraid-
ing her heavily for refusing the match ; but she loathed to
wed an old man, and the plea of her tender years lent her
some support in her scorning of his hand ; for she said that
a young girl ought not to marry prematurely.
But Odin, who had found that nothing served the wishes
of lovers more than tough persistency, though he was stung
with the shame of his double rebuff, nevertheless, effacing the
form he had worn before, went to the king for the third time,
professing the completest skill in soldiership. He was led to
take this pains not only by pleasure but by the wish to wipe
out his disgrace. For of old those who were skilled in magic
gained this power of instantly changing their aspect and
exhibiting the most different shapes. Indeed, they were clever
at imitating any age, not only in its natural bodily appearance,
but also in its stature ; and so the old man, in order to exhibit
his calling agreeably, used to ride proudly up and down among
the briskest of them. But not even such a tribute could move
the rigour of the maiden ; for it is hard for the mind to come
back to a genuine liking for one against whom it has once
borne heavy dislike. When he tried to kiss her at his de-
parture, she repulsed him so that he tottered and smote his
chin upon the ground. Straightway he touched her with a
piece of bark whereon spells were written, and made her like
unto one in frenzy : which was a gentle revenge to take for
[80} all the insults he had received.
But still he did not falter in the fulfilment of his purpose,
for trust in his divine majesty buoyed him up with confidence ;
so, assuming the garb of a maiden, this indefatigable journeyer
repaired for the fourth time to the king, and, on being received
by him, showed himself assiduous and even forward. Most
people believed him to be a woman, as he was dressed almost in
female attire. Also he declared that his name was Wecha, and
his calling that of a physician : and this assertion he confirmed
by the readiest services. At last he was taken into the house-
hold of the queen, and played the part of a waiting-woman
to the princess, and even used to wash the soil off her feet
at eventide; and as he was applying the water he was suffered
to touch her calves and the upper part of the thighs. But
fortune goes with mutable steps, and thus chance put into his
hand what his address had never won. For it happened
that the girl fell sick, and looked around for a cure ;
and she summoned to protect her health those very hands
which aforetime she had rejected, and appealed for preserva-
tion to him whom she had ever held in loathing. He examined
narrowly all the symptoms of the trouble, and declared that,
in order to check the disease as soon as possible, it was needful
to use a certain drugged draught ; but that it was so bitterly
compounded, that the girl could never endure so violent a cure
unless she submitted to be bound ; since the stuff of the
malady must be ejected from the very innermost tissues.
When her father heard this he did not hesitate to bind his
daughter; and, laying her on the bed, he bade her endure
patiently all the applications of the doctor. For the king
was tricked by the sight of the female dress, which the old
man was using to disguise his persistent guile ; and thus the
seeming remedy became an opportunity of outrage. For the
physician seized the chance of love, and, abandoning his
business of healing, sped to the work, not of expelling the
fever, but of working his lust ; making use of the sickness of
the princess, whom in sound health he had found adverse to
him. It will not be wearisome if I subjoin another version
of this affair. For there are certain who say that the king,
when he saw the physician groaning with love, but despite
all his expense of mind and body accomplishing nothing,
did not wish to rob of his due reward one who had so well
earned it, and allowed him to lie privily with his daughter.
So doth the wickedness of the father sometimes assail the
child, when vehement passion perverts natural mildness. But
H
68 SAXO GRAMMATiCUS.
his fault was soon followed by a remorse that was full of shame,
when his daughter bore a child.
[^^] But the gods, whose chief seat was then at Byzantium,^
seeing that Odin had tarnished the fair name of godhead by
divers injuries to its majesty, thought that he ought to be
removed from their society. And they had him not only
ousted from the headship, but outlawed and stripped of all
worship and honour at home; thinking it better that the
power of their infamous president should be overthrown
than that public religion should be profaned ; and fearing
that they might themselves be involved in the sin of another,
and though guiltless be punished for the crime of the guilty.
For they saw that, now the derision of their great god was
brought to light, those whom they had lured to proffer them
divine honours were exchanging obeisance for scorn and
worship for shame ; that holy rites were being accounted
sacrilege, and fixed and regular ceremonies deemed so much
childish raving. Fear was in their souls, death before their
eyes, and one would have supposed that the fault of one
was visited upon the heads of all. So, not wishing Odin to
drive public religion into exile, they exiled him and put one ~
Oiler [Wuldor ?] in his place, to bear the symbols not only of
royalty but also of godhead, as though it had been as easy a
task to create a god as a king. And though they had appointed
him priest for form's sake, they endowed him actually with
full distinction, that he might be seen to be the lawful heir to
the dignity, and no mere deputy doing another's work. Also,
to omit no circumstance of greatness, they further gave him the
name of Odin, trying by the prestige of that title to be rid of
the obloquy of innovation. For nearly ten years Oiler held the
1 Byzantium] Cp. " Handwan, King of the Hellespont", in Bk. i, p. 30.
Saxo calls Asgard Byzantium, however, for a different reason. In his
rationalising of the heathen legends, he is forced to believe that Asgard
represented some actual city which had been deified, and fixes accordingly
upon the ancient and famous "Myklegard", Byzantium, to which (see
ref. above) he thought there was a route by land from Scandinavia. See
Miiller, not. ub. in vol. ii ; also his Critink Undersogelse, etc., p. 40.
presidency of the divine senate ; but at last the gods pitied
the horrible exile of Odin, and thought that he had now
been punished heavily enough ; so he exchanged his foul
and unsightly estate for his ancient splendour. For the
lapse of time had now wiped out the brand of his earlier
disgrace. Yet some were to be found who judged that he
was not worthy to approach and resume his rank, because by
his stage-tricks and his assumption of a woman's work he had
brought the foulest scandal on the name of the gods. Some
declare that he bought back the fortune of his lost divinity
with money; flattering some of the gods and mollifying
some with bribes; and that at the cost of a vast sum he
contrived to get back to the distinctions which he had long
quitted. If you ask how much he paid for them, inquire
of those who have found out what is the price of a godhead.
I own that to me it is but little worth.
Thus Oiler was driven out from Byzantium by Odin and
retired into Sweden. Here, while he was trying, as if in a
new world, to repair the records of his glory, the Danes slew
him. The story goes that he was such a cunning wizard that
he used a certain bone, which he had marked with awful
spells, wherewith to cross the seas, instead of a vessel ; and
that by this bone he passed over the waters that barred his [82]
way as quickly as by rowing.
But Odin, now that he had regained the emblems of god-
head, shone over all parts of the world with such a lustre of
renown, that all nations welcomed him as though he wei-e
light restored to the universe ; nor was any spot to be found
on the earth which did not homage to his might. Then
finding that Boe, his son by Rinda, was enamoured of the
hardships of war, he called him, and bade him bear in mind
the slaying of his brother : saying that it would be better for
him to take vengeance on the murderers of Balder than to
overcome the innocent in battle ; for warfare was most fitting
and wholesome when a holy occasion for waging it was fur-
nished by a righteous opening for vengeance.
News came meantime that Gewar had been slain by the
h2
loo SAXO GRAMMAT1CU8.
guile of his own satrap [jarl], Gunne. Hother determined to
visit his murder with the strongest and sharpest revenge. So
he surprised Gunne, cast him on a blazing pyre, and burnt
him ; for Gunne had himself treacherously waylaid Gewar,
and burnt him alive in the night. This was his offering of
vengeance to the shade of his foster-father ; and then he
made his sons, Herlek and Gerit, rulers of Norway.
Then he summoned the elders to assembly, and told them
that he would perish in the war wherein he was bound to
meet Boe, and said that he knew this by no doubtful guess-
work, but by sure prophecies of seers. So he besought them
to, make his son KoRiK king, so that the judgment of wicked
men should not transfer the royalty to strange and unknown
houses ; averring that he would reap more joy from the
succession of his son than bitterness from his own impending
death. This request was speedily granted. Then he met
Boe in battle and was killed ; but small joy the victory gave
Boe. Indeed, he left the battle so sore stricken, that he was
lifted on his shield and carried home by his foot-soldiers sup-
porting him in turn, to perish next day of the pain of his
wounds. The Ruthenian army gave his body a gorgeous
funeral and buried it in a splendid howe, which it piled in
his name, to save the record of so mighty a warrior from
slipping out of the recollection of after ages.
So the Kurlanders and the Swedes, as though the death of
[83] Hother set them free from the burden of their subjection,
resolved to attack Denmark, to which they were accustomed
to do homage with a yearly tax. By this the Slavs also were
emboldened to revolt, and a number of others were turned
from subjects into foes. Rorik, in order to check this wrong-
doing, summoned his country to arms, recounted the deeds of
his forefathers, and urged them in a passionate harangue unto
valorous deeds. But the barbarians, loth to engage without a
general, and seeing that they needed a head, appointed a king
over them ; and, displaying all the rest of their military force,
hid two companies of armed men in a dark spot. But Rorik
saw the trap ; and perceiving that his fleet was wedged in a
certain narrow creek among the shoal water, took it out from
the sands where it was lying, and brought it forth to sea ; lest
it should strike on the oozy swamps, and be attacked by the
foe on different sides. Also he resolved that his men should go
into hiding during the day, where they could stay and suddenly
fall on the invaders of his ships. He said that perchance the
guile might in the end recoil on the heads of its devisers.
And in fact the barbarians who had been appointed to the
ambuscade knew nothing of the wariness of the Danes, and
sallying against them rashly, were all destroyed. The remain-
ing force of the Slavs, knowing nothing of the slaughter of
their friends, hung in doubt wondering over the reason of
Rorik's tarrying. And after waiting long for him as the
months wearily rolled by, and finding delay every day more
burdensome, they at last thought they should attack him with
their fleet.
Now among them there was a man of remarkable stature,
a wizard by calling. He, when he beheld the squadrons
of the Danes, said: "Suffer a private combat to forestall
a public slaughter, so that the danger of many may be
bought off at the cost of a few. And if any of you shall
take heart to fight it out with me, I will not flinch from
these terms of conflict. But first of all I demand that you
accept the terms I prescribe, the form whereof I have devised
as follows : If I conquer, let freedom be granted us from
taxes ; if I am conquered, let the tribute be paid you as of
old. For to-day I will either free my country from the yoke
of slavery by my victory or bind her under it by my defeat.
Accept me as the surety and the pledge for either issue."
One of the Danes, whose spirit was stouter than his strength,
heard this, and proceeded to ask Rorik, what would be the
reward for the man who met the challenger in combat?
Rorik chanced to have six bracelets, which were so inter-
twined that they could not be parted from one another, the
chain of knots being inextricably laced; and he promised
them as a reward for the man who would venture on the
combat. But the youth, who doubted his fortune, said : [84]
102 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
" Eorik, if I prove successful, let thy generosity award
the prize of the conqueror, do thou decide and allot the
palm; but if my enterprise go little to my liking, what
prize canst thou owe to the beaten, who will be wrapped
either in cruel death or in bitter shame ? These things com-
monly go with feebleness, these are the wages of the defeated,
for whom naught remains but utter infamy. What guerdon
must be paid, what thanks offered, to him who lacks the
prize of courage ? Who has ever garlanded with ivy the
weakling in War, or decked him with a conqueror's wage?
Valour wins the prize, not sloth, and failure lacks renown.
For one is followed by triumph and honour, the other by an
unsightly life or by a stagnant end. I, who know not which
way the issue of this duel inclines, dare not boldly antici-
pate that as a reward, of which I know not whether it be
rightly mine. For one whose victory is doubtful may not
seize the assured reward of the victor. I forbear, while
I am not sure of the day, to claim firmly the title to the
wreath. I refuse the gain, which may be the wages of
my death as much as of my life. It is folly to lay hands on
the fruit before it is ripe, and to be fain to pluck that
which one is not yet sure is one's due. This hand shall
win me the prize, or death." Having thus spoken, he smote
the barbarian with his sword; but his fortune was tardier
than his spirit; for the other smote him back, and he fell
dead under the force of the first blow. Thus he was a
sorry sight unto the Danes, but the Slavs granted their
triumphant comrade a great procession, and received him
with splendid dances. On the morrow the same man, whether
he was elated with the good fortune of his late victory,
or was fired with the wish to win another, came close to the
enemy, and set to girding at them in the words of his
former challenge. For, supposing that he had laid low the
bravest of the Danes, he did not think that any of them
would have any heart left to fight further with him upon
his challenge. Also, trusting that, now one champion had
fallen, he had shattered the strength of the whole army, he
thought that naught would be hard to achieve upon which
his later endeavours were bent. For nothing pampers arro-
gance more than success, or prompts to pride more surely than
prosperity.
So Eorik was vexed that the general courage should be
sapped by the impudence of one pian; and that the Danes,
with their roll of victories, should be met presumptuously
by those whom they had beaten of old, nay, should be
ignominiously spurned ; further, that in all that host not one
man should be found so quick of spirit or so vigorous of [^S]
arm, that he longed to sacrifice his life for his country.
It was the high-hearted Ubbe who first wiped off this in-
famous reproach upon the hesitating Danes. For he was of
great bodily strength and powerful in incantations. He
also purposely asked the prize of the combat, and the king
promised him the bracelets. Then said he : "How can I trust
the promise when thou keepest the pledge in thine own hands,
and dost not deposit the gift in the charge of another ? Let
there be some one to whom thou canst entrust the pledge,
that thou mayst not be able to take thy promise back. For
the courage of the champion is kindled by the irrevocable
certainty of the prize." Of course it was plain that he had
said this in jest ; sheer courage had armed him to repel the
insult to his country. But Rorik thought he was tempted
by avarice, and was loth to seem as if, contrary to royal
fashion, he meant to take back the gift or revoke his
promise ; so, being stationed on his vessel, he resolved to shake
off the bracelets, and with a mighty swing send them to the
asker. But his attempt was baulked by the width of the gap
between them ; for the bracelets fell short of the intended
spot, the impulse being too faint and slack, and were reft
away by the waters. For this the nickname of Slyngebond^
clung to Rorik. But this event testified much to the valour
of Ubbe. For the loss of his drowned prize never turned his
mind from his bold venture; he would not seem to let his
courage be tempted by the wages of covetousness. So be
1 Slyngebond] Swing-brsicelet,
104 SAXO GBAMMATICUS.
eagerly went to fight, showing that he was a seeker of honour
and not the slave of lucre, and that he set bravery before .
lust of pelf; and intent to prove that his confidence was
based not on hire, but on his own great soul. Not a moment
is lost ; a ring is made ; the course is thronged with soldiers ;
the champions engage ; a din arises ; the crowd of onlookers
shouts in discord, each backing his own. And so the valour
of the champions blazes to white-heat ; falling dead under the
wounds dealt by one another, they end together the combat
and their lives. I think that it was a provision of fortune
that neither of them should reap joy ai^d honour by the
other's death. This event won back to Eorik the hearts of
the insurgents and regained him the tribute.
At this time Horwendil and Feng, whose father Gerwendil
had been governor of the Jutes, were appointed in his place
by Eorik to defend Jutland.^ But Horwendil held the
monarchy for three years, and then, to win the height of
glory, devoted himself to roving. Then KoU, King of Norway,
in rivalry of his great deeds and renown, deemed it would
[86] be a handsome deed if by his greater strength in arms
he could bedim the far-famed glory of the rover; and,
cruising about the sea, he watched for Horwendil's fleet and
came up with it. There was an island lying in the middle
of the sea, which each of the rovers, bringing his ships up on
either side, was holding. The captains were tempted by
the pleasant look of the beach, and the comeliness of the
' shores led them to look through the interior of the spring-
tide woods, to go through the glades, and roam over the '
sequestered forests. It was' here that the advance of Kolle^
and Horwendil brought them face to face without any
witness. Then Horwendil endeavoured to iaddress the king
first, asking him in what way it was his pleasure to
fight, and declaring that one best which needed the courage
of as few as possible. For, said he, the duel was the surest
of all modes of combat for winning the meed of bravery,
' Appointed in his place to defend Jutland] See note on this, Bk. iv,
p. 128.
because it relied only upon native courage, and excluded all
help from the hand of another. KoU, marvelled at so
brave a judgment in a youth, and said : " Since thou hast
granted me the choice of battle, I think it is best to employ
that kind which needs only the endeavours of two, and
is free from all the tumult. Certainly it is more ven-
turesome, and allows of a speedier award of the victory.
This thought we share, in this opinion we agree of our
own accord. But since the issue remains doubtful, we must
pay some regard to gentle dealing, and must not give way so
far to our inclinations as to leave the last offices undone.
Hatred is in our hearts ; yet let piety be there also, which in
its due time may take the place of rigour. For the rights of
nature reconcile us, though we are parted by differences of
purpose ; they link us together, howsoever rancour estrange
our spirits. Let us, therefore, have this pious stipulation,
that the conqueror shall give funeral rites to the conquered.
For all allow that these are the last duties of human kind,
from which no righteous man shrinks. Let each army lay
aside its sternness and perform this function in harmony.
Let jealousy depart at death, let the feud be buried in the
tomb. Let us not show such an example of cruelty as to
persecute one another's dust, though hatred has come between
us in our lives. It will be a boast for the victor if he
has borne his beaten foe in a lordly funeral. For the man
who pays the rightful dues over his dead enemy wins the
goodwill of the -survivor ; and whoso devotes gentle dealing
to him who is no more, conquers the living by his kindness.
Also there is another disaster, not less lamentable, which some-
times befalls the living — the loss of some part of their body ;
and I think that succour is due to this just as much as to the
worst hap that may befall. For often those who fight keep
their lives safe, but suffer maiming ; and this lot is commonly
thought more dismal than any death; for death cuts off
memory of all things, while the- living cannot forget the L°7J
devastation of his own body. Therefore this mischief also
roust be helped somehow ; so let it be agreed, that the injury
106 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
of either of us , by the other shall be made good with ten
talents [marks] of gold. For if it be righteous to have
compassion on the calamities of another, how much more is it
to pity one's own ? No man but obeys nature's prompting ;
and he who slights it is a self-murderer."
After mutually pledging their faiths to these terms, they
began the battle. Nor were their strangeness in meeting one
another, nor the sweetness of that spring-green spot, so heeded
as to prevent them from the fray. Horwendil, in his too
great ardour, became keener to attack his enemy than to defend
his own body; and, heedless of his shield, had grasped his sword
with both hands ; and his boldness did not fail. For by his
rain of blows he destroyed Kolljs shield and deprived him of
it, and at last hewed off his fooi and drove him lifeless to the
ground. Then, not to fail of his compact, he buried him
royally, gave him a howe of lordly make and pompous
obsequies. Then he pursued and slew Roller's sister Sela, who
was a skilled warrior and experienced in roving.
He had now passed three years in valiant deeds of war ;
and, in order to win higher rank in Rorik's favour, he assigned
to him the best trophies and the pick of the plunder. His
friendship with Rorik enabled him to woo and win in marriage
his daughter Gerutha, who bore him a son Amleth.
Such great good fortune stung Feng with jealousy, so
that he resolved treacherously to waylay his brother, thus
showing that goodness is not safe even from those of a man's
own house. And behold, when a chance came to murder him,
his bloody hand sated the deadly passion of his soul. Then
he took the wife of the brother he had butchered, capping
unnatural murder^ with incest. For whoso yields to one
iniquity, speedily falls an easier victim to the next, the first
being an incentive to the second. Also the man veiled the
1 Unnatural murder] These words of the Ghost in Hamlet, i. 4. 25,
exactly translate parricidium, which (with parricida) occurs constantly in
this narrative, and has been variously rendered by " slaying of kin",
"fratricide", etc. For the whole story see the note at the end of the
volume on " Saxo's Hamlet".
monstrosity of his deed with such hardihood of cunning, that
he made up a mock pretence of goodwill to excuse his crime,
and glossed over fratricide with a show of righteousness.
Gerutha, said he, though so gentle that she would do no man
the slightest hurt, had been visited with her husband's
extremest hate ; and it was all to save her that he had slain
his brother ; for he thought it shameful that a lady so meek
and unrancorous should suffer the heavy disdain of her
husband. Nor did his smooth words fail in their intent ; for [88]
at courts, where fools are sometimes favoured and backbiters
preferred, a lie lacks not credit. Nor did Feng keep from
shameful embraces the hands that had slain a brother ; pur-
suing with equal guilt both of his wicked and impious deeds.
Amleth beheld all this, but feared lest too shrewd a behaviour
might make his uncle suspect him. So he chose to feign dulness,
and pretend an utter lack of wits. This cunning course not only
concealed his intelligence but ensured his safety. Every day
he remained in his mother's house utterly listless and unclean,
flinging himself on the ground, and bespattering his person
with foul and filthy dirt. His discoloured face and visage
smutched with slime denoted foolish and grotesque madness.
All he said was of a piece with these follies ; all he did
savoured of utter lethargy. In a word, you would not have
thought him a man at all, but some absurd abortion due to
a mad fit of destiny. He used at times to sit over the fire,
and, raking up the embers with his hands, to fashion wooden
crooks,^ and harden them in the fire, shaping at their tips
certain barbs, to make them hold more tightly to their
fastenings. When asked what he was about, he said that he
was preparing sharp javelins to avenge his father. This
answer was not a little scofied at, all men deriding his idle and
ridiculous pursuit; but the thing helped his purpose afterwards.
Now it was his craft in this matter that first awakened in the
deeper observers a suspicion of his cunning. For his skill in
a trifling art betokened the hidden talent of the craftsman ;
1 Crooks] M. thinks there is a play on the Icel. hrdkr, which means
both a crook and a trick.
108 SAXO GRAMMATICXJS.
nor could they believe the spirit dull where the hand had
acquired so cunning a workmanship. Lastly, he always
watched with the most punctual care over his pile of stakes
that he had pointed in the fire. Some people, therefore,
declared that his mind was quick enough, and fancied that he
only played the simpleton in order to hide his understanding,
and veiled some deep purpose under a cunning feint. His
wiliness (said these) would be most readily detected, if a
fair woman were put in his way in some secluded place,
who should provoke his mind to the temptations of love ; all
men's natural temper being too blindly amorous to be artfully
dissembled, and this passion being also too impetuous to be
checked by cunning. Therefore, if his lethargy were feigned,
he would seize the opportunity, and yield straightway to
violent delights. So men were commissioned to draw the young
[89] man in his rides into a remote part of the forest, and there
assail him with a temptation of this nature. Among these
chanced to be a foster-brother of Amleth, who had not ceased
to have regard to their common nurture; and who esteemed
his present orders less than the memory of their past fellowship.
He attended Amleth among his appointed train, being anxious
not to entrap, but to warn him ; and was persuaded that he
would suffer the worst if he showed the slightest glimpse of
sound reason, and above all if he did the act of love openly.
This was also plain enough to Amleth himself. For when he
was bidden mount his horse, he deliberately set himself in
such a fashion that he turned his back to the neck and faced
about, fronting the tail ; which he proceeded to encompass
with the reins, just as if on that side he would check the horse
in its furious pace. By this cunning thought he eluded the
/ trick, and overcame the treachery of his uncle. The reinless
V steed galloping on, with the rider directing its tail, was
Judicrous enough to behold.
Amleth went on, and a wolf crossed his path amid the thicket.
When his companions told him that a young colt had met him,
he retorted, that in Feng's stud there were too few of that
kind fighting. This was a gentle but witty fashion of in-
yoking a curse upon his uncle's riches. When they averred
that he had given a cunning answer, he answered that he
had spoken deliberately : for he was loth to be thought prone
to lying about any matter, and wished to be held a stranger
to falsehood ; and accordingly he mingled craft and candour
in such wise that, though his words did lack truth, yet
there was nothing to betoken the truth and betray how far
his keenness went.
Again, as he passed along the beach, his companions found
the rudder of a ship which had been wrecked, and said they
had discovered a huge knife. " This", said he, " was the right
thing to carve such a huge ham ;" by which he really meant
the sea, to whose infinitude, he thought, this enormous rudder
matched. Also, as they passed the sandhills, and bade him look
at the meal, meaning the sand, he replied that it had been
ground small^ by the hoary tempests of the ocean. His com-
panions praising his answer, he said that he had spoken it
wittingly. Then they purposely left him, that he might pluck
up more courage to practise wantonness. The woman whom
his uncle had dispatched met him in a dark spot, as though
she had crossed him by chance ; and he took her and would
have ravished her, had not his foster-brother, by a secret
device, given him an inkling of the trap. For this man,
while pondering the fittest way to play privily the prompter's [go]
part, and forestall the young man's hazardous lewdness, found a
straw on the ground and fastened it underneath the tail of a
gadfly that was flying past ; which he then drove towards the
particular quarter where he knew Amleth to be : an act which
served the unwary prince exceedingly well. The token was
interpreted as shrewdly as it had been sent. For Amleth saw
the gadfly, espied with curiosity the straw which it wore em-
bedded in its tail, and perceived that it was a secret warning
to beware of treachery. Alarmed, scenting a trap, and fain to
possess his desire in greater safety, he caught up the woman
in his arms and dragged her oS to a distant and impenetrable
1 Ground small] See note on "Saxo's Hamlet" for the importance of
this.
110 SAXO GEAMMA.TICUS.
fen. Moreover, when they had lain together, he conjured her
earnestly to disclose the matter to none, and the promise of
silence was accorded as heartily as it was asked. For both of
them had been under the same fostering in their childhood ;
and this early rearing in common had brought Amleth and
the girl into great intimacy.
So, when he had returned home, they all jeeringly asked
him whether he had given way to love, and he avowed that
he had ravished the maid. When he was next asked where
he did it, and what had been his pillow, he said that he had
rested upon the hoof of a beast of burden, upon a cockscomb,
and also upon a ceiling. For, when he was starting into
temptation, he had gathered fragments of all these things, in
order to avoid lying. And though his jest did not take aught
of the truth out of the story, the answer was greeted with shouts
of merriment from the bystanders. The maiden, too, when ques-
tioned on the matter, declared that he had done no such thing ;
and her denial was the more readily credited when it was
found that the escort had not witnessed the deed. Then he
who had marked the gadfly in order to give a hint, wishing to
show Amleth that to his" trick he owed his salvation, observed
that latterly he had been singly devoted to Amleth. The
young man's reply was apt. Not to seem forgetful of his
informant's service, he said that he had seen a certain thing
bearing a straw flit by suddenly, wearing a stalk of chaif
fixed on its hinder parts. The cleverness of this speech, which
made the rest split with laughter, rejoiced the heart of
Amleth's friend.
Thus all were worsted, and none could open the secret lock
of the young man's wisdom. But a friend of Feng, gifted more
[91] with assurance than judgment, declared that the unfathomable
cunning of such a mind could not be detected by any vulgar
plot, for the man's obstinacy was so great that it ought not
to be assailed with any mild measures; there were many
sides to his wiliness, and it ought not to be entrapped by
any one method. Accordingly, said he, his own profounder
acuteness had hit on a more delicate way, which was well fitted
to be put in practice, and would effectually discover what they
desired to know. Feng was purposely to absent himself, pre-
tending affairs of great import. Amleth should be closeted
alone with his mother in her chamber ; but a man should first
be commissioned to place himself in a concealed part of the
room and listen heedfuUy to what they talked about. For if
the son had any wits at all he would not hesitate to speak out
in the hearing of his mother, or fear to trust himself to the
fidelity of her who bore him. The speaker, loth to seem readier
to devise than to carry out the plot, zealously proffered himself
as the agent of the eavesdropping. Feng rejoiced at the
scheme, and departed on pretence of a long journey. Now he
who had given this counsel repaired privily to the room where
Amleth was shut up with his mother, and lay down skulking
in the straw. But Amleth had his antidote for the treachery.
Afraid of being overheard by some eavesdropper, he at first
resorted to his usual imbecile ways, and crowed like a noisy
cock, beating his arms together to mimic the flapping of wings.
Then he mounted the straw and began to swing his body and
jump again and again, wishing to try if aught lurked there in
hiding. Feeling a lump beneath his feet, he drove his sword
into the spot, and impaled him who lay hid. Then he dragged
him from his concealment and slew him. Then, cutting his
body into morsels, he seethed it in boiling water, and fiung it
through the mouth of an open sewer for the swine to eat,
bestrewing the stinking mire with his hapless limbs. Having
in this wise eluded the snare, he went back to the room. Then
his mother set up a great wailing, and began to lament her
son's folly to his face ; but he said : " Most infamous of
women ! dost thou seek with such lying lamentations to hide
thy most heavy guilt ? Wantoning like a harlot, thou hast
entered a wicked and abominable state of wedlock, embracing
with incestuous bosom thy husband's slayer, and wheedling
with filthy lures of blandishment him who had slain the father
of thy son. This, forsooth, is the way that the mares couple
with the vanquishers of their mates; for brute beasts are
naturally incited to pair indiscriminately ; and it would seem [92]
112 SAXO GRAMMA TICUS.
that thou, like them, hast clean forgot thy first husband.
As for me, not idly do I wear the mask of folly ; for I doubt
not that he who destroyed his brother will riot as ruthlessly
in the blood of his kindred. Therefore it is better to
choose the garb of dulness than that of sense, and to borrow
some protection from a show of utter frenzy. Yet the
passion to avenge my father still burns in my heart ; but I
am watching the chances, I await the fitting hour. There is
a place for all things ; against so merciless and dark a spirit
must be used the deeper devices of the mind. And thou,
who hadst been better employed in lamenting thine own dis-
grace, know it is superfluity to bewail my witlessness ; thou
shouldst weep for the blemish in thine own mind, not for that
in another's. On the rest see thou keep silence." With such
reproaches he rent the heart of his mother and redeemed her
to walk in the ways of virtue ; teaching her to set the fires of
the past above the seductions of the present.
When Feng returned, nowhere could he find the man who
had suggested the treacherous espial ; he searched for him long
and carefully, but none said they had seen him anywhere.
Amleth, among others, was asked in jest if he had come on any
trace of him, and replied that the man had gone to the sewer,
but had fallen through its bottom and been stifled by the floods
of filth, and that he had then been devoured by the swine that
came up all about that place. This speech was flouted by those
who heard ; for it seemed senseless, though really it expressly
avowed the truth.
Feng now suspected that his stepson was certainly full of
guile, and desired to make away with him, but durst not do
the deed for fear of the displeasure, not only of Amleth's grand-
sire Rorik, but also of his own wife. So he thought that the
King of Britain should be employed to slay him, so that
another could do the deed, and he be able to feign innocence.
Thus, desirous to hide his cruelty, he chose rather to besmirch
his friend than to bring disgrace on his own head. Amleth,
on departing, gave secret orders to his mother to hang the
hall with knotted tapestry, and to perform pretended obse-
quies for him a year thence ; promising that he would then
return. Two retainers of Feng then accompanied him, bear-
ing a letter graven on wood — a kind of writing material
frequent in old times ; this letter enjoined the king of the
Britons to put to death the youth who was sent over to
him. While they were reposing, Amleth searched their coffers,
found the letter, and read the instructions therein. Where-
upon he erased all the writing on the surface, substituted
fresh characters, and so, changing the purport of the instruc-
tions, shifted his own doom upon his companions. Nor was
he satisfied with removing from himself the sentence of death [93]
and passing the peril on to others, but added an entreaty that
the King of Britain would grant his daughter in marriage to a
youth of great judgment whom he was sending to him. Under
this was falsely marked the signature of Feng.
Now when they had reached Britain, the envoys went to the
king, and proffered him the letter which they supposed was an
implement of destruction to another, but which really betokened
death to themselves. The king dissembled the truth, and en-
treated them hospitably and kindly. Then Amleth scouted all
the splendour of the royal banquet like vulgar viands, and
abstaining very strangely, rejected that plenteous feast, re-
fraining from the drink even as from the banquet. All
marvelled that a youth and a foreigner should disdain the
carefully-cooked dainties of the royal board and the luxurious
banquet provided, as if ib were soma peasant's relish. So,
when the revel broke up, and the king was dismissing his
friends to rest, he had a man sent into the sleeping-room to
listen secretly, in order that he might hear the midnight
conversation of his guests. Now, when Amleth's companions
asked him why he had refrained from the feast of yestereve,
as if it were poison, he answered that the bread was flecked
with blood and tainted ; that there was a tang of iron in
the liquor; while the meats of the feast reeked of the stench
of a human carcase, and were infected by a kind of smack
of the odour of the charnel. He further said that the king
had the eyes of a slave, and that the queen had in three
I
Il4 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
ways shown the behaviour of a bondmaid. Thus he reviled
with insulting invective not so much the feast as its givers.
And presently his companions, taunting him with his old
defect of wits, began to flout him with many saucy jeers,
because he blamed and cavilled at seemly and worthy things,
and because he attacked thus ignobly an illustrious king and
a lady of so refined a behaviour, bespattering with the shame-
fullest abuse those who merited all praise.
All this the king heard from his retainer ; and declared
that he who could say such things had either more than mortal
wisdom or more than mortal folly; in these few words
i fathoming the full depth of Amleth's penetration. Then he
summoned his steward and asked him whence he had pro-
cured the bread. The steward declared that it had been made
by the king's own baker. The king asked where the corn
had grown of which it was made, and whether any sign was to
be found there of human carnage ? The other answered, that
not far off was a field, covered with the ancient bones of
[94] slaughtered men, and still bearing plainly all the signs of
ancient carnage ; and that he had himself planted this field
with grain in springtide, thinking it more fruitful than
the rest, and hoping for plenteous abundance ; and so, for
aught he knew, the bread had caught some evil savour from
this bloodshed. The king, on hearing this, surmised that
Amleth had spoken truly, and took the pains to learn also
what had been the source of the lard. The other declared
that his hogs had, through negligence, strayed from keeping,
and battened on the rotten carcase of a robber, and that per-
chance their pork had thus come to have something of a
corrupt smack. The king, finding that Amleth's judgment
was right in this thing also, asked of what liquor the steward
had mixed the drink ? Hearing that it had been brewed of
water and meal, he had the spot of the spring pointed out to
him, and set to digging deep down ; and there he found, rusted
away, several swords, the tang whereof it was thought had
tainted the waters. Others relate that Amleth blamed the
drink because, while quaffing it, he had detected some bees
that had fed in the paunch of a dead man ; and that the
taint, which had formerly been imparted to the combs, had
reappeared in the taste. The king, seeing that Amleth had
rightly given the causes of the taste he had found so faulty,
and learning that the ignoble eyes wherewith Amleth had
reproached him concerned some stain upon his birth, had a
secret interview with his mother, and asked her who his
father had really been. She said she had submitted to no
man but the king. But when he threatened that he would
have the truth out of her by a trial, he was told that he
was the offspring of a slave. By the evidence of the avowal
thus extorted he understood the whole mystery of the re-
proach upon his origin. Abashed as he was with shame
for his low estate, he was so ravished with the young man's
cleverness, that he asked him why he had aspersed the queen
with the reproach that she had demeaned herself like a slave ?
But while resenting that the courtliness of his wife had been
accused in the midnight gossip of a guest, he found that her
mother had been a bondmaid. For Amleth said he had noted
in her three blemishes showing the demeanour of a slave ;
first, she had muffled her head in her mantle as bondmaids
do ; next, that she had gathered up her gown for walking ; and
thirdly, that she had first picked out with a splinter, and then
chewed up, the remnant of food that stuck in the crevices
between her teeth. Further, he mentioned that the king's
mother had been brought into slavery from captivity, lest
she should seem servile only in her habits, yet not in her
birth.
Then the king adored the wisdom of Amleth as though it
were inspired, and gave him his daughter to wife ; accepting
his bare word as though it were a witness from the skies.
Moreover, in order to fulfil the bidding of his friend, he hanged [95]
Amleth's companions on the morrow. Amleth, feigning
offence, treated this piece of kindness as a grievance, and
received from the king, as compensation, some gold, which
he afterwards melted in the fire, and secretly caused to be
poured into some hollowed sticks.
I2
116 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
When he had passed a whole year with the king he obtained
leave to make a journey, and returned to his own land, carrying
away of all his princely wealth and state only the sticks which
held the gold. On reaching Jutland, he exchanged his present
attire for his ancient demeanour, which he had adopted for
righteous ends, purposely assuming an aspect of absurdity.
Covered with filth, he entered the banquet-room where his
own obsequies were being held, and struck all men utterly
aghast, rumour having falsely noised abroad his death. At last
terror melted into mirth, and the guests jeered and taunted
one another, that he whose last rites they were celebrating as
though he were dead, should appear in the flesh. When he
was asked concerning his comrades, he pointed to the sticks he
was carrying, and said, " Here is both the one and the other."
This he observed with equal truth and pleasantry; for his
speech, though most thought it idle, yet departed not from
the truth; for it pointed at the weregild of the slain as
though it were themselves. Thereon, wishing to bring the
company into a gayer mood, he joined the cupbearers, and
diligently did the office of plying the drink. Then, to prevent
his loose dress hampering his walk, he girded his sword upon'
his side, and purposely drawing it several times, pricked his
fingers with its point. The bystanders accordingly had both
sword and scabbard riveted across with an iron nail. Then, to
smooth the way more safely to his plot, he went to the lords
and plied them heavily with draught upon draught, and
drenched them all so deep in wine, that their feet were made
feeble with drunkenness, and they turned to rest within the
palace, making their bed where they had revelled. Then he
saw they were in a fit state for his plots, and thought that here
was a chance ofiiered to do his purpose. So he took out of his
bosom the stakes he had long ago prepared, and went into the
building, where the ground lay covered with the bodies of the
nobles wheezing ofi" their sleep and their debauch. Then, cut-
ting away its supports, he brought down the hanging his mother
had knitted, which covered the inner as well as the outer walls
of the hall. This he flung upon the snorers, and then apply-
ing the crooked stakes, he knotted and bound them up in such
insoluble intricacy, that not one of the men beneath, however
hard he might struggle, could contrive to rise. After this he • [96]
set fire to the palace. The flames spread, scattering the con-
flagration far and wide. It enveloped the whole dwelling,
destroyed the palace, and burnt them all while they were
either buried in deep sleep or vainly striving to arise. Then
he went to the chamber of Feng, who had before this been
conducted by his train into his pavilion ; plucked up a sword
that chanced to be hanging to the bed, and planted his own in
its place. Then, awakening his uncle, he told him that his
nobles were perishing in the flames, and that Amleth was here,
armed with his old crooks to help him, and thirsting to exact
the vengeance, now long ovei'due, for his father's murder.
Feng, on hearing this, leapt from his couch, but was cut down
while, deprived of his own sword, he strove in vain to draw the
strange one. 0 valiant Amleth, and worthy of immortal fame,
who being shrewdly armed with a feint of folly, covered a
wisdom too high for human wit under a marvellous disguise of
silliness ! and not only found in his subtlety means to protect
his own safety, but also by its guidance found opportunity to
avenge his father. By this skilful defence of himself, and
strenuous revenge for his parent, he has left it doubtful
whether we are to think more of his wit or his bravery.
END OF BOOK THREE.
Book 4
[97] Amleth, when he had accomplished the slaughter of his step-
father, feared to expose his deed to the fickle judgment of his
countrymen, and thought it well to lie in hiding till he had
learnt what way the mob of the uncouth populace was tending.
So the whole neighbourhood, who had watched the blaze during
the night, and in the morning desired to know the cause of
the fire they had seen, perceived the royal palace fallen in
ashes ; and, on searching through its ruins, which were yet
warm, found only some shapeless remains of burnt corpses.
For the devouring flame had consumed everything so utterly,
that not a single token was left to inform them of the cause
of such a disaster. Also they saw the body of Feng lying
pierced by the sword, amid his blood-stained raiment. Some
were seized with open anger, others with grief, and some with
secret delight. One party bewailed the death of their leader,
the other gave thanks that the tyranny of the fratricide was
now laid at rest. Thus the occurrence of the king's slaughter
was greeted by the beholders with diverse minds.
Amleth, finding the people so quiet, made bold to leave his
hiding. Summoning those in whom he knew the memory of
his father to be fast-rooted, he went to the assembly and
there made a speech after this manner :
" Nobles ! Let not any who are troubled by the piteous end
of Horwendil be troubled by the sight of this disaster before
you : be not ye, I say, troubled, who have remained loyal to
your king and duteous to your father. Behold the corpse, not
of a prince, but of a fratricide. Indeed, it was a sorrier sight
when ye saw our prince lying lamentably butchered by a most
infamous fratricide— brother, let me not call him. With your
own compassionating eyes ye have beheld the mangled limbs
of Horwendil ; they have seen his body done to death with
many wounds. Surely that most abominable butcher only de-
prived his king of life that he might despoil his country of
freedom ! The hand that slew him made you slaves. Who [98]
then so mad as to choose Feng the cruel before Horwendil the
righteous ? Eemember how benignantly Horwendil fostered
you, how justly he dealt with you, how kindly he loved you.
Eemember how you lost the mildest of princes and the justest
of fathers, while in his place was put a tyrant and an assassin
set up ; how jou\ rights were confiscated ; how everything
was plague-stricken ; how the country was stained with
infamies ; how the yoke was planted on your necks, and
how your free will was forfeited ! And now all this is
over ; for ye see the criminal stifled in his own crimes, the
slayer of his kin punished for his misdoings. What man of
but ordinary wit, beholding it, would account this kindness a
wrong ? What sane man could be sorry that the crime has
recoiled upon the culprit ? Who could lament the killing of a
mogt savage executioner ? or bewail the righteous death of a
most cruel despot ? Ye behold the doer of the deed ; he is
before you. Yea, I own that I have taken vengeance for my
country and my father. Your hands were equally bound to
the task which mine fulfilled. What it would have beseemed
you to accomplish with me, I achieved alone. Nor had I any
partner in so glorious a deed, or the service of any man to
help me. Not that I forget that you would have helped this
work, had I asked you ; for doubtless you have remained loyal
to your king and loving to your prince. But I chose that the
wicked should be punished without imperilling you ; I thought
that others need not set their shoulders to the burden when I
deemed mine strong enough to bear it. Therefore I consumed
all the others to ashes, and left only the trunk of Feng for
your hands to burn, so that on this at least you may wreak
all your longing for a righteous vengeance. Now haste up
speedily, heap the pyre, burn up the body of the wicked,
consume away his guilty limbs, scatter his sinful ashes, strew
broadcast his ruthless dust : let no urn or barrow enclose the
120 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
abominable remnants of his bones. Let no trace o£ his fratri-
cide remain ; let there be no spot in his own land for his
tainted limbs ; let no neighbourhood suck infection from him ;
let not sea nor soil be defiled by harbouring his accursed
carcase. I have done the rest ; this one loyal duty is left for
you. These must be the tyrant's obsequies, this the funeral
procession of the fratricide. It is not seemly that he who
stripped his country of her freedom should have his ashes
covered by his country's earth.
" Besides, why tell again my own sorrows ? Why count over
my troubles ? Why weave the thread of my miseries anew ?
Ye know them more fully than I myself. I, pursued to the
death by my stepfather, scorned by my mother, spat upon by
friends, have passed my years in pitiable wise, and my days in
[99] adversity ; and my insecure life has teemed with fear and perils.
In fine, I passed every season of my age wretchedly and in
extreme calamity. Often in your secret murmurings together
you have sighed over my lack of wits : there was none (you
said) to avenge the father, none to punish the fratricide. And
in this I found a secret testimony of your love ; for I saw that
the memory of the King's murder had not yet faded from
your minds.
" Whose breast is so hard that it can be softened by no fellow-
feeling' for what I have felt ? Who is so stiff and stony, that
he is swayed by no compassion for my griefs ? Ye whose hands
are clean of the blood of Horwendil, pity your fosterling, be
moved by my calamities. Pity also my stricken mother, and
rejoice with me that the infamy of her who was once your
queen is quenched. For this weak woman had to bear a two-
fold weight of ignominy, embracing one who was her husband's
brother and murderer. Therefore, to hide my purpose of re-
venge and to veil my wit, I counterfeited a listless bearing ; I
feigned dulness ; I planned a stratagem ; and now you can see
with your own eyes whether it has succeeded, whether it has
' Fellow-feeling for what I have felt] compassio passionum mearum.
The words are rare, and there is a play in them -which it is hard to render
closely.
achieved its purpose to the full ; I am content to leave you to
judge so great a matter. It is your turn : trample under foot
the ashes of the murderer ! Disdain the dust of him who slew
his brother, and defiled his brother's queen with infamous
desecration, who outraged his sovereign and treasonably
assailed his majesty, who brought the, sharpest tyranny upon
you, stole your freedom, and crowned fratricide with incest. I
have been the agent of this just vengeance ; I have burned for
this righteous retribution : uphold me with a high-born spirit ;
pay me the homage that you owe ; warm me with your kindly
looks. It is I who have wiped off my country's shame ; I who
have quenched my mother's dishonour ; I who have beaten back
oppression ; I who have put to death the murderer ; I who have
bafl9.ed the artful hand of my uncle with retorted arts. Were
he living, each new day would have multiplied his crimes. I
resented the wrong done to father and to fatherland: I slew him
who was governing you outrageously and more hardly than it
beseemed men. Acknowledge my service, honour my wit, give
me the throne if I have earned it ; for you have in me one
who has done you a mighty service, and who is no degenerate
heir to his father's power ; no fratricide, but the lawful suc-
cessor to the throne ; and a dutiful avenger of the crime of
murder. You have me to thank for the recovery of the
blessings of freedom, for release from the power of him
who vexed you, for relief from the oppressor's yoke, for
shaking off the sway of the murderer, for trampling the [lOO]
despot's sceptre under foot. It is I who have stripped you of
slavery, and clothed you with freedom ; I have restored your
height of fortune, and given you your glory back; I have
deposed the despot and triumphed over the butcher. In your
hands is the reward : you know what I have done for you : and
from your righteousness I ask my wage."
Every heart had been moved while the young man thus
spoke; he affected some to compassion, and some even to
tears. When the lamentation ceased, he was appointed king^
1 Appointed king] See note on p. 128, below.
122 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
by prompt and general acclaim. For one and all rested the
greatest hopes on his wisdom, since he had devised the whole
of such an achievement with the deepest cunning, and accom-
plished it with the most astonishing contrivance. Many could
have been seen marvelling how he had concealed so subtle a
plan over so long a space of time.
After these deeds in Denmark he equipped three vessels
lavishly, and went back to Britain to see his wife and her
father. He had also enrolled in his service the flower of
the warriors, and arrayed them very choicely, wishing to have
everything now magnificently appointed, even as of old he had
always worn contemptible gear, and to change all his old
devotion to poverty for outlay on luxury. He also had a
shield made for him, whereon the whole series of his exploits,
beginning with his earliest youth, was painted in exquisite
designs. This he bore as a record of his deeds of prowess, and
gained great increase of fame thereby. Here were to be seen
depicted the slaying of HorwendiP : the fratricide and incest
of Feng ; the infamous uncle, the whimsical nephew ; the
shapes of the hooked stakes ; the stepfather suspecting, the
stepson dissembling ; the various temptations ofiered, and the
woman brought to beguile him; the gaping wolf; the finding of
the rudder; the passing of the sand; the entering of the wood ;
the putting of the straw through the gadfly ; the warning of the
youth by the tokens ; and the privy dealings with the maiden
after the escort was eluded. And likewise could be seen the
picture of the palace ; the queen there with her son ; the slay-
ing of the eavesdropper ; and how, after being killed, he was
boiled down, and so dropped into the sewer, and so thrown
out to the swine ; how his limbs were strewn in the mud, and
so left for the beasts to finish. Also it could be seen how
Amleth surprised the secret of his sleeping attendants, how he
erased the letters, and put new characters in their places; how
1 The slaying of Horwendil] Hm-wendillijxigulwm; St. suggests (besides
other things) inserting cmifossum, or reading Horwendillum jugulatum;
but Saxo seems again to use jugvlum almost in the sense of ' ' murder" in
Bk. VI, p. 184 (ed. Holder), 1. 11.
he disdained the banquet and scorned the drink ; how he con-
demned the face of the king and taxed the queen with faulty
behaviour. There was also represented the hanging of the
envoys, and the young man's wedding ; then the voyage back
to Denmark ; the festive celebration of the funeral rites ; Amleth, [loi]
in answer to questions, pointing to the sticks in place of his
attendants, acting as cup-bearer, and purposely drawing his
sword and pricking his fingers; the sword riveted through, the
swelling cheers of the banquet, the dance growing fast and
furious ; the hangings flung upon the sleepers, then fastened
with the interlacing crooks, and wrapped tightly round them
as they slumbered ; the brand set to the mansion, the burning
of the guests, the royal palace consumed with fire and tottering
down ; the visit to the sleeping-room of Feng, the theft of his
sword, the useless one set in its place ; and the king slain with
his own sword's point by his stepson's hand. All this was
there, painted upon Amleth's battle-shield by a careful crafts-
man in the choicest of handiwork; he copied truth in his
figures, and embodied real deeds in his outlines. Moreover,
Amleth's followers, to increase the splendour of their presence,
wore shields which were gilt over.
The King of Britain received them very graciously, and
treated them with costly and royal pomp. During the feast
he asked anxiously whether Feng was alive and prosperous.
His son-in-law told him that the man of whose welfare he was
vainly inquiring had perished by the sword. With a flood of
questions he tried to find out who had slain Feng, and learnt
that the messenger of his death was likewise its author. And
when the king heard this, he was secretly aghast, because
he found that an old promise to avenge Feng now devolved
upon himself. For Feng and he had determined of old, by a
mutual compact, that one of them should act as avenger of the
other. Thus the king was drawn one way by his love for his
daughter and his afiection for his son-in-law, another way by
his regard for his friend, and moreover by his strict oath' and
the sanctity of their mutual declarations, which it was impious
to violate. At last he slighted the ties of kinship, and sworn
124 SAXO GRAMMATICtrS.
faith prevailed. His heart turned to vengeance, and he put the
sanctity of his oath before family bonds. But since it was
thought sin to wrong the holy ties of hospitality, he preferred
to execute his revenge by the hand of another, wishing to mask
his secret crime with a show of innocence. So he veiled his
treachery with attentions, and hid his intent to harm under a
show of zealous goodwill. His queen having lately died of
illness, he requested Amleth to undertake the mission of
making him a fresh match, saying that he was highly
delighted with his extraordinary shrewdness. He declared
that there was a certain queen reigning in Scotland, whom he
vehemently desired to marry. Now he knew that she was not
only unwedded by reason of her chastity, but that in the
[102] cruelty of her arrogance she had always loathed her wooers,
and had inflicted on her lovers the uttermost punishment,
so that not one out of all the multitude was to be found who
had not paid for his insolence with his life.
Perilous as this commission was, Amleth started, never
shrinking to obey the duty imposed upon him, but trusting
partly in his own servants, and partly in the attendants of the
king. He entered Scotland, and, when quite close to the abode
of the queen, he went into a meadow by the wayside to rest
his horses. Pleased by the look of the spot, he thought of
resting — the pleasant prattle of the stream exciting a desire to
sleep — and posted men to keep watch some way off. The queen
on hearing of this, sent out ten warriors to spy on the approach
of the foreigners and their equipment. One of these, being
quick-witted, slipped past the sentries, pertinaciously made his
way up, and took away the shield, which Amleth had chanced
to set at his head before he slept, so gently that he did not
ruffle his slumbers, though he was lying upon it, nor awaken
one man of all that troop ; for he wished to assure his mistress
not only by report but by some token. With equal address
he filched the letter entrusted to Amleth from the coffer in
which it was kept. When these things were brought to the
queen, she scanned the shield narrowly, and from the notes
appended made out the whole argument. Then she knew that
here was the man who, trusting in his own nicely-calculated
scheme, had avenged on his uncle the murder of his father.
She also looked at the letter containing the suit for her
hand, and rubbed out all the writing ; for wedlock with the
old she utterly abhorred, and desired the embraces of young
men. But she wrote in its place a commission purporting to
be sent from the King of Britain to herself, signed like the
other with his name and title, wherein she pretended that she
was asked to marry the bearer. Moreover, she included an
account of the deeds of which she had learnt from Amleth's
shield, so that one would have thought the shield confirmed
the letter, while the letter explained the shield. Then she
told the same spies whom she had employed before to take
the shield back, and put the letter in its place again ; playing
the very trick on Amleth which, as she had learnt, he had
himself used in outwitting his companions.
Amleth, meanwhile, who found that his shield had been
filched from under his head, deliberately shut his eyes and
cunningly feigned sleep, hoping to regain by pretended what he
had lost by real slumbers. For he thought that the success of
his one attempt would incline the spy to deceive him a second [103]
time. And he was not mistaken. For as the spy came up
stealthily, and wanted to put back the shield and the writing in
their old place, Amleth leapt up, seized him, and detained him
in bonds. Then he roused his retinue, and went to the abode,
of the queen. As representing his father-in-law, he greeted
her, and handed her the writing, sealed with the king's seal.
The queen, who was named Hermutrude, took and read it,
and spoke most warmly of Amleth's diligence and shrewdness,
saying, that Feng had deserved his punishment, and that the
unfathomable wit of -Amleth had accomplished a deed past all
human estimation ; seeing that not only had his impenetrable
depth devised a mode of revenging his father's death and
his mother's adultery, but it had further, by his notable deeds
of prowess, seized the kingdom of the man whom he had found
constantly plotting against him. She marvelled therefore
that a man of such instructed mind could have made the one
126 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
slip of a mistaken marriage ; for though his renown almost
rose above mortality, he seemed to have stumbled into an
obscure and ignoble match. For the parents of his wife had
been slaves, though good luck had graced them with the
honours of royalty. Now (said she), when looking for a wife,
a wise man must reckon the lustre of her birth and not of her
beauty. Therefore, if he were to seek a match in a proper
spirit, he should weigh the ancestry, and not be smitten by
the looks; for though looks were a lure to temptation, yet
their empty bedizen ment had tarnished the white simplicity"^
of many a man. Now there was a womi^n, as nobly born as
himself, whom he could take. She herself, whose means were
not poor nor her birth lowly, was worthy his embraces, since
he did not surpass her in royal wealth nor outshine her in
the honour of his ancestors. Indeed she was a queen, and
but that her sex gainsaid it, might be deemed a king ; nay
(and this is yet truer), whomsoever she thought worthy of
her bed was at once a king, and she yielded her kingdom with
herself. Thus her sceptre and her hand went together. It was
no mean favour for such a woman to offer her love, who in
the case of other men had always followed her refusal with
the sword. Therefore she pressed him to transfer his wooing,
to make over to her his marriage vows, and to learn to prefer
birth to beauty. So saying, she fell upon him with a close
embrace.
Amleth was overjoyed at the gracious speech of the maiden,
fell to kissing back, and returned her close embrace, protesting
that the maiden's wish was his own. Then a banquet was held,
[104] friends bidden, the chief nobles gathered, and the marriage
rites performed. When they were accomplished, he went back
to Britain with his bride, a strong band of Scots being told to
1 Their empty bedizenment had tarnished the white simplicity of many
a man] mvltorum candorem inaniter fucata detersit. Cicero, whom Saxo
read, applies {ad Bmt. § 23) /Mcaiits candor, "daubed-on ceruse," to an
artificial way of speaking. Perhaps Saxo had a confused remembrance
of the passage, and was led to contrast /wcaia and candor in this curious
sentence.
follow close behind, that he might have its help against the
diverse treacheries in his path. As he was returning, the
daughter of the King of Britain, to whom he was still married,
met him. Though she complained that she was slighted by the
wrong of having a paramour put over her, yet, she said, it
would be unworthy for her to hate him as an adulterer more
than she loved him as a husband ; nor would she so far shrink
from her lord as to bring herself to hide in silence the guile
which she knew was intended against him. For she had a son
as a pledge of their marriage, and regard for him, if nothing
else, must have inclined his mother to the aifection of a wife.
" He", she said, " may hate the supplanter of his mother, I will
love her ; no disaster shall put out my flame for thee ; no
ill-will shall quench it, or prevent me from exposing the malig-
nant designs against thee, or from revealing the snares I have
detected. Bethink thee, then, that thou must beware of thy
father-in-law, for thou hast thyself reaped the harvest of thy
mission, foiled the wishes of him who sent thee, and with
wilful trespass seized over all the fruit for thyself." By this
speech she showed herself more inclined to love her husband
than her father.
While she thus spoke, the King of Britain came up and
embraced his son-in-law closely, but with little love, and
welcomed him with a banquet, to hide his intended guile under
a show of generosity. But Arnleth, having learnt the deceit,
dissembled his fear, took a retinue of two hundred horsemen,
put on an under-shirt^ [of mail], and complied with the invita-
tion, preferring the perilof falling in with the king's deceit to
the shame of hanging back. So much heed for honour did he
think that he must take in all things. As he rode up close,
the king attacked him just under the porch of the folding
doors, and would have thrust him through with his javelin,
but that the hard shirt of mail threw off the blade. Amleth
received a slight wound, and went to the spot where he had
bidden the Scottish warriors wait on duty. He then sent back
1 Under-shirt of mail] subarmalem restem, lit. "a robe under the
shoulders' {armi). The context shows it must have been mail.
128 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
to the king his new wife's spy, whom he had captured.
This man was to bear witness that he had secretly taken
from the coffer where it was kept the letter which was
meant for his mistress, and thus was to make the whole
blame recoil on Hermutrude, by this studied excuse absolving
Amleth from the charge of treachery. The king without
tarrying pursued Amleth hotly as he fled, and deprived him
of most of his forces. So Amleth, on the morrow, wishing to
fight for dear life, and utterly despairing of his powers of
[105] resistance, tried to increase his apparent numbers. He put
stakes under some of the dead bodies of his comrades to prop
them up, set others on horseback like living men, and tied
others to neighbouring stones, not taking oif any of their
armour, and dressing them in due order of line and wedge,
just as if they were about to engage. The wing composed
of the dead was as thick as the troop of the living. It was
an amazing spectacle this, of dead men dragged out to battle,
and corpses mustered to fight. The plan served him well,
for the very figures of the dead men showed like a vast
array as the sunbeams struck them. For those dead and
senseless shapes restored the original number of the army so
well, that the mass might have been unthinned by the slaughter
of yesterday. The Britons, terrified at the spectacle, fled
before fighting, conquered by the dead men whom they had
overcome in life. I cannot tell whether to think more of the
cunning or of the good fortune of this victory. The Danes
came down on the king as he was tardily making off", and killed
him. Amleth, triumphant, made a great plundering, seized
the spoils of Britain, and went back with his wives to his own
land.
Meanwhile Rorik had died, and Wiglek, who had come to
the throne, had harassed Amleth's mother with all manner of
insolence and stripped her of her royal wealth, complaining
that her son had usurped the kingdom^ of Jutland and
1 Usurped the kingdom (regiMm) of Jutland . . .] Amleth, like his
father and uncle, receives throughout the title of Bex, which has been
translated literally ; nor is there any hint at his election that the Jutes
defrauded the King of Leire, who had the sole privilege of
giving and taking away the rights of high offices. This
treatment Amleth took with such forbearance as apparently
to return kindness for slander, for he presented Wiglek with
the richest of his spoils. But afterwards he seized a chance
of taking vengeance, attacked him, subdued him, and from a
covert became an open foe. Fialler,! the governor of Skaane,
he drove into exile ; and the tale is, that Fialler retired to a
spot called Undensakre,^ which is unknown to our peoples.
After this, Wiglek, recruited with the forces of Skaane and
Zealand, sent envoys to challenge Amleth to a war. Amleth,
with his marvellous shrewdness, saw that he was tossed
between two difficulties, one of which involved disgrace and
the other danger. For he knew that if he took up the challenge
he was threatened with peril of his life, while to shrink from
it would disgrace his reputation as a soldier. Yet in that
spirit ever fixed on deeds of prowess the desire to save his
honour won the day. Dread of disaster was blunted by more
vehement thirst for glory ; he would not tarnish the un-
blemished lustre of his fame by timidly skulking from his
fate. Also he saw that there is almost as wide a gap between [io6]
a mean life and a noble death as that which is acknowledged
between honour and disgrace themselves. Yet he was en-
chained by such love for Hermutrude, that he was more deeply
concerned in his mind about her future widowhood than
about his own death, and cast about very zealously how he
are supposed to have had anyone but themselves to consult in choosing
their "king", though Rorik was reigning in Denmark. Yet Gerwendil, his
paternal grandfather (Bk. in, p. 104), was only prefectus, by which
Saxo commonly means earl or deputy-lord. That there was a certain
allegiance of a practical kind implied is clear from Horwendil (iii,
p. 106) giving the spoil to Borik, and winning Amleth's mother to wife.
On Wiglek's accession, Amleth owns the tributary right by surrendering
choice spoil.
^ Fialler] Fiallerus, perhaps, should be rendered Fjalar (M.), or Fal
(Rydberg, § 92).
2 Undensakre] Icel. Oddinsakr, "acre of the not-dead". On the
significance of this see Rydberg, §§ 47, 50-52, etc.
K
130 SAXO GRAMMA^ICtrS.
could decide on some second husband for her before the
opening of the war. Hermutrude, therefore, declared that
she had the courage of a man, and promised that she would
not forsake him even on the field, saying that the woman
who dreaded to be united with her lord in death was abomin-
able. But she kept this rare promise ill ; for when Amleth
had been slain by Wiglek in battle in Jutland, she yielded
herself up unasked to be the conqueror's spoil and bride.
Thus all vows of women are loosed by change of fortune
and melted by the shifting of time ; the faith of their soul
rests on a slippery foothold, and is weakened by casual chances;
glib in promises, and as sluggish in performance, all manner
of lustful promptings enslave it, and it bounds away with
panting and precipitate desire, forgetful of old things, in the
ever hot pursuit after something fresh. So ended Amleth.
Had fortune been as kind to him as nature, he would have
equalled the gods in glory, and surpassed the labours of
Hercules by his deeds of prowess. A plain in Jutland is
to be found, famous for his name and burial-place. Wiglek's
administration of the kingdom was long and peaceful, and he
died of disease.
Wermund, his son, succeeded him. The long and leisurelj'
tranquillity of a most prosperous and quiet time flowed by,
and Wermund in undisturbed security maintained a prolonged
and steady peace at home. He had no children during the
prime of his life, but in his old age, by a belated gift of
fortune, he begat a son, Uffe, though all the years which had
glided by had raised him up no offspring. This TJffe surpassed
all of his age in stature, but in his early youth was supposed to
"have so dull and foolish a spirit as to be useless for all affairs
public or private. For from his first years he never used to
play or make merry, but was so void of all human pleasure
that he kept his lips sealed in a perennial silence, and utterly
restrained his austere visage from the business of laughter.
But though through the years of his youth he was reputed
for an utter fool, he afterwards left that despised estate and
became famous, turning out as great a pattern of wisdom and
Sook Fotjji. 131
hardihood as he had been a picture of stagnation. His [107]
father, seeing him such a simpleton, got him for a wife the
daughter of Frowin, the governor of the men of Sleswik;
thinking that by his alliance with so famous a man UfFe would
receive help which would serve him well in administering the
realm. Frowin had two sons, Ket and Wig, who were youths
of most brilliant parts, and theirexcellence, not less than that
of Frowin, Werraund destined to the future advantage of his
son.
At this time the King of Sweden was Athisl, a man of
notable fame and energy. After defeating his neighbours
far around, he was loth to leave the renown won by his
prowess to be tarnished in slothful ease, and by constant and
zealous practice brought many novel exercises into vogue.
For one thing he had a daily habit of walking alone girt with
splendid armour : in part because he knew that nothing was
more excellent in warfare than the continual practice of arms ;
aiid in part that he might swell his glory by ever following
this pursuit. Self-confidence claimed as large a place in this
man as thirst for fame. Nothing, he thought, could be so
terrible as to make him afraid that it would daunt his stout
heart by its opposition. He carried his arms into Denmark, and
challenged Frowin to battle near Sleswik. The armies routed
one another with vast slaughter, and it happened that the
generals came to engage in person, so that they conducted the
affair like a duel ; and, in addition to the public issues of the
war, the fight was like a personal conflict. For both of them
longed with equal earnestness for an issue of the combat by
which they might exhibit their valour, not by the help of their
respective sides, but by a trial of personal strength. The end
was that, though the blows rained thick on either side, Athisl
prevailed and overthrew Frowin, and won a public victory as
well as a duel, breaking up and shattering the Danish ranks
in all directions. When he returned to Sweden, he not only
counted the slaying of Frowin among the trophies of his
valour, but even bragged of it past measure, so ruining the
glory of the deed by his wantonness of tongue. For it is some-
132 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
times handsomer for deeds of valour to be shrouded in the
modesty of silence than to be blazoned in wanton talk.
Wermund raised the sons of Frowin to honours of the same
rank as their father's : a kindness which was only due to the
children of his friend who had died for the country. This
prompted Athisl to carry the war again into Denmark. Em-
boldened therefore by his previous battle, he came back, bring-
[io8] ing with him not only no slender and feeble force, but all the
flower of the valour of Sweden, thinking he would seize the
supremacy of all Denmark. Ket, the son of Frowin, sent
Folk, his chief officer, to take this news to Wermund, who
then chanced to be in his house Jellinge.^ Folk found the
king feasting with his friends, and did his errand, admonishing
him that here was the long-wished-for chance of war at hand,
and pressing itself upon the wishes of Wermund, to whom
was given an immediate chance of victory and the free choice
of a speedy and honourable triumph. Great and unexpected
were the sweets of good fortune, so long sighed for, and now
granted to him by this lucky event. For Athisl had come
encompassed with countless forces of the Swedes, just as
though in his firm assurance he had made sure of victory ; and
since the enemy who was going to fight would doubtless pre-
fer death to flight, this chance of war gave them a fortunate
opportunity to take vengeance for their late disaster.
Wermund, declaring that he had performed his mission
nobly and bravely, ordered that he should take some little
refreshment of the banquet, since "far-faring ever hurt
fasters". When Folk said that he had no kind of leisure to
take food, he begged him to take a draught to quench his
thirst. This was given him; and Wermund also bade him
keep the cup, which was of gold, saying that men who were
weary with the heat of wayfaring found it handier to take up
the water in a goblet than in the palms, and that it was better
to use a cup for drinking than the hand. When the king
accompanied his great gift with such gracious words, the
young man, overjoyed at both, promised that, before the
^ Jellinge] Lat. laVanga, Icel. Jaldngr.
king should see him turn and flee, he would take a draught
of his own blood to the full measure of the liquor he had
drunk.
With this doughty vow Wermund accounted himself well
repaid, and got somewhat more joy from giving the boon than
the soldier had from gaining it. Nor did he find that Folk's
talk was braver than his fighting.
For, when battle had begun, it came to pass that amidst divers
charges of the troops Folk and Athisl met and fought a long
while together ; and that the host of the Swedes, following the
fate of their captain, took to flight, and Athisl also was wounded
and fled from the battle to his ships. And when Folk, dazed
with wounds and toil, and moreover steeped alike in heat and
toil and thirst, had ceased to follow the rout of the enemy,
then, in order to refresh himself, he caught his own blood in [109]
his helmet, and put it to his lips to drain : by which deed he
gloriously requited the king's gift of the cup. Wermund, who
chanced to see this, praised him warmly for fulfilling his vow.
Folk answered, that a noble vow ought to be strictly per-
formed to the end : a speech wherein he showed no less
approval of his own deed than Wermund.
Now, while the conquerors had laid down their arms, and, as
is usual after a battle, were exchanging diverse talk with one
another, Ket, the governor of the men of Sleswik, declared that
it was a matter of great marvel to him how it was that Athisl,
though difiiculties strewed his path, had contrived an oppor-
tunity to escape, especially as he had been the first and fore-
most in the battle, but last of all in the retreat ; and though
there had not been one of the enemy whose fall was so
vehemently desired by the Danes. Wermund rejoined that
he should know that thei-e were four kinds of warrior to be
distinguished in every army. The fighters of the first order
were those who, tempering valour with forbearance, were
keen to slay those who resisted, but were ashamed to bear
hard on fugitives. For these were the men who had won
undoubted proofs of prowess by veteran experience in arms,
and who found their glory not in the flight of the conquered,
134 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
but in overcoming those whom they had to conquer. Then
there was a second kind of warriors, who were endowed with
stout frame and spirit, but with no jot of compassion, and who
raged with savage and indiscriminate carnage against the
backs as well as the breasts of their foes. Now of this sort
were the men carried away by hot and youthful blood, and
striving to grace their first campaign with good auguries of
warfare. They burned as hotly with the glow of youth as
with the glow for glory, and thus rushed headlong into right
or wrong with equal recklessness. There was also the third
kind, who, wavering betwixt shame and fear, could not go
forward for terror, while shame barred retreat. Of dis-
tinguished blood, but only notable for their useltess stature,
they crowded the ranks with numbers and not with strength,
smote the foe more with their shadows than with their arms,
and were only counted among the throng of warriors as so
many bodies to be seen. These men were lords of great
riches, but excelled more in birth than bravery ; hungry for life,
because owning great possessions, they were forced to yield to
the sway of cowardice rather than nobleness. There were
others, again, who brought show to the war, and not substance,
and who, foisting themselves into the rear of their comrades,
were the first to fly and the last to fight. One sure token of
[no] fear betrayed their feebleness; for they always deliberately
sought excuses to shirk, and followed with timid and sluggish
advance in the rear of the fighters. It must be supposed,
therefore, that these were the reasons why the king had escaped
safely; for when he fled he was not pursued pertinaciously by
the men of the front rank ; since these made it their business
to preserve the victory, not to arrest the conquered, and
massed their wedges, in order that the fresh-won victory
might be duly and sufficiently guarded, and attain the fulness
of triumph.
Now the second class of fighters, whose desire was to cut
down everything in their way, had left Athisl unscathed, from
lack not of will but of opportunity ; for they had lacked the
chance to hurt him rather than the daring. Moreover, though
the men of the third kind, who frittered away the very hour
of battle by wandering about in a flurried fashion, and also
hampered the success of their own side, had had their chance
of harming the king, they yet lacked courage to assail him.
In this way Vermund satisfied the dull amazement of Ket,
and declared that he had set forth and expounded the true
reasons of the king's safe escape.
After this Athisl fled back to Sweden, still wantonly bragging
of the slaughter of Frowin, and constantly boasting the memory
of his exploit with prolix recital of his deeds ; not that he bore
calmly the shame of his defeat, but that he might salve the
wound of his recent flight by the honours of his ancient victory.
This naturally much angered Ket and Wig, and they swore a
vow to unite in avenging their father. Thinking that they could
hardly accomplish this in open war, they took an equipment
of lighter armament, and went to Sweden alone. Then,
entering a wood in which they had learnt by report that the
king used to take his walks unaccompanied, they hid their
weapons. Then they talked long with Athisl, giving them-
selves out as deserters ; and when he asked them what was
their native country, they said they were men of Sleswik, and
had left their land "for manslaughter". The king thought
that this statement referred not to their vow to commit the
crime, but to the guilt of some crime already committed.
For they desired by this deceit to foil his inquisitiveness, so
that the truthfulness of the statement might baffle the wit of
the questioner, and their true answer, being covertly shadowed
forth in a fiction, might inspire in him a belief that it was
false.i For famous men of old thought lying a most shameful
thino;. Then Athisl said he would like to know whom the
Danes believed to be the slayer of Frowin. Ket replied that
there was a doubt as to who ought to claim so illustrious a
1 Belief that it was false] opinionem incuteret falsitatis. So Saxo,
perhaps with some confusion of expression. He must mean "inspire
him with a false belief", i.e., delude him about their purpose by letting
him take the words in his own sense. Compare the scruples of Amleth,
Bk. m, pp. 110, 1X6.
136 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
[ill] deed, especially as the general testimony was that he had
perished on the field of battle. Athisl answered that it was
idle to credit others with the death of Frowin, which he, and
he alone, had accomplished in mutual combat. Soon he asked
whether Frowin had left any children. Ket answering that
two sons of his were alive, he said that he would be very glad
to learn their age and stature. Ket replied that they were
almost of the same size as themselves in body, alike in years,
and much resembling them in tallness. Then Athisl said :
"If the mind and the valour of their sire were theirs, a
bitter tempest would break upon me." Then he asked whether
those men constantly spoke of the slaying of their father.
Ket rejoined that it was idle to go on talking and talking
about a thing that could not be softened by any remedy,
and declared that it was no good to harp with constant
vexation on an inexpiable ill. By saying this he showed that
threats ought not to anticipate vengeance.
And when he saw that the king regularly walked apart
alone in order to train his strength, he took up his arms,
and with his brother followed the king as he walked in front
of them. Athisl, when he saw them, stood his ground on the
sand, thinking it shameful to avoid threateners. Then they
said that they would take vengeance for his slaying of Frowin,
especially as he avowed with so many arrogant vaunts that he
alone was his slayer. But he told them to take heed lest
while they sought to compass their revenge, they should be so
foolhardy as to engage him with their feeble and powerless
hand, and while desiring the destruction of another, should
find they had fallen themselves. Thus they would cut off
their goodly promise by over-hasty thirst for glory. Let them
then spare their youth and spare their promise ; let them not
be seized so lightly with a desire to perish. Therefore let
them suffer' him to requite with money the trespass done
them in their father's death, and account it great honour
that they would be credited with forcing so mighty a chief
to pay a fine, and in a manner with shaking him with
overmastering fear. Yet he said he advised them thus, not
because he was really terrified, but because he was moved
with compassion for their youth. Ket replied that it was idle
to waste time in beating so much about the bush, and trying to
sap their righteous longing for revenge by an offer of pelf.
So he bade him come forward and make trial with him in single
combat of whatever strength he had. He himself would do
without the aid of his brother, and would fight with his ovi^n
strength, lest it should appear a shameful and unequal combat :
for the ancients held it to be unfair, and also infamous, for
two men to fight against one ; and a victory gained by this
kind of fighting they did not account honourable, but more [112]
like a disgrace than a glory. Indeed, it was considered not
only a poor, but a most shameful exploit for two men to
overpower one.
But Athisl was filled with such assurance that he bade
them both assail him at once, declaring that if he could not
cure them of the desire to fight, he would at least give
them the chance of fighting more safely. But Ket shrank so
much from this favour, that he swore he would accept death
sooner : for he thought that the terms of battle thus offered
would be turned into a reproach to himself. So he engaged
hotly with Athisl, who, desirous to fight him in a forbearing
fashion, merely thrust lightly with his blade and struck upon
his shield ; thus guarding his own safety with more hardihood
than success. When he had done this some while, he advised
him to take his brother to share in his enterprise, and not be
ashamed to ask for the help of another hand, since his unaided
efforts were useless. If he refused, said Athisl, he should not
be spared ; then, making good his threats, he assailed him with
all his might. But Ket received him with so sturdy a stroke
of his sword, that it split the helmet and forced its way down
upon the head. Stung by the wound (for a stream of blood
flowed from his poll), he attacked Ket with a shower of nimble
blows, and drove him to his knees. Wig, leaning more to
personal love than to general usage,i could not bear the sight,
^ General usage] publicae consuetudmi : namely, the rule of combat
that two should not fight against one.
138 SAXO GRAMMA.TICUS.
but made affection conquer shame, and, attacking AthisI, chose
rather to defend the weakness of his brother than to look on at
it. But he won more infamy than glory by the deed. In help-
ing his brother he had violated the appointed conditions of the
duel : and the help that he gave him was thought more useful
than honourable. For on the one scale he inclined to the side of
disgrace, and on the other to that of affection.^ Thereupon they
perceived themselves that their killing of AthisI had been more
swift than glorious. Yet, not to hide the deed from the
common people, they cut off his head, slung his body on a
horse, took it out of the wood, and handed it over to the
dwellers in a village near, announcing that the sons of Frowin
had taken vengeance upon AthisI, King of the Swedes, for
the slaying of their father. Boasting of such a victory as
this, they were received by Wermund with the highest
honours ; for he thought they had done a most useful deed,
and he preferred to regard the glory of being rid of a rival
with more attention than the infamy of committing an out-
rage. Nor did he judge the killing of a tyrant was in any
[113] wise akin to shame. It passed into a proverb among
foreigners, that the death of the king had broken down the
ancient principle of combat.
When Wermund was losing his sight by infirmity of age, the
King of Saxony, thinking that Denmark lacked a leader, sent
envoys ordering him to surrender to his charge the kingdom
which he held beyond the due term of life; lest, if he thirsted
to hold sway too long, he should strip his country of laws and
defence. For how could he be reckoned a king, whose spirit
was darkened with age, and his eyes with blindness not less
black and awful ? If he refused, but yet had a son who
would dare to accept a challenge and fight with his son, let
him agree that the victor should possess the realm. But if he
approved neither offer, let him learn that he must be dealt with
by weapons and not by warnings ; and in the end he must
' Of afiection] Again a certain confusion of thought. Saxo must
refer, not, as his language would imply, to the contending motives in
Wig's mind, but to the balance of praise or blame due to his action.
unwillingly surrender what he was too proud at first to yield
unconipelled. Wermund, shaken by deep sighs, answered
that it was too insolent to sting him with these taunts upon
his years ; for he had passed no timorous youth, nor shrunk
from battle, that age should bring him to this extreme misery.
It was equally unfitting to cast in his teeth the infirmity of his
blindness: for it was common for a loss of this kind to
accompany such a time of life as his, and it seemed a calamity
fitter for sympathy than for taunts. It were juster to fix the
blame on the impatience of the King of Saxony, whom it
would have beseemed to wait for the old man's death, and
not demand his throne ; for it was somewhat better to succeed
to the dead than to rob the living. Yet, that he might not
be thought to make over the honours of his ancient freedom,
like a madman, to the possession of another, he would accept
the challenge with his own hand. The envoys answered that
they knew that their king would shrink from the mockery
of fighting a blind man, for such an absurd mode of combat was
thought more shameful than honourable. It would surely be
better to settle the afiiair by means of their ofispring on either
side. The Danes were in consternation, and at a sudden loss
for a reply : but Uffe, who happened to be there with the rest,
craved his father's leave to answer ; and suddenly the dumb
as it were spake. When Wermund asked who had thus
begged leave to speak, and the attendants said that it was
Uffe, he declared that it was enough that the insolent foreigner
should jeer at the pangs of his misery, without those
of his own household vexing him with the same wanton
effrontery. But the courtiers persistently averred that this
man was Uffe ; and the king said : " He is free, whosoever he
be, to say out what he thinks." Then said Uffe, "that it was [114]
idle for their king to covet a realm which could rely not
only on the service of its own ruler, but also on the arms
and wisdom of most valiant nobles. Moreover, the king did
not lack a son nor the kingdom an heir ; and they were to
know that he had made up his mind to fight not only the
son of their king, but also, at the same time, whatsoever ma,n
140 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
the prince should elect as his comrade out of the bravest of
their nation."
The envoys laughed when they heard this, thinking it idle
lip-courage. Instantly the ground for the battle was agreed
on, and a fixed time appointed. But the bystanders were so
amazed by the strangeness of UfFe's speaking and challenging,
that one can scarce say if they were more astonished at his
words or at his assurance.
But on the departure of the envoys Wermund praised him
who had made the answer, because he had proved his confidence
in his own valour by challenging not one only, but two ; and
said that he would sooner quit his kingdom for him, whoever
he was, than for an insolent foe. But when one and all
testified that he who with lofty self-confidence had spurned
the arrogance of the envoys was his own son, he bade him come
nearer to him, wishing to test with his hands what he could
not with his eyes. Then he carefully felt his body, and found
by the size of his limbs and by his features that he was his
son : and then began to believe their assertions, and to ask him
why he had taken pains to hide so sweet an eloquence with
such careful dissembling, and had borne to live through s6 long
a span of life without utterance or any intercourse of talk,
so as to let men think him utterly incapable of speech, and a
born mute. He replied that he had been hitherto satisfied
with the protection of his father, that he had not needed the
use of his voice until he saw the wisdom of his own land
hard pressed by the glibness of a foreigner. The king also
asked him why he had chosen to challenge two rather than
one. He-said he had desired this mode of combat in order
that the death of King Athisl, which, having been caused by
two men, was a standing reproach to the Danes, might be
balanced by the exploit of one, and that a new ensample
of valour might erase the ancient record of their disgrace.
Fresh honour, he said, would thus obliterate the guilt of their
old dishonour.
Wermund said that his son had judged all things rightly, and
bade him first learn the use of arms, since he had been little
accustomed to them. When they were offered to Uffe, he split
the narrow links of the mail-coats by the mighty girth of his
chest, nor could any be found large enough to hold him
properly. For he was too hugely built to be able to use the
arms of any other man. At last, when he was bursting even [115]
his father's coat of mail by the violent compression of his body,
Wermund ordered it to be cut away on the left side and
patched with a buckle; thinking it mattered little if the side
guarded by the shield were exposed to the sword. He also
told him to be most careful in fixing on a sword which he
could use safely. Several were offered him ; but Uffe, grasping
the hilt, shattered them one after the other into flinders by
shaking them, and not a single blade was of so hard a temper
but at the first blow he broke it into many pieces. But the
king had a sword of extraordinary sharpness, called " Skrep",
which at a single blow of the smiter struck straight through
and cleft asunder any obstacle whatsoever ; nor would aught
be hard enough to check its edge when driven home. The
king, loth to leave this for the benefit of posterity, and greatly
grudging others the use of it, had buried it deep in the earth,
meaning, since he had no hopes of his son's improvement, to
debar everyone else from using it. But when he was now
asked whether he had a sword worthy of the strength of Uffe,
he said that he had one which, if he could recognise the lie
of the ground and find what he had consigned long ago to earth,
he could offer him as worthy of his bodily strength. Then he
bade them lead him into a field, and kept questioning his
companions over all the ground. At last he recognised the
tokens, found the spot where he had buried the sword, drew
it out of its hole, and handed it to his son. Uffe saw it was
frail with great age and rusted away ; and, not daring to strike
with it, asked if he must prove this one also like the rest,
declaring that he must try its temper before the battle
ought to be fought. Wermund replied that if this sword were
shattered by mere brandishing, there was nothing left which
could serve for such strength as his. He must, therefore, for-
bear from the act, whose issue remained so doubtful.
142 SaXO feRAMMAtlCtS.
So they repaired to the field of battle as agreed. It is fast
encompassed by the waters of the river Eider, which roll
between, and forbid any approach save by ship. Hither Uffe
went unattended, while the Prince of Saxony was followed by
a champion famous for his strength. Dense crowds on either
side, eager to see, thronged each winding hank, and all bent
their eyes^ upon this scene. Wermund planted himself on the
end of the bridge, determined to perish in the waters if
defeat were the lot of his son: he would rather share the
[ii6] fall of his own flesh and blood than behold, with heart full of
anguish, the destruction of his own country. Both the
warriors assaulted UfFe ; but, distrusting his sword, he parried
the blows of both with his shield, being determined to wait
patiently and see which of the two he must beware of most
heedfully, so that he might reach that one at all events with
a single stroke of his blade. Wermund, thinking that his
feebleness was at fault, that he took the blows so patiently,
dragged himself little by little, in his longing for death,
forward to the western edge of the bridge, meaning to fling
himself down and perish, should all be over with his son.
Fortune shielded the old father who loved so passionately,
for UfFe told the prince to engage with him more briskly, and
to do some deed of prowess worthy of his famous race ; lest
the lowborn squire should seem braver than the prince.
Then, in order to try the bravery of the champion, he bade
him not skulk timorously at his master's heels, but requite
by noble deeds of combat the trust placed in him by his
prince, who had chosen him to be his single partner in the
battle. The other complied, and when shame drove him to
fight at close quarters, Ufi'e clove him through with the
first stroke of his blade. The sound revived Wermund, who
said that he heard the sword of his son, and asked " on what
particular part he had dealt the blow ? " Then the retainers
answered that he had gone through no one limb, but the
man's whole frame ; whereat he drew back from the precipice
^ Bent their eyes] oculos inferentihis. So ed. pr. : St. and succeeding
editors alter to inaerentibus.
uooK I'oun. 143
and came again on the bridge, longing now as passionately
to live as he had just wished to die. Then Uffe, wishing to
destroy his remaining foe after the fashion of the first, incited
the prince with vehement words to offer some sacrifice by way
of requital to the shade of the servant slain in his cause.
Drawing him by those appeals, and warily noting the right
spot to plant his blow, he turned the other edge of his sword
to the front, fearing that the thin side of his blade was too
frail for his strength, and smote with a piercing stroke
through the prince's body. When Wermund heard it, he said
that the sound of his sword Skrep had reached his ear for the
second time. Then, when the judges announced that his son
had killed both enemies, he burst into tears from excess of joy.
Thus gladness bedewed the cheeks which sorrow could not
moisten. So while the Saxons, sad and shamefaced, bore their
champions to burial with bitter shame, the Danes welcomed
Uffe and bounded for joy. Then no more was heard of the [117]
disgrace of the murder of Athisl, and there was an end of
the taunts of the Saxons.
Thus the realm of Saxony was transferred to the Danes, and
Uffe, after his father, undertook its government ; and he, who
had not been thought equal to administering a single kingdom
properly, was now appointed to manage both. Most men have
called him Olaf, and he has won the name of " the Gentle" for
his forbearing spirit. His later deeds, lost in antiquity,
have lacked formal record. But it may well be supposed
that when their beginnings were so notable, their sequel was
glorious. I am so brief in considering his doings, because the
lustre of the famous men of our nation has been lost to
memory and praise by the lack of writings. But if by good
luck our land had in old time been endowed with the Latin
tongue, there would have been countless volumes to read of the
exploits of the Danes.
Uffe was, succeeded by his son Dan, who carried his arms
against foreigners, and increased his sovereignty with many
a trophy ; but he tarnished the brightness of the glory he
had won by foul and abominable presumption ; falling so far
144 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
away from the honour of his famous father, who surpassed
all others in modesty, that he contrariwise was puifed up and
proudly exalted in spirit, so that he scorned all other men.
He also squandered the goods of his father on infamies, as well
as his own winnings from the spoils of foreign nations ; and he
devoured in expenditure on luxuries the wealth which should
have ministered to his royal estate. Thus do sons sometimes,
like monstrous births, degenerate from their ancestors.
After this Hugleik was king, who is said to have defeated
in battle at sea Homod and Hogrim, the despots of Sweden.
To him succeeded Frode, surnamed the Vigorous,^ who
bore out his name by the strength of his body and mind.
He destroyed in war ten captains of Norway, and finally
approached the island^ which afterwards had its name from
him, meaning to attack the king himself last of aU. This king,
Froger, was in two ways very distinguished, being notable in
arms no less than in wealth ; and graced his sovereignty with
the deeds of a champion, being as rich in prizes for bodily
feats as in the honours of rank. According to some, he was
the son of Odin, and when he begged the immortal gods to
grant him a boon, received the privilege that no man should
conquer him, save he who at the time of the conflict could catch
up in his hand the dust lying beneath Froger's feet. When
[ii8] Frode found that Heaven had endowed this king with such
might, he challenged him to a duel, meaning to try to outwit
the favour of the gods. So at first, feigning inexperience, he
besought the king for a lesson in fighting, knowing (he said)
his skill and experience in the same. The other, rejoicing that
his enemy not only yielded to his pretensions, but even made
him a request, said that he was wise to submit his youthful
mind to an old man's wisdom ; for his unscarred face and his
brow, ploughed by no marks of battle, showed that his know-
ledge of such matters was but slender. So he marked off on
1 The Vigorous] Vcgetus. Saxo's equivalent for hinn fraekni, "the
Doughty."
2 The island] There is an isle named Frodo, but from what Frode
its name is derived is uncertain.
the ground two square spaces with sides an ell long, opposite
one another, meaning to begin by instructing him about the
use of these plots. When they had been marked off, each took
the side assigned to him. Then Frode asked Froger to
exchange arms and ground with him, and the request was
readily granted. For Froger was excited with the flashing of
his enemy's arms, because Frode wore a gold-hilted sword, a
breastplate equally bright, and a headpiece most brilliantly
adorned in the same manner. So Frode caught up some dust
from the ground whence Froger had gone, and thought that he
had been granted an omen of victory. Nor was he deceived
in his presage ; for he straightway slew Froger, and by
this petty trick won the greatest name for bravery ; for he
gained by craft what had been permitted to no man's strength
before.
After him Dan came to the throne. When he was in the
twelfth year of his age, he was wearied by the insolence of the
embassies, which commanded him either to fight the Saxons
or to pay them tribute. Ashamed, he preferred fighting to
payment, and was moved to die stoutly rather than live a
coward. So he elected to fight; and the warriors of the Danes
filled the Elbe with such a throng of vessels, that the decks
of the ships lashed together made it quite easy to cross, as
though along a continuous bridge. The end was that the
King of Saxony had to accept the very terms he was demand-
ing from the Danes.
After Dan, Feidleif, surnamed the Swift, assumed the
sovereignty. During his reign, Huyrwil, the lord of 01and,i
made a league with the Danes and attacked Norway. No
small fame was added to his deeds by the defeat of the amazon
Rusila, who aspired with military ardour to prowess in battle :
but he gained manly glory over a female foe. Also he took
into his alliance, on account of their deeds of prowess, her
five partners, the children of Finn, named Brodd, Bild, Bug,
Fanning, and Gunholm. Their confederacy emboldened him [119]
1 Oland] Uulandia. M. thinks this is the island in Liim-fiord. It
might be the isle of Oland, oflf Sweden.
L
146 SAXO GtlAMMATlCttg.
to break the treaty which he made with the Danes ; and the
treachery of the violation made it all the more injurious, for
the Danes could not believe that he could turn so suddenly
from a friend into an enemy; so easily can some veer from
goodwill into hate. I suppose that this man inaugurated
the morals of our own day, for we do not account lying and
treachery as sinful and sordid. "When Buyiwil attacked
the southern side of Zealand, Fridleif assailed him in the
harbour which was afterwards called by Huyrwil's name.^
In this battle the soldiers, in their rivalry for glory, engaged
with such bravery that very few fled to escape peril, and both
armies were utterly destroyed ; nor did the victory fall to
either side, where both were enveloped in an equal ruin. So
much more desirous were they all of glory than of life. So the
survivors of Huyrwil's army, in order to keep united, had
the remnants of their fleet lashed together at night. But,
in the same night, Bild and Brodd cut the cables with which
the ships were joined, and stealthily severed their own vessels
from the rest, thus yielding to their own terrors by deserting
their brethren, and obeying the impulses of fear rather than
fraternal love. When daylight returned, Fridleif, finding that
after the great massacre of their friends only Huyrwil, Gun-
holm, Bug, and Fanning were left, determined to fight them all
single-handed, so that the mangled relics of his fleet might not
again have to be imperilled. Besides his innate courage, a
shirt of steel-defying mail gave him confidence ; a garb which
he used to wear in all public battles and in duels, as a pre-
servative of his life. He accomplished his end with as much
fortune as courage, and ended the battle successfully. For,
after slaying Huyrwil, Bug, and Fanning, he killed Gunholm,
who was accustomed to blunt the blade of an enemy with
spells, by a shower of blows from his hilt. But while he
gripped the blade too eagerly, the sinews, being cut and
1 The harbour which was afterwards called by Huyrwil's name] M.
says that there is a small harbour of this name on the south coast of
Zealand.
Book POUli. 14?
disabled, contracted the fingers upon the palm, and cramped
them with life-long curvature.
While Fridleif was besieging Dublin, a town in Ireland, and
saw from the strength of the walls that there was no chance of
storming them, he imitated the shrewd wit of Hadding,^ and
ordered fire to be shut up in wicks and fastened to the
wings of swallows. When the birds got back in their own
nesting-place, the dwellings suddenly flared up ; and while the
citizens all ran up to quench them, and paid more heed to [120]
abating the fire than to looking after the enemy, Fridleif took
Dublin. After this he lost his soldiers in Britain, and, thinking
that he would find it hard to get back to the coast, he set up
the corpses of the slain^ and stationed them in line, thus pro-
ducing so nearly the look of his original host that its great
reverse seemed not to have lessened the show of it a whit.
By this deed he not only took out of the enemy all heart for
fighting, but inspired them with the desire to make their
escape.
1 Shrewd wit of Hadding] See on Bk. i, p. 30.
2 Set up the corpses of the slain] Op. Amleth's device, above, p. 128.
END OF BOOK FOUR.
L2
Book 5
[i2i] After the death of Fridleif, his son Feode, aged seven, was
elected in his stead by the unanimous decision of the Danes.
But they held an assembly first, and judged that the minority
of the king should be taken in charge by guardians, lest the
sovereignty should pass away^ owing to the boyishness of
the ruler. For one and all paid such respect to the name
and memory of Fridleif, that the royalty was bestowed on
his son despite his tender years. So a selection was made,
and the brothers Westmar and Koll were summoned to the
charge of bringing up the king. Isulf also and Agg and eight
other men of mark were not only entrusted with the guardian-
. ship of the king, but also granted authority to administer the
realm under him. These men were rich in strength and
courage, and endowed with ample gifts of mind as well as
of body. Thus the state of the Danes was governed with
the aid of regents until the time when the king should be
a man.
The wife of Koll was Gotwar, who used to paralyse the
most eloquent and fluent men by her glib and extraordinary
insolence; for she was potent in wrangling, and full of resource
in all kinds of disputation. Words were her weapons ; and
she not only trusted in questions, but was armed with stubborn
answers. No man could subdue this woman, who could not
fight, but who found darts in her tongue instead. Some she
would argue down with a flood of impudent words, while
others she seemed to entangle in the meshes of her quibbles,
1 Sovereignty should pass away] rerum excideret xumma. So ed. pr. :
St. and later editors alter, not under absolute necessity, to exciderent,
"lest they should fall from the supremacy".
and strangle in the noose of her sophistries ; so nimble a wit [ 1 22] '
hart the woman. Moreover, she was very strong, either in
making or cancelling a bargain, and the sting of her tongue
was the secret of her power in both. She was clever both at
making and at breaking leagues ; thus she had two sides to
her tongue, and used it for either purpose.
Westmar had twelve sons, three of whom had the same
name — Grep — in common. These three men were conceived
at once and delivered at one birth, and their common name
decla,red their simultaneous origin. They were exceedingly
skilful swordsmen and boxers. Frode^ had also given the
supremacy of the sea to Odd; who was very closely related to
the king. Koll rejoiced in an offspring of three sons. At this
time a certain son of Frode's brother held the chief command
of naval aifairs for the protection of the country.^ Now the
king had a sister, Gunwar, surnamed the Fair because of her
surpassing beauty. The sons of Westmar and Koll, being
ungrown in years and bold in -spirit, let their courage become
recklessness, and devoted their guilt-stained minds to foul and
degraded orgies.
Their behaviour was so outrageous and uncontrollable that
they ravished other men's brides and daughters, and seemed
to have outlawed chastity and banished it to the stews. Nay,
they defiled the couches of matrons, and did not even refrain
from the bed of virgins. A man's own chamber was no safety
to him : there was scarce a spot in the land but bore traces of
their lust. Husbands were vexed with fear, and wives with
insult to their persons : and to these wrongs folk bowed. No
ties were respected, and forced embraces became a common
thing. Love was prostituted, all reverence for marriage ties
died out, and lust was greedily run after. And the reason of
1 Frode had also . . . protection of the country] The sentence "Koll
rejoiced", etc., is evidently misplaced. M. thinks the sentences, " Prode
had also ... to the king", interpolated s;losses. It is unnatural to
repeat that Frode's nephew was in command of the sea ; for this man,
as we learn from his dealings with Erik, below, p. 156 seq., was evidently
Odd himself.
150 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
all this was the peace ; for men's bodies lacked exercise and
were enervated in the ease so propitious to vices. At last
the eldest of those who shared the name of Grep, wi8hi-Bg'"to
regulate and steady his promiscuous wantonness, ventured to
seek a haven for his vagrant amours in the love of the king's
sister. Yet he did amiss. For though it was right that
his vagabond and straying delights should be bridled by
modesty, yet it was audacious for a man of the people
to covet the child of a king. She, much fearing the impu-
dence of her wooer, and wishing to be safer from outrage,
went into a fortified building. Thirty attendants were
given, to her, to keep guard and constant watch over her
person.
Now the comrades of Frode, sadly lacking the help of women
in the matter of the wear of their garments, inasmuch as they
had no means of patching or of repairing rents, advised and
[123] urged the king to marry. At first he alleged his tender years
as an excuse, but in the end yielded to the persistent requests
of his people. And when he carefully inquired of his advisers
who would be a fit wife for him, they all praised the daughter
of the King of the Huns beyond the rest. When the question
was pushed, what reason Frode had for objecting to her, he
replied that he had heard from his father that it was not
expedient for kings to seek alliance far afield, or to demand
love save from neighbours. When Gotwar heard this she
knew that the king's resistance to his friends was wily.
Wishing to establish his wavering spirit, and strengthen the
courage of his weakling soul, she said : " Bridals are for young
men, but the tomb awaits the old. The steps of youth go
forward in desires and in fortune ; but old age declines help-
less to the sepulchre. Hope attends youth ; age is bowed with
hopeless decay. The fortune of young men increases ; it will
never leave unfinished what it begins." Eespecting her wordsf
he begged her to undertake the management of the suit.
But she refused, pleading her age as her pretext, and declaring
herself too stricken in years to bear so difficult a commission.
The king saw that a bribe was wanted, and, proffering a golden
necklace, promised it as the reward of her embassy. For the
necklace had links^ consisting of studs, and figures of kings
interspersed in bas-relief, which could be now separated and
now drawn together by pulling a thread inside : a gewgaw
devised more for luxury than use. Frode also ordered that
Westmar and KoU, with their sons, should be summoned to go
on the same embassy, thinking that their cunning would avoid
the shame of a rebuff.
They went with Gotwar, and were entertained by the King
of the Huns at a three days' banquet, ere they uttered the
purpose of their embassy. For it was customary of old
thus to welcome guests. When the feast had been prolonged
three days, the princess came forth to make herself pleasant
to the envoys with a most courteous address, and her blithe
presence added not a little to the festal delights of the ban-
queters. And as the drink went faster Westmar revealed his
purpose in due course, in a very merry declaration, wishing to
sound the mind of the maiden in talk of a friendly sort. And,
in order not to inflict on himself a rebuff, he spoke in a mirth-
ful vein, and broke the ground of his mission, by venturing to
make up a sportive speech amid the applause of the revellers.
The princess said that she disdained Frode because he lacked
honour and glory. For in days of old no men were thought
lit for the hand of high-born women but those who had won [124]
some great prize of glory by the lustre of their admirable
deeds. Sloth was the worst of vices in a suitor, and nothing
was more of a reproach in one who sought marriage than the
lack of fame. A harvest of glory, and that alone, could bring
wealth in everything else. Maidens admired in their wooers
not so much good looks as deeds nobly done. So the envoys,
flagging and despairing of their wish, left the further conduct
1 The necklace had links . . .] nexilia Jmllarum caelamina inter-
sitaque regum simulacra, lit. ' ' bas-reliefs of studs or beads linked together,
and effigies of kings interposed". This appears to mean that some, perhaps
all, of the links were studs with medals of kings upon them. M. (ed. 1839)
says that similar specimens, with the strings Saxo mentions, are in the
Museum in Copenhagen.
152 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
of the affair to the wisdom of Gotwar, who tried to subdue
the maiden not only with words hut with love-philtres, and
began to declare that Frode used his left hand as well as his
right, and was a quick and skilful swimmer and fighter. Also
by the drink which she gave she changed the strictness of the
maiden to desii-e, and replaced her vanished anger with love
and delight. Then she bade Westmar, Koll, and their sons go
to the king and urge their mission afresh ; and finally, should
they find him froward, to anticipate a rebuff by a challenge to
fight.
So* Westmar entered the palace with his men-at-arms, and
said : " Now thou must needs either consent to our entreaties,
or meet in battle us who entreat thee. We would rather die
nobly than go back with our mission unperformed : lest,
foully repulsed and foiled of our purpose, we should take home
disgrace where we hoped to win honour. If thou refuse thy
daughter, consent to fight : thou must needs grant one thing
or the other. We wish either to die or to have our prayers
heard. Something — sorrow if not joy — we will get from
thee. Frode will be better pleased to hear of our slaughter
than of our repulse." Without another word, he threatened to
aim a blow at the king's throat with his sword. The king
replied that it was unseemly for the royal majesty to meet an
inferior in rank in level combat, and unfit that those of unequal
station should fight as equals. But when Westmar persisted
in urging him to fight, he at last bade him find out what the
real mind of the maiden was ; for in old time men gave women
who were to marry, free choice of a husband. For the king
was embarrassed, and hung vacillating betwixt shame and fear
of battle. Thus Westmar, having been referred to the thoughts
of the girl's heart, and knowing that every woman is as
changeable in purpose as she is fickle in soul, proceeded to
fulfil his task all the more confidently because he knew how
[125] mutable the wishes of maidens were. His confidence in his
charge was increased and his zeal encouraged, because she
had both a maiden's simplicity, which was left to its own
counsels, and a woman's freedom of choice, which must be
wheedled with the most delicate and mollifying flatterie.s :
and thus she would be not only easy to lead away, hut even
hasty in compliance. But her father went after the envoys,
that he might see more surely into his daughter's mind. She
had already been drawn by the stealthy working of the
draught to love her suitor, and answered that the promise of
Frode, rather than his present renown, had made her expect
much of his nature : since he was sprung from so famous a
father, and every nature commonly answered to its origin.
The youth therefore had pleased her by her regard ' of , his
future, rather than his present, glory. These words 'amazed
the father; but neither could he bear to revoke the freedom
he had granted her, and he pi-omised her in marriage to Frode.
Then, having laid in ample stores, he took her away with the
most splendid pomp, 4nd, followed by the envoys, hastened to
Denmark, knowing that a father was the best person to give
away a daughter in marriage. Frode welcomed his bride
most joyfully, and also bestowed the highest honours upon his
future royal father-in-law ; and when the marriage rites were
over, dismissed him with a large gift of gold and silver.
And so with Hanund, the daughter of the King of the Huns,
for his wife, he passed three years in the most prosperous peace.
But idleness brought wantonness among his courtiei'S, and
peace begot lewdness, which they displayed in the most abomin-
able crimes. For they would draw some men up in the air
on ropes, and torment them, pushing their bodies as they hung,
like a ball that is tossed ; or they would put a kid's hide under
the feet of others as they walked, and, by stealthily pulling a
rope, trip their unwary steps on the slippery skin in their
path ; others they would strip of their clothes, and lash with
sundry tortures of stripes ; others they fastened to pegs, as with
a noose, and punished with mock-hanging. They scorched
off the beard and hair with tapers ; of others they burned the
hair of the groin with a brand. Only those maidens might
marry whose chastity they had first deflowered. Strangers
they battered with bones; others they compelled to drunkenness
with immoderate draughts, and made them burst. No man
164 SAXO GRAMMATICXIS.
might give his daughter to wife unless he had first bought
their favour and goodwill. None might contract any marriage
without first purchasing their consent with a bribe. Moreover,
they extended their abominable and abandoned lust not only
to virgins, but to the multitude of matrons indiscriminately.
[126] Thus a twofold madness incited this mixture of wantonness
and frenzy. Guests and strangers were proffered not shelter but
revilings. All these maddening mockeries did this insolent
and wanton crew devise, and thus under a boy-king freedom
fostered licence. For nothing prolongs reckless sin like the
procrastination of punishment and vengeance. This unbridled
impudence of the soldiers ended by making the king detested,
not only by foreigners, but even by his own country, for the
Danes resented such an arrogant and cruel rule. But Grep
was contented with no humble loves ; he broke out so out-
rageously that he was guilty of intercourse with the queen,
and proved as false to the king as he was violent to all other
men. Then by degrees the scandal grew, and the suspicion
of his guilt crept on with silent step. The common people
found it out before the king. For Grep, by always punishing
all who alluded in the least to this circumstance, had made it
dangerous to accuse him. But the rumour of his crime, which
at first was kept alive in whispers, was next passed on in
public reports ; for it is hard for men to hide another's guilt
if they are aware of it. Gunwar had many suitors ; and
accordingly Grep, trying to take revenge for his rebufi" by
stealthy wiles, demanded the right of judging the suitors,
declaring that the princess ought to make the choicest match.
But he disguised his anger, lest he should seem to have sought
the ofiice from hatred of the maiden. At his request the
king granted him leave to examine the merits of the young
men. So he first gathered all the wooers of Gunwar together
on the pretence of a banquet, and then lined the customary
room of the princess with their heads — a gruesome spectacle
for all the rest. Yet he forfeited none of his favour with
Frode, nor abated his old intimacy with him. For he decided
that any opportunity of an interview with the king must be
paid for, and gave out that no one should have any conversa-
tion with him who brought no presents. Access, he announced,
to so great a general must be gained by no stale or usual
method, but by making interest most zealously. He wished
to lighten the scandal of his cruelty by the pretence of affection
to his king. The people, thus tormented, vented their com-
plaint of their trouble in silent groans. None had the spirit to
lift up his voice in public against this season of misery. No
one had become so bold as to complain openly of the affliction
that was falling upon them. Inward resentment vexed the
hearts of men, secretly indeed, but all the more bitterly.
When Gotar,^ the King of Norway, heard this, he assembled [127]
his soldiers, and said that the Danes were disgusted with their
own king, and longed for another if they could get the oppor-
tunity ; that he had himself resolved to lead an army thither,
and that Denmark would be easy to seize if attacked. Frode's
government of his country was as covetous as it was cruel.
Then Erik rose up and gainsaid the project with contrary
reasons. "We remember", he said, "how often coveters of
other men's goods lose their own. He who snatches at both
has oft lost both. It must be a very strong bird that can
wrest the prey from the claws of another. It is idle for thee
to be encouraged by the internal jealousies of the country, for
these are oft blown away by the approach of an enemy. For
though the Danes now seem divided in counsel, yet they will
soon be of one mind to meet the foe. The wolves have often
made peace between the quarrelling swine. Every man prefers
a leader of his own land to a foreigner, and every province is
warmer in loyalty to a native than to a stranger king. For
Erode will not await thee at home, but will intercept thee
abroad as thou comest. Eagles claw each other with their
talons, and fowls fight fronting. Thou thyself knowest that
the keen sight of the wise man must leave no cause for
repentance. Thou hast an ample guard of nobles. Keep thou
quiet as thou art ; indeed thou wilt almost be able to find out
1 Gotar] The name ia spelt variously in Saxo, as Gotherus, Gothwarug,
etc., but we use this, the commonest form.
156 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
by means of others what are thy resources for war. Let
the soldiers first try the fortunes of their king. Provide in
peace for thine own safety, and risk others if thou dost under-
take the enterprise : better that the slave should perish than
the master. Let thy servant do for thee what the tongs do for
the smith, who by the aid of his iron tool guards his hand
from scorching, and saves his fingers from burning. Learn
thou also, by using thy men, to spare and take thought for thy-
self." So spake Erik,^and-- Gotar, who- had hitherto held him
a man of no parts, now marvelled that he had graced his
answer with sentences so choice and weighty, and gave him
the name of Shrewd-spoken .^ thinking that his admirable
wisdom deserved some title. For the young man's reputation
had been kept in the shade by the exceeding brilliancy of his
brother Roller. Erik begged that some substantial gift should
be added to the name, declaring that the bestowal of the title
ought to be graced by a present besides. The king gave him
a ship, and the oarsmen called it Skroter. Now Erik and
EoUer were sons of Eagnar, the champion, and children of one
father by different mothers ; Roller's mother and Erik's step-
mother was named Kraka.
And so, by leave of Gotar, the task of making a raid on the
[i28] Danes fell to one Hrafn. He was encountered by Odd, who
had at that time the greatest prestige among the Danes as a
rover, for he was such a skilled magician that he could range
over the sea without a ship, and could often raise tempests by
his spells, and wreck the vessels of the enemy. Accordingly,
that 'Ja.e might not have to condescend to pit his sea-forces
against the rovers, he used to ruffle the waters by enchant-
ment, and cause them to shipwreck his foes. To traders this
man was ruthless,^but to tillers of the soil he was merciful,
for he thought less of merchandise than of the plough-handle,
but rated the clean business of the country higher than the
toil for filthy lucre. When he began to fight with the North-
men, he so dulled the sight of the enemy by the power of his
' Shrewd-spoken] Diseidug^-eeL-Manjmal^itdki. — M.
spells that they thought the drawn swords of the Danes cast
their beams from afar off, and sparkled as if aflame. More-
over, their vision was so blunted that they could not so much
as look upon the sword when it was drawn from the sheath :
the dazzle was too much for their eyesight, which could not
endure the glittering mirage. So Hrafn and many of his men
were slain, and only six vessels slipped back to Noi'way to
teach the king that it was not so easy to crush the Danes.
The survivors also spread the news that Frode trusted only in
the help of his champions, and reigned against the will of his
people, for his rule had become a tyranny.
In order to examine this rumour. Roller, who was a great
traveller abroad, and eager to visit unknown parts, made a vow
that he would get into the company of Frode. But Erik declared
that, splendid as were his bodily parts, he had been rash in
pronouncing the vow. At last, seeing him persisting stubbornly
in his purpose, Erik bound himself under a similar vow ; and
the king promised them that he would give them for com-
panions whomsoever they approved by their choice. The
brethren, therefore, first I'esolved to visit their father and beg
for the stores and the necessaries that were wanted for so
long a journey. He welcomed them paternally, and on the
morrow took them to the forest to inspect the herd, for the
old man was wealthy in cattle. Also he revealed to them /''
treasures which had long lain hid in caverns of the earth ; and
they were suffered to gather up whatsoever of these they
would. The boon was accepted as heartily as it was offered :
so they took the riches out of the ground, and bore away
what pleased them.
Their rowers meanwhile were either refreshing themselves
or exercising themselves with casting weights. Some sped [129]
leaping, some running ; others tried their strength by sturdily
hurling stones; others tested their archery by drawing the
bow. Thus they essayed to strengthen themselves with divers
exercises. Some again tried to drink themselves into a drowse.
Roller was sent by his father to find out what had passed
at home in the meanwhile. And when he saw smoke coming
158 SAXO GtlAMMAMCt^.
from his mother's hut he went up outside, and, stealthily
applying his eye, saw through the little chink and into the
house, where he perceived his mother stirring a cooked mess
in an ugly-looking pot. Also he looked up at three snakes
hanging from above by a thin cord, from whose mouths flowed
a slaver which dribbled drops of moisture on the meal. Now
two of these were pitchy of hue, while the third seemed to
have whitish scales, and was hung somewhat higher than the
others. This last had a fastening on its tail, while the others
were held by a cord round their bellies. Roller thought
the affair looked like magic, but was silent on what he had
seen, that he might not be thought to charge his mother with
sorcery. For he did not know that the snakes M^ere naturally
harmless, or how much strength was being brewed for that
meal. Then Eagnar and Erik came up, and, when they saw
the smoke issuing from the cottage, entered and went to lie at
meat. When they were at table, and Kraka's son and stepson
were about to eat together, she put before them a small dish
containing a piebald mess, part looking pitchy, but spotted
with specks of yellow, while part was whitish: the pottage
having taken a difierent hue answering to the different appear-
ance of the snakes. And when each had tasted a single morsel,
Erik, judging the feast not by the colours but by the inward
strengthening eff'ected, turned the dish r-ound very quickly,
and transferred to himself the part which was black but com-
pounded of stronger juices; and, putting over to Roller the
whitish part which had first been set before himself, throve
more on his supper. And, to avoid showing that the exchange
was made on purpose, he said, " Thus does prow become stem
when the sea boils up.'' The man had no little shrewdness,
thus to use the ways of a ship to dissemble his cunning act. .
So Erik, now refreshed by this lucky meal,^ attained by itsj
inward working to the highest pitch of human wisdom. Foi
the potency of the meal bred in him the fulness of all kinds
of knowledge to an incredible degree, so that he had cunning
to interpret even the utterances of wild beasts and cattle. |
» Meal] Cp. that of Balder, p. 92, above.
fiooit HVE. 159
For he was not only well versed in all the affairs of men, but
he could interpret the particular feelings which brutes expe-
rienced from the sounds which expressed them. He was also [130]
gifted with an eloquence so courteous and graceful, that he
adorned whatsoever he desired to expound with a flow of
witty adages. But when Kraka came up, and found that the
dish had been turned round, and that Erik had eaten the
stronger share of the meal, she lamented that the good luck
she had bred for her son should have passed to her stepson.
Soon she began to sigh, and entreat Erik that he should
never fail to help his brother, whose mother had heaped
on him fortune so rich and strange : for by tasting a single
savoury meal he had clearly attained sovereign wit and
eloquence, besides the promise of success in combat. She
added also, that Roller was almost as capable of good counsel,
and that he should not utterly miss the dainty that had been
intended for him. She also told him that in case of extreme
and violent need, he could find speedy help by calling on her
name ; declaring that she trusted partially in her divine attri-
butes, and that, consorting as she did in a manner with the
gods, she wielded an innate and heavenly power. Erik said
that he was naturally drawn to stand by his brother, and
that the bird was infamous which fouled its own nest. But
Kraka was more vexed by her own carelessness than weighed
down by her son's ill-fortune : for in old time it made a crafts-
man bitterly ashamed to be outwitted by his own cleverness.
Then Kraka, accompanied by her husband, took away the
brothers on their journey to the sea. They embarked in a
single ship, but soon attached two others. They had already
reached the coast of Denmark, when, reconnoitring, they
learned that seven ships had come up at no great distance.
Then Erik bade two men who could speak the Danish tongue
well, to go to them unclothed, and, in order to spy better, to
complain to Odd of their nakedness, as if Erik had caused it,
and to report when they had made careful scrutiny. These
men were received as friends by Odd, and hunted for every
plan of the general with their sharp ears. He had determined
160 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
to attack the enemy unawares at daybreak, that he might
massacre them the more speedily while they were swathed
in their night garments : for he said that men's bodies were
wont to be most dull and heavy at that hour of dawn. He
also told them, thereby hastening what was to prove his own
destruction, that his ships were laden with stones fit for
throwing. The spies slipped off in the first sleep of the night,
reported that Odd had filled all his vessels with pebbles, and
[13 1 j also told everything else they had heard. Erik now quite
understood the case, and, when he considered the smallness
of his own fleet, thought that he must call the waters to
destroy the enemy, and win their aid for himself.
So he got into a boat and rowed, pulling silently, close up
to the keels of the enemy ; and gradually, by screwing in an
auger, he bored the planks^ nearest to the water, and soon made
good his return, the oar-beat being scarce audible. Now he
bore himself so warily, that not one of the watchers noted his
approach or departure. As he rowed off, the water got in
through the chinks of Odd's vessels, and sank them, so that
they were seen disappearing in the deep, as the water flooded
them more and more within. The weight of the stones inside
helped them mightily to sink. The billows were washing
away the thwarts, and the sea was flush with the decks, when
Odd, seeing the vessels almost on a level with the waves,
ordered the heavy seas that had been shipped to be baled
out with pitchers. And so, while the crews were toiling on to
protect the sinking parts of the vessels from the flood of
waters, the enemy hove close up. Thus, as they fell to their
arms, the flood came upon them harder, and as they prepared
to fight, they found they must swim for it. Waves, not
weapons, fought for Erik, and the sea, which he had himself
enabled to approach and do harm, battled for him. Thus
Erik made better use of the billow than of the steel, and by the
effectual aid of the waters seemed to fight in his own absence,
the ocean lending him defence. The victory was given to his
1 Bnrpd the planks . . .] For this device cp. Bk. i, p. 41, and
Bk. n, p. 48.
craft ; for a flooded ship could not endure a battle. Thus was
Odd slain with all his crew ; the look-outs were captured, and
it was found that no man escaped to tell the tale of the
disaster.
Erik, when the massacre was accomplished, made a rapid
retreat, and put in at the isle Lesso. Finding nothing there
to appease his hunger, he sent the spoil homeward on two
ships, which were to bring back supplies for another year.
He ti'ied to go by himself to the king in a single ship. So he
put in to Zealand, and the sailors ran about over the shore,
and began to cut down the cattle : for they must either ease
their hunger or perish of famine. So they killed the herd,
skinned the carcases, and cast them on board. When the
owners of the cattle found this out, they hastily pursued the
freebooters with a. fleet. And when Erik found that he was
being attacked by the owners of the cattle, he took care that
the carcases of the slaughtered cows should be tied with marked
ropes and hidden under water. Then, when the Zealanders
came up, he gave them leave to look about and see if any of
the carcases they were seeking were in his hands ; saying that [ 1 3 "]
a ship's corners were too narrow to hide things. Unable to
find a carcase anywhere, they turned their suspicions on
others, and thought the real criminals were guiltless of the
plunder. Since no traces of freebooting were to be seen, they
fancied that others had injured them, and pardoned the
culprits. As they sailed ofl", Erik lifted the carcase out of the
water and took it in.
Meantime Erode learnt that Odd and his men had gone down.
!For a widespread rumour of the massacre had got wind,
though the author of the deed was unknown. There were
men, however, who told how they had seen three sails putting
in to shore, and departing again northwards. Then Erik went
to the harbour, not far from which Erode was tarrying, and,
the moment that he stepped out of the ship, tripped inadver-
tently, and came tumbling to the ground. He found in the
slip a presage of a lucky issue, and forecast better results
from this mean beginning. When Grep heard of his coming,
M
162 SAXO GEAMMATICXJS.
he hastened down to the sea, intending to assail with chosen
and pointed phrases the man whom he had heard was better-
spoken than all other folk. Grep's eloquence was not so
much excellent as impudent, for he surpassed all in stubborn-
ness of speech. So he began the dispute with reviling, and
assailed Erik as follows :
Grep. " Fool, who art thou ? What idle quest is thine ?
Tell me, whence or whither dost thou journey ? What is thy
road ? What thy desire ? Who thy father ? What thy
lineage ? Those have strength beyond others who have never
left their own homes, and the Luck of kings is their house-
luck.^ For the doings of a vile man are acceptable unto few,
and seldom are the deeds of the hated pleasing."
Erik. " Eagnar is my father ; eloquence clothes my tongue ;
I have ever loved virtue only. Wisdom hath been my one
desire ; I have travelled many ways over^he world, and seen
the different manners of men. The mind of the fool can keep
no bounds in aught : it is base and cannot control its feelings.
The use of sails is better than being drawn by the oar ; the
[133] gale troubles the waters, a drearier gust the land. For rowing
goes through the seas and lying the lands ; and it is certain
that the lands are ruled with the lips, but the seas with the
hand."2
Grep. " Thou art thought to be as full of quibbling as a cock
of dirt. Thou stinkest heavy with filth, and reekest of nought
^ The Luck of kings is their house-luck] Begumque domesticus est La/r.
Theicw-ia probably the guardian genius or Luck, Hamiru/ja, and the sense
• is merely, "they have the good fortune of kings". Grep abuses Erik for
being a wanderer, and hints that he has a bad reason for his travels,
perhaps exile for some crime. This at least seems to be the connection
with the clause, "for the doing, etc." Erik, after exrplaining that he
travels for wisdom, retorts that Grep is a fool and a liar.
2 The use of sails . . . with the hand] The point of the contrast
between the sail and the oar is not clear ; but what follows is a comparison
of the force of lies on land to that of a gale at sea. The " drearier gust"
is lying, and in the last line there is a play hard to render in the word
premi, which means " oppressed" in reference to the lands, and " ruled"
or " pressed" in reference to the seas which are rowed upon.
but sin. There is no need to lengthen the plea against a
buffiion^ whose strength is in an empty and voluble tongue."
Er-yk. " By Hercules, if I mistake not, the coward word
is wont to come back to the utterer. The gods with righteous
endeavour bring home to the speaker words cast forth without
knowledge. As soon as we espy the sinister ears of the
wolf, we believe that the wolf himself is near. Men think
no credit due to him that hath no credit, whom report accuses
of treachery."
Grep. " Shameless boy, owl astray from the path, night-owl
in the darkness, thou shalt pay for thy reckless words. Thou
shalt be sorry for the words thou now belchest forth madly,
and shalt pay with thy death for thy unhallowed speech. Life-
less thou shalt pasture crows on thy bloodless corpse, to be a
morsel for beasts, a prey to the ravenous bird."
Erik. "The boding of the coward, and the will that is
trained to evil, have never kept themselves within due
measure. He who betrays his lord, he who conceives foul
devices, will be as great a snare to himself as to his friends.
Whoso fosters a wolf in his house is thought to feed a thief
and a pest for his own hearth."
Gfrep. " I did not,^ as thou thinkest, beguile the queen, but
I was the guardian of her tender estate. She increased my [134]
fortunes, and her favour first brought me gifts and strength,
and wealth and counsel."
Erik. "Lo, thy guilty disquiet lies heavy on thee; that
man's freedom is safest whose mind remains untainted. Whoso
asks a slave to be a friend, is deceived ; often the henchman
hurts his master."
At this Grep, shorn of his glibness of rejoinder, set spurs to
his horse and rode away. Now when he reached home, he filled
the palace with uproarious and vehement clamour ; and shout-
ing that he had been worsted in words, roused all his soldiers
1 I did not . . . ] Suo ipsiiis mdicio periit sorex. Ericus nullam
plane injecit Begiiiae mentionem a Greppo stupi-atae, priusquam ipse se
.prodet. Scilicet haec a>is malae est conscientiae. — St. Qui s'excuse s'accuse.
m2
164 SAXO GHAMMATICUS.
to fight, as though he would avenge by main force his luckless
warfare of tongues. For he swore that he would lay the host
of the foreigners under the claws of eagles. But the king
warned him that he should give his frenzy pause for counsel,
that blind plans were commonly hurtful ; that nothing could
be done both cautiously and quickly at once ; that headstrong
efforts were the worst obstacle ; and lastly, that it was unseemly
to attack a handful with a host. Also, said he, the sagacious
man was he who could bridle a raging spirit, and stop his
frantic impetuosity in time. Thus the king forced the head-
long rage of the young man to yield to reflection. But he
could not wholly recall to self-control the frenzy of his heated
mind, or prevent the champion of wrangles, abashed by his
hapless debate, and finding armed vengeance refused him, from
asking leave at least to try his sorceries by way of revenge.
He gained his request, and prepared to go back to the shore
with a chosen troop of wizards. So he first put on a pole
the severed head of a horse that had been sacrificed to the
gods, and, setting sticks beneath, displayed the jaws grinning
agape ; hoping that he would foil the first efforts of Erik by
the horror of this wild spectacle. For he supposed that the
silly souls of the barbarians would give way at the bogey of a
protruding neck. Erik was already on his road to meet them.
He espied the head from afar off, and, understanding the whole
foul contrivance, he bade his men keep silent and behave
warily ; no man was to be rash or hasty , of speech, lest by some
careless outburst they might give some opening to the sorceries ;
adding that if talking happened to be needed, he would speak
for all. And they were now parted by a river ; when the
[13s] wizards, in order to dislodge Erik from the approach to the
bridge, set up close to the river, on their own side, the pole on
which they had fixed the horse's head. Nevertheless Erik'
made dauntlessly for the bridge, and said : " On the bearer fall
the ill-luck of what he bears ! May a better issue attend our
steps ! Evil befall the evil-workers ! Let the weight of
the ominous burden crush the carrier ! Let better auguries
bring us safety!" And it happened according to his prayer.
For straightway the head was shaken off, the stick fell and
crushed the bearer. And so all that array of sorceries was
baffled at the bidding of a single curse, and extinguished.
Then, as Erik advanced a little, it came into his mind that
strangers ought to fix on gifts for the king. So he carefully
wrapped up in his robe a piece of ice which he happened
to find, and managed to take it to the king by way of a
present. But when they reached the palace he sought entrance
first, and bade his brother follow close behind. Already the
slaves of the king, in order to receive him with mockery as he
entered, had laid a slippery hide on the threshold ; and when
Erik stepped upon it, they suddenly jerked it away by dragging
a rope, and would have tripped him as he stood upon it, had not
Roller, following behind, caught his brother on his breast as
he tottered. So Erik, having half fallen, said that " bare was
the back of the brotherless". And when Gunwar said that
such a trick ought not to be permitted by a king, the king
condemned the folly of the messenger who took no heed
against treachery. And thus he excused his flout by the
heedlessness of the man he flouted.
Within the palace was blazing a fire, which the aspect of the
season required : for it was now gone midwinter. By it, in
diflferent groups, sat the king on one side and the champions
on the other. These latter, when Erik joined them, uttered
gruesome sounds like things howling. The king stopped the
clamour, telling them that the noises of wild beasts ought
not to be in the breasts of men. Erik added, that it was the
way of dogs, for all the others to set up barking when one
started it : for all folk by their bearing betrayed their birth
and revealed their race. But when KoU, who was the keeper
of the gifts offered to the king, asked him whether he had
brought any presents with him, he produced the ice which
he had hidden in his breast. And when he had handed it
to KoU across the hearth, he purposely let it go into the tire,
as though it had slipped from the hand of the receiver. All
present saw the shining fragment, and it seemed as though
molten metal had fallen into the fire. Erik, maintaining that it
3,6 6 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
had been jerked away by the carelessness of him who took it,
asked what punishment was due to the loser of the gift.
[136] The king consulted the opinion of the queen, who advised
him not to relax the statute of the law which he had passed,
whereby he gave warning that all who lost presents that,
were transmitted to him should be punished with death.
Everyone else also said that the penalty by law appointed
ought not to be remitted. And so the king, being counselled
to allow the punishment as inevitable, gave leave for KoU to
be hanged.
Then Frode began to accost Erik thus ; " 0 thou, wantoning ,
in insolent phrase, in boastful and bedizened speech, whence
dost thou say that thou hast come hither, and why ?"
Erik answered^ : " I came from Rennes Isle^^ and I took my
seat by a stone."
Frode rejoined : " I ask, whither thou wentest next ?"
Erik answered : "I went off from the stone riding on a,
beam, and often again took station by a stone."
Frode replied :" I ask thee whither thou next didst bend,
thy course, or where the evening found thee ?"
Then said Erik : " Leaving a crag, I came to a rock, and
likewise lay by a stone."
Frode said : " The boulders lay thick ip those parts."
Erik answered : " Yet thicker lies the sand, plain to see."
Frode said : " Tell what thy business was, and whither thou
struckest off thence."
Then said Erik : " Leaving the roqk, ai? my ship ran on, I-
found a dolphin."
Frode said : " Now thou hast said something fresh, though
both these things are common in the sea : but I would knoW;
what path took thee after that ?"
Erik answered : " After a dolphin I went to a dolphin."
1 Erik answered . . .] He describes in veiled language his voyage
among the boulders off Denmark, and, according to M., means by the
"dolphins" the ships which he met and took. The logs, etc., mark liis
landing on a wooded coast.
2 Rennes Isle] Renneso in Stavanger-fjord.
T'rode said : "The herd of dolphins is somewhat common."
Then said Erik : " It does swim somewhat commonly on the ,
waters."
Frode said : " I would fain, know whither thou wert borne on ,
thy toilsome journey after leaving the dolphins ?"
Erik answered : " I soon came upon the trunk of a tree."
Frode rejoined : "Whither didst thou next pass on thy.
journey ?"
Then said Erik : " From a trunk I passed on to a log."
Frode said : " That spot must be thick with trees, since thou .
art always calling the abodes of thy hosts by the name of trunks,"
Erik replied : " There is a thicker place'in the woods."
Frode went on : " Relate whither thou next didst bear thy
steps."
Erik answered : " Oft again I made my way to the lopped
timbers of the woods ; but, as I rested there, wolves that were
sated' on human carcases licked the points of the spears. There
a lance-head was shaken from the shaft of the king, and it
was the grandson of Fridleif."
Frode said : " I am bewildered, and know not what to think
about the dispute : for thou hast beguiled my mind with very
dark riddling."
Erik answered: "Thou owest me the prize for this contest [137]
that is finished : for under a veil I have declared to thee
certain things thou hast ill understood. For under the name^
I. gave before of 'spear-point' I signified Odd, whom my hand
had slain."
And when the queen also had awarded him the palm of
eloquence and the prize for flow of speech, the king straight-
way took a bracelet from his arm, and gave it to him as the
appointed reward, adding : " I would fain learn from thyself
thy debate with Grep, wherein he was not ashamed openly
to avow himself vanquished."
Then said Erik : "He was smitten with shame^ for the adul-
^ For under the name] Icel. Oddr, "spear-point";
2 He was, smitten with shame . ; .] rubor ilium . . . p&rcwlit. So
ed. pr. St. and later edd. change to robur, which is less apposite.
168 SAXO - GRAMMATICUS.
tery wherewith he was taxed ; for since he could bring no
defence, he confessed that he had committed it with thy wife."
The king turned to Hanund and asked her in what spirit
she received the charge ; and she not only confessed her guilt
by a cry, but also put forth in her face a blushing signal of her
sin, and gave a manifest token of her fault. The king, observing
not only her words, but also the signs of her countenance, but
doubting with what sentence he should punish the criminal, let
the queen settle by her own choice the punishment which her
crime deserved. When she learnt that the sentence committed
to her concerned her own guilt, she wavered awhile as she
pondered how to appraise her transgression ; but Grep sprang
up and ran forward to transfix Erik with a spear, wishing to
buy off his own death by slaying the accuser. But Roller
fell on him with drawn sword, and dealt him first the doom he
had himself purposed.
Erik said : " The service of kin is best for the helpless."
And Roller said : " In sore needs good men should be duti-
fully summoned."
Then Erode said : " I think it will happen to you according
to the common saying, ' that the striker sometimes has short
joy of his stroke', and 'that the hand is seldom long glad
of the smiting'."
Erik answered : " The man must not be impeached whose
deed justice excuses. For my work is as far as from that of
Grep, as an act of self-defence is from an attack upon another."
Then the brethren of Grep began to spring up and clamour
and swear that they would either bring avengers upon the
whole fleet of Erik, or would fight him and ten champions
with him.
Erik said to them : " Sick men have to devise by craft some
provision for their journey. He whose sword-point is dull
should only probe things that are soft and tender. He who
has a blunt knife must search out the way to cut joint by
joint. Since, therefore, it is best for a man in distress to delay
the evil, and nothing is more fortunate in trouble than to
stave off hard necessity, I ask three days' space to get ready.
provided that I may obtain from the king the skin of a freshly-
slain ox."
Frode answered : " He who fell on a hide deserves a hide" ; [138]
thus openly taunting the asker with his pi-evious fall. But
Erik, when the hide was given him, made some sandals, which
he smeared with a mixture of tar and sand, in order to plant
his steps the more firmly, and fitted them on to the feet of
himself and his people. At last, having meditated what spot
he should choose for the fight — for he said that he was un-
skilled in combat by land and in all warfare — he demanded
it should be on the frozen sea. To this both sides agreed.
The king granted a truce for preparations, and bade the sons
of Westmar withdi-aw, saying that it was amiss that a guest,
even if he had deserved ill, should be driven from his
lodging. Then he went back to examine into the manner of the
punishment, which he had left to the queen's own choice to
exact. But she forebore to give judgment, and begged
pardon for her slip. Erik added, that woman's errors must
often be forgiven, and that punishment ought not to be
inflicted, unless amendment were unable to get rid of the
fault. So the king pardoned Hanund. As twilight drew near,
Erik said : " With Gotar, not only are rooms provided when
the soldiers are coming to feast at the banquet, but each is
appointed a separate place and seat where he is to lie." Then
the king gave up for their occupation the places where his
own champions had sat; and next the servants brought
the banquet. But Erik, knowing well the courtesy of the
king, which made him forbid them to use up any of the
meal that was left, cast away the piece of which he had tasted
very little, calling whole portions broken bits of food. And
so, as the dishes dwindled, the servants brought up fresh ones
to the lacking and shamefaced guests, thus spending on a little
supper what might have served for a great banquet.
So the king said : " Are the soldiers of Gotar wont to
squander the meat after once touching it, as if it were so
many pared-ofi" crusts ? And to spurn the first dishes as if
they were the last morsels ?"
170 SAXO .GRAMMATICUS,
Erik said: " Uncouthness claims no place ia the manners
of Gotar, neither does any disorderly habit reign there."
But Frode said : " Then thy manners are not those of thy
lord, and thou hast proved that thou hast not taken all wisdom
to heart. For he who goes against the example of his elders
shows himself a deserter and a runagate."
Then said Erik : " The wise man must be taught by the
wiser. For knowledge grows by learning, and instruction is
advanced by doctrine."
Frode rejoined : " This affectation of thine of superfluous
words, what exemplary lesson will it teach me ? "
Erik said : " A loyal few are a safer defence for a king than
many traitors."
Frode said to him : " Wilt thou then show us closer alle-
giance than the rest ? "
[139] Erik said : " No man ties^ the unborn [horse] to the crib, or
the unbegotten to the stall. For thou hast not yet experienced
all things. Besides, with Gotar there is always a mixture of
drinking with feasting ; liquor, over and above, and as well as
meat, is the joy of the reveller."
Frode said : " Never have I found a more shameless beggar
of meat and drink."
Erik replied : " Few reckon the need of the silent, or measure
the >vants of him who holds his peace."
Then the king bade his sister bring forth the drink in a
great goblet. Erik caught hold of her right hand and of the
goblet she offered at the same time, and said : " Noblest of
kings, hath thy benignity granted me this present ? Dost thou
assure me that what I hold shall be mine as an irrevocable
gift ? "
The king, thinking that he was only asking for the cup,
declared it was a gift. But Erik drew the maiden to him, as
if she was given with the cup. When the king saw it, he
said : " A fool is shown by his deed ; with us the freedom of
maidens is ever held inviolate."
1 No man ties . ..] This proverb {Hwrt er ufddt hest at binde ved
krybbe.—St.) means that Frode's question about Erik's allegiance is pre-
mature. Erik at once changes the subject.
, Then Erik, feigning that he would cut off the girl's hand
■with his sword, as though it had been granted under the
name of the cup, said: "If I have taken more than thou
gavest, or if I am rash to keep the whole, let me at least get
some." The king saw his mistake in his promise, and gave
hiim the maiden, being loth to undo his heedlessness by fickle-
ness, and that the weight of his pledge might seem the greater;
though it is held an act more of ripe judgment than of un-
steadfastness to take back a foolish promise.
Then, taking from Erik security that he would return, he
sent him to the ships; for the time appointed for the battle was
at hand. Erik and his men went on to the sea, then covered
near with ice ; and, thanks to the stability of their sandals,
felled the enemy, whose footing was slippery and unsteady.
Eor Erode had decreed that no man should help either side if
it wavered or were distressed. Then he went back in triumph
to the king. So Gotwar, sorrowing at the destruction of her
children who had miserably perished, and eager to avenge
them, announced that it would please her to have a flyting
with Erik, on condition that she should gage a heavy neck-
lace and he his life ; so that if he conquered he should win
gold, but if he gave in, death. Erik agreed to the contest,
and the gage was deposited with Gunwar.
So Gotwar began thus^:
" Quando tuam limas admiasa cote bipennem,
Nonne terit tremulas mentula quassa nates ?" .
Erik rej oined : [ 1 40]
' ' Ut ouivis natura pilos in corpore sevit,
Omnis nempe suo barba ferenda loco est.
Re Veneris homines artus agitare necesse est ;
Motus quippe suos nam labor omnis habet.
Cum natis excipitur nate, vel cum subdita penem
Vulva capit, quid ad haec addere mas rentdt?"
1 Gotvar began thus ., . .] This "flyting" is corrupt in every sense of
the word. The readings in Erik's reply (of which Holder's text is here
given) are hopeless. , (Spiwcum hoc et hoiiestis indignum cmribus carmen.
—St.)
172 SAXO ■ GRAMMATICUS.
Powerless to answer this, Gotwar had to give the gold to
the man whom she had meant to kill, and thus wasted a lordly
gift instead of punishing the slayer of her son. For her ill-
fate was crowned, instead of her ill-will being avenged. First
bereaved, and then silenced by furious words, she lost at
once her wealth and all reward of her eloquence. She made
the man blest who had taken away her children, and enriched
her bereaver with a present: and took away nothing to
make up the slaughter of her sons save the reproach of
ignorance and the loss of goods. Westmar, when he saw this,
determined to attack the man by force, since he was the
stronger of tongue, and laid down the condition that the
reward of the conqueror should be the death of the conquered,
so that the life of both parties was plainly at stake. Erik,
unwilling to be thought quicker of tongue than of hand, did
not refuse the terms.
Now the manner of combat was as follows. A ring, plaited
of withy or rope, used to be offered to the combatants for them
to drag away by wrenching it with a great effort of foot and
hand ; and the prize went to the stronger, for if either of the
combatants could wrench it from the other, he was awarded
the victory. Erik struggled in this manner, and, grasping the
rope sharply, wrested it out of the hands of his opponent.
When Frode saw this, he said : " I think it is hard to tug at
a rope with a strong man."
And Erik said : " Hard, at any rate, when a tumour is in
the body or a hunch sits on the back."
And straightway, thrusting his foot forth, he broke the in-
firm neck and back of the old man, and crushed him. And
so Westmar failed to compass his revenge : zealous to retaliate,
he fell into the portion of those who need revenging ; being
smitten down even as those whose slaughter he had desired to
punish.
Now Frode intended to pierce Erik by throwing a dagger
at him. But Gunwar knew her brother's purpose, and said,
in order to warn her betrothed of his peril, that no man could
be wise who took no forethought for himself. This speech
warned Erik to ward off the treachery, and he shrewdly under-
stood the counsel of caution. For at once he sprang up and [141]
said that the glory of the wise man would be victorious, but
that guile was its own punishment; thus censuring his treacher-
ous intent in very gentle terms. But the king suddenly flung
his knife at him, yet was too late to hit him; for he sprang
aside, and the steel missed its mark and ran into the wall
opposite. Then said Erik : " Gifts should be handed to friends,
and not thrown : thou hadst made the present acceptable if
thou hadst given the sheath to keep the blade company."
On this request the king at once took the sheath from his
girdle and gave it him, being forced to abate his hatred by the
self-control of his foe. Thus he was mollified by the prudent
feigning of the other, and with goodwill gave him for his own
the weapon which he had cast with ill will. And thus Erik,
by taking the wrong done him in a dissembling manner, turned
it into a favour, accepting as a splendid gift the steel which
had been meant to slay him. For he put a generous com-
plexion on what Erode had done with intent to harm. Then
they gave themselves up to rest. In the night Gunwar awoke
Erik silently, and pointed out to him that they ought to fly,
saying that it was very expedient to return with safe chariot
ere harm was done. He went with her to the shore, where he
happened to find the king's fleet beached: so, cutting away
part of the sides, he made it unseaworthy, and by again
replacing some laths he patched it so that the damage might
be unnoticed by those who looked at it. Then he caused the
vessel whither he and his company had retired to put off a
little from the shore.
The king prepared to give them chase with his mutilated
ships, but soon the waves rose deck-high ; and though he was
very heavily laden with his armour, he began to swim off
among the rest, having become more anxious to save his own
life than to attack that of others. The bows plunged over into
the sea, the tide flooded in and swept the rowers from their
seats. When Erik and Roller saw this they instantly flung
themselves into the deep water, spuming danger, and by
174 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
swimming picked up the king, who was tossing about.
Thrice the waves had poured over him and borne him down
when Erik caught him by the hair, and lifted him out of the
sea. The remaining crowd of the wrecked either sank in the
' waters, or got with trouble to the land. The king was stripped
of his dripping attire and swathed round with dry garments,,
and the water poured in floods from his chest as he kept belch-
ing it : his voice also seemed to fail under the exhaustion of
continual pantings. At last heat was restored to his limbs,,
which were numbed with cold, and his breathing became
quicker. He had not fully got back his strength, and could sit
[142] but not rise. Gradually his native force returned. But when
he was asked at last whether he sued for life and grace, he
put his hand to his eyes, and strove to lift up their down-
cast gaze. But as, little by little, power came back to his
body, and as his voice became more assured, he said^:
" By this light, which I am loth to look on, by this heaven
which I behold and drink in with little joy, I beseech and con-
jure you not to persuade me to use either any more. I wished
to die; ye have saved me in vain. I was not allowed to perish
in the waters ; at least I will die by the sword. I was un-
conquered before : thine, Erik, was the first wit to which I
yielded: I was all the more unhappy, because I had never been
beaten by men of note, and now I let a low-born man defeat me..
This is great cause for a king to be ashamed. This is a good
and sufficient reason for a general to die ; it is right that he
should care for nothing so much as glory. If he want that,,
then take it that he lacks all else. For nothing about a king
is more on men's lips than his repute. I was credited with
the height of understanding and eloquence. But I have been
stripped of both the things wherein I was thought to excels
and am all the more miserable because.!, the conqueror of
kings, am seen conquered by a peasant. Why grant life to
him whom thou hast robbed of honour ? I have lost sister,
1 He said . . .] M. well remarks upon the flow and comparative
classioality of Saxo's style in this fine speech, so full of the stoical Norse
sense of honour.
realm, treasure, household gear, and, what is greater than them
all, renown : I am luckless in all chances, and in all thy good
fortune is confessed. Why am I to be kept to live on for
all this ignominy ? What freedom can be so happy for me
that it can wipe out all the shame of captivity ? What
will all following time bring for me ? It can beget nothing
but long remorse in my mind, and will savour only of past
woes. What will prolonging of life avail, if it only brings
back the memory of sorrow ? To the stricken nought is
pleasanter than death, and that decease is happy which comes
at a man's wish, for it cuts not short any sweetness of his
days, but annihilates his disgust at all things Life in pros-
perity, but death in adversity, is best to seek. No hope of
better things tempts me to long for life. What hap can quite
repair my shattered fortunes ? And by now, had ye not
rescued me in my peril, I should have forgotten even these.
What though thou shouldst give me back my realm, restore
my sister, and renew my treasure ? thou canst never repair
my renown. Nothing that is patched up can have the lustre of
the unimpaired, and rumour will recount for ages that Frode
was taken captive. Moreover, if ye reckon the calamities I have
inflicted on you, I have deserved to die at your hands ; if ye
recall the harms I have done, ye will repent your kindness.
Ye will be a.shamed of having aided a foe, if ye consider how
savagely he treated you. Why do ye spare the guilty ?
Why do ye stay your hand from the throat of your persecutor? [143]
It is fitting that the lot which I had prepared for you should
come home to myself. I own that if I had happened to have
you in my power as ye now have me, I should have paid
no heed to compassion. But if I am innocent before you in
act, I am guilty at least in will. I pray you, let my wrongful
intention, which sometimes is counted to stand for the deed,
recoil upon me. If ye refuse me death by the sword I will
take care to kill myself with my own hand."
Erik rejoined thus : " I pray that the gods may turn thee
from the folly of thy purpose: turn thee, I say, that thou
mayst not try to end a most glorious life abominably. Why
176 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
surely the gods themselves have forbidden that a man who is
kind to others should commit unnatural self-murder. Fortune
has tried thee to find out with what spirit thou would st
meet adversit3^ Destiny has proved thee, not brought thee
low. No sorrow has been inflicted on thee which a happier lot
cannot efface. Thy prosperity has not been changed ; only a
warning has been given thee. No man behaves with self-control
in prosperity who has not learnt to endure adversity. Besides,
the whole use of blessings is reaped after misfortunes have been
graciously acknowledged. Sweeter is the joy which follows on
the bitterness of fate. Wilt thou shun thy life because thou hast
once had a drenching, and the waters closed over thee ? But
if the waters can crush thy spirit, when wilt thou with calm
courage bear the sword ? Who would not reckon swimming
away in his armour more to his glory than to his shame ?
How many men would think themselves happy were they
unhappy with thy fortune ? The sovereignty is still thine ;
thy courage is in its prime ; thy years are ripening ; thou
canst hope to compass more than thou hast yet achieved.
I would not find thee fickle enough to wish, not only to
shun hardships, but also to fling away thy life, because thou
couldst not bear them. None is so unmanly as he who from
fear of adversity loses heart to live. No wise man makes up
for his calamities by dying. Wrath against another is foolish,
but against a man's self it is foolhardy : and it is a coward
frenzy which dooms its owner. But if thou go without
need to thy death for some wrong suffered, or for some petty
perturbation of spirit, whom dost thou leave behind to avenge
thee ? Who is so mad that he would wish to punish the fickle-
ness of fortune by destroying himself ? What man has lived
so prosperously but that ill fate has sometimes stricken him ?
Hast thou enjoyed felicity unbroken and passed thy days
without a shock, and now, upon a slight cloud of sadness,^
dost thou prepare to quit thy life, only to save thy anguish ?
[144] If thou bear trifles so ill, how shalt thou endure the heavier
1 Cloud of sadness] tristitiae salebram, lit. " rugged, uneven way of
sadness" ; a phrase from Saio's favourite Valerius Maximus, vi, 9.
frowns of fortune ? Callow is the man who has never tasted
of the cup of sorrow ; and no man who has not suffered hard-
ships is temperate in enjoying ease. Wilt thou, who shouldst
have been a pillar of courage, show a sign of a palsied
spirit? Born of a brave sire, wilt thou display utter im-
potence ? Wilt thou fall so far from thy ancestors as to
turn softer than women ? Hast thou not yet begun thy
prime, and art thou already taken with weariness of life ?
Whoever set such an example before ? Shall the grandson of
a famous man, and the child of the unvanquished,be too weak
to endure a slight gust of adversity ? Thy nature portrays
the courage of thy sires : none has conquered thee, only thine
own heedlessness has hurt thee. We snatched thee from pei il,
we did not subdue thee; wilt thou give us hatred for love,
and set our friendship down as wrongdoing ? Our service
should have appeased thee, and not troubled thee. May the
gods never desire thee to go so far in frenzy, as to persist
in branding thy preserver as a traitor ! Shall we be guilty
before thee in a matter wherein we do thee good ? Shall we
draw anger on us for our service ? Wilt thou account him
thy foe whom thou hast to thank for thy life ? For thou
wert not free when we took thee, but in distress, and we
came in time to help thee. And, behold, I restore thy treasure,
thy wealth, thy goods. If thou thinkest thy sister was
betrothed to me over-hastily, let her marry the man whom
thou commandest; for her chastity remains inviolate. More-
over, if thou wilt accept me, I wish to fight for thee. Beware
lest thou wrongfully steel thy mind in anger. No loss of power
has shattered thee, none of thy freedom has been forfeited.
Thou shalt see that I am obeying, not commanding thee. I
agree to any sentence thou mayst pronounce against my life.
Be assured that thou art as strong here as in thy palace ; thou
hast the same power to rule here as in thy court. Enact
concerning us here whatsoever would have been thy will in
the palace : we are ready to obey." Thus much said Erik.
Now this speech softened the king towards himself as much
as towards his foe. Then, everything being arranged and made
N
178 SAXO GRAMMATICtrS.
friendly, they returned to the shore. The king ordered that
Erik and his sailors should be taken in carriages. But when
they reached the palace he had an assembly summoned, to
which he called Erik, and under the pledge of betrothal gave
him his sister and command over a hundred men.^ Then he
added that the queen would be a weariness to him, and that
the daughter of Gotar had taken his liking. He must, there-
fore, have a fresh embassy, and the business could best be
done by Erik, for whose efforts nothing seemed too hard.
He also said that he would stone Gotwar to death for her
[145] complicity in concealing the crime : but Hanund he would
restore to her father, that he might not have a traitress against
his life dwelling amongst the Danes. Erik approved his
plans, and promised his help to carry out his bidding ; except
that he declared that it would be better to marry the queen,
when she had been put away, to Roller, of whom his sove-
reignty need have no fears. This opinion Erode received
reverentially, as though it were some lesson vouchsafed from
above. The queen also, that she might not seem to be driven
by compulsion, complied, as women will, and declared that
there was no natural necessity to grieve, and that all distress
of spirit was a creature of fancy: and, moreover, that one
ought not to bewail the punishment that befell one's deserts.
And so the brethren celebrated their marriages together, one
wedding the sister of the king, and the other his divorced
queen.
Then they sailed back to Norway, taking their wives
with them. For the women could not be torn from the
side of their husbands, either by distance of journey or by
dread of peril, but declared that they would stick to their
lords like a feather to something shaggy. They found that
Ragnar was dead, and that Kraka had already married one
Brak. Then they remembered the father's treasure, dug up
the money, and bore it off. But Erik's fame had gone before
him, and Gotar had learnt all his good fortune. Now when
^ Command over 100 men] centurionatum, Dan. hcerad, a tract con-
taining 100 men. — M.
Ootar learnt that he had come himself, he feared that his
immense self-cotifidence would lead him to plan the worst
against the Norwegians, and was anxious to take his wife
from him and marry him to his own daughter in her place :
for his queen had just died, and he was anxious to marry
the sister of Frode more than anyone. Erik, when he learnt of
his purpose, called his men together, and told them that his
fortune had not yet got off from the reefs. Also he said that
he saw, that as a bundle that was not tied by a band fell to
pieces, so likewise the heaviest punishment that was not con-
strained on a man by his own fault suddenly collapsed. They
had experienced this of late with Frode : for they saw how at
the hardest pass their innocence had been protected by the help
of the gods : and if they continued to preserve it they should
hope for like aid in their adversity. Next, they must pretend
ilight for a little while, if they were attacked by Gotar, for so
they would have a juster plea for fighting. For they had
every right to thrust out the hand in order to shield the head
from peril. Seldom could a man carry to a successful end a
battle he had begun against the innocent ; so, to give them a
better plea for assaulting the, enemy, he must be provoked to
attack them first. Without more words he went home to visit [146]
Brak. Then he turned to Gunwar, and asked her,, in order to
test her fidelity, whether she had any love for Gotar, telling
her it was unworthy that a maid of royal lineage should be
bound to the bed of a man of the people. Then she began to
conjure him earnestly by the power of heaven to tell her
whether his purpose was true or feigned ? He said that he had
•spoken seriously, and she cried : " And so thou art prepared to
bring on me the worst of shame by leaving me a widow,
whom thou lovedst dearly as a maid ! Common rumour often i
speaks false, but I have been wrong in my opinion of thee.
I thought I had married a steadfast man ; I hoped his loyalty
was past question ; but now I find him to be more fickle than
the winds." Saying this, she wept abundantly. Dear to Erik
was his wife's indignation; presently he embraced her, and
said : " I wished to know how loyal thou wert to me. Nought
n2
180 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
but death has the right to sever us, but Gotar means to steal
thee away, seeking thy love by robbery. When he has com-
mitted the theft, pretend it is done with thy goodwill ; yet put
off" the wedding till he has given me his daughter in thy
place. When she has been granted, Gotar and I will hold our
marriage on the same day. And take care that thou prepare
rooms for our banqueting which have a common party-wall,
yet are separate ; lest perchance, if I were before thine eyes,
thou shouldst ruffle the king with thy lukewarm looks at
him. For this will be a most effective trick to baffle the wish
of the ravisher." Then he bade Brak lie in ambush not far
from the palace with a chosen band of his quickest men, that
he might help him at need.
Then he summoned Koller, and fled in his ship with his
wife and all his goods, in order to tempt the king out, pre-
tending panic. So, when he saw that the fleet of Gotar was
pressing him hard, he said : " Behold how the bow of guile
shooteth the shaft of treachery !" and instantly rousing his
sailors with the war-shout, he steered the ship about. Gotar
came close up to him and asked who was the pilot of the
ship, and he was told that it was Erik. He also shouted a
question whether he was the same man who by his marvellous
speaking could silence the eloquence of all other men. Erik,
when he heard this, replied that he had long since received
the surname of the "Shrewd-spoken", and that he had not won
the auspicious title for nothing. Then both went back to the
nearest shore, where Gotar, when he learnt the mission of
Erik, said that he wished for the sister of Frode, but would
rather offer his own daughter to Frode's envoy, that Erik
might not repent the passing of his own wife to another man.
[147] Thus it would not be uniitting for the fruit of the mission to
fall to the ambassador. Erik, he said, was delightful to him
as a son-in-law, if only he could win alliance with Frode
through Gunwar. Erik belauded the kindness of the king
and approved his judgment, declaring that he could not have
expected a greater thing from the immortal gods than what
was now offered him unasked. Still, he said, the king must
first discover Gunwar's own mind and choice. She accepted
the flatteries of the king with feigned goodwill, and seemed
to consent readily to his suit, hut besought him to suffer
Erik's nuptials to precede hers ; because, if Erik's were ac-
complished first, there would be a better opportunity for
the king's ; but chiefly on this account, that, if she were to
marry again, she might not be disgusted at her new marriage-
troth by the memory of the old recurring. She also declared
it inexpedient for two sets of preparations to be confounded
in one ceremony. The king was prevailed upon by her
answers, and highly approved her requests. His constant
talks with Erik furnished him with a store of most fair-
shapen maxims, wherewith to rejoice and refresh his mind.
So, not satisfied with giving him his daughter in marriage,
he also made over to him the district of Lither,^ thinking that
their connection deserved some kindness. Now Kraka, whom
Erik, because of her cunning in witchcraft, had brought with
him on his travels, feigned weakness of the eyes, and mufiled
up her face in her cloak, so that not a single particle of her
head was visible for recognition. When people asked her who
she was, she said that she was Gunwar's sister, child of the
same mother but a different father.
Now when they came to the dwelling of Gotar, the wedding-
feast of Alfhild (this was his daughter's name) was being held.
Erik and the king lay at meat in different rooms, with a
party-wall in common, and also entirely covered on the inside
with hanging tapestries. Gunwar sat by Gotar, but Erik sat
close between Kraka on the one side and Alfhild on the other.
Amid the merrymaking, he gradually drew a lath out of the
wall, and made an opening large enough to allow the passage
of a human body ; and thus, without the knowledge of the
guests, he made a space wide enough to go through. Then, in
the course of the feast, he began to question his betrothed
closely whether she would rather marry himself or Erode :
1 The district of Lither] Lirhar-fylki, according to Holder, is Lier, near
Drammen in Norway. The older commentators wrongly identity it with
Lister, a tract in Mandal.
182 SAXO GEAMMATICTTS.
especially sincej if due heed were paid to matches, the daughter
of a king ought to go to the arms of one as nobl^ as her-
self, so that the lowliness of one of the pair might not im-
pair the lordliness of the other. She said that she would
never marry against the permission of her father; but he
1^148] turned her aversion into compliance by promises that she
should be queen, and that she should be richer than all other
women, for she was captivated by the promise of wealth quite
as much as of glory. There is also a tradition that Kraka
turned the maiden's inclinations to Frode by a drink which she
mixed and gave to her.
Now Gotar, after the. feast, in order to make the marriager
mirth go fast, and furious, went to the revel of Erik. As he
passed out, Gunwar, as she had been previously bidden,
went through the hole in the party-wall where the lath
had been removed, and took the seat next to Erik. Gotar
marvelled that she was sitting there by his side, and began to
ask eagerly how and why she had come there. She said that
she was Gunwar's sister, and that the king was deceived by
the likeness of their looks. And when the king, in order to
look into the matter, hurried back to the royal room, Gun-
war returned through the back door by which she had come
and sat in her old place in the sight of all. Gotar, when he
saw her, could scarcely believe his eyes, and in the utmost
doubt whether he had recognised her ai'ight, he retraced his
steps to Erik ; and there he saw before him Gunwar, who had
got back in her own fashion. And so, as often as he changed to
go from one hall to the other, he found her whom he sought in
either place. By this time the king was tormented by great
wonder at what was no mere likeness, but the very same face
in both places. For it semed flatly impossible that diflferent
people should look exactly and undistinguishably alike. At
last, when the revel broke up, he courteously escorted his
daughter and Erik as far as their room, as the manner is at
weddings, and went back himself to bed elsewhere.
But Erik suflered Alfhild, who was destined for Frode, to
lie apart, and embraced Gunwar as usual, thus outwitting the
king. So Gotar passed a sleepless night, revolving how he
had been apparently deluded with a dazed and wandering
mind : for it seemed to him no mere lilceness of looks, but
sameness. Thus he was filled with such wavering and doubt-
fid judgment, that though he really discerned the truth he
thought he must have been mistaken. At last it flashed
across his mind that the wall might have been tampered with.
He gave orders that it should be carefully surveyed and
examined, but found no traces of a breakage: in fact, the
entire room seemed to be whole and unimpaired. For Erik,
early in the night, had patched up the damage of the broken
wall, that his trick might not be detected. Then the king
sent two men privily into the bedroom of Erik to learn the
truth, and bade them stand behind the hangings and note all
things carefully. They further received orders to kill Erik if
they found him with Gunwar. They went secretly into the
room, and, concealing themselves in the curtained corners, [149]
beheld Erik and Gunwar in bed together with arms entwined.
Thinking them only drowsy, they waited for their deeper sleep,
wishing to stay until a heavier slumber gave them a chance to
commit their crime. Erik snored lustily, and they knew it was
a sure sign that he slept soundly ; so they straightway came
forth with drawn blades in order to butcher him. Erik was
awakened by their treacherous onset, and, seeing their swords
hanging over his head, called out the name of his stepmother, ^
to which long ago he had been bidden to appeal when in peril ;
and he found a speedy help in his need. For his shield, which
hung aloft from the rafter, instantly fell and covered his
unarmed body, and, as if on purpose, covered it from impale-
ment by the cutthroats. He did not fail to make use of his
luck, but, snatching his sword, lopped off both feet of the
nearest of them. Gunwar, with equal energy, ran a spear
through the other: she had the body of a woman, but the
spirit of a man.
Thus Erik escaped the trap ; whereupon be went back to
I His stepmother] Kraka. See above, p. 159.
184 SAXO GBAMMATICUS.
the sea and made ready to sail off by night. But Roller
sounded on his horn the sisnal for those who had been bidden
to watch close by, to break into the palace. When the king
heard this, he thought it meant that the enemy was upon
them, and made off hastily in a ship. Meanwhile Brak, and
those who had broken in with him, snatched up the goo^s
of the king, and got them on board Erik's ships. Almost hajlf
the night was spent in pillaging. In the morning, when the
king found that they had fled, he prepared to pursue them,,
but was advised by one of his friends not to plan anything
on a sudden, or do it in haste. His friend, indeed, tried to
convince him that he needed a larger equipment, and that it
was ill-advised to pursue the fugitives to Denmark with a
handful. But neither could this curb the king's impetuous
spirit ; it could not bear the loss ; for nothing had stung him
more than this, that his preparations to slay another should
have recoiled on his own men. So he sailed to the harbour
which is now called (3mi.^ Here the weather began to be bad,
provision failed, and they thought it better, since die they
must, to die by the sword than by famine. And so the
sailors turned their hand against one another, and hastened
their end by mutual blows. The king with a few men took
to the cliffs and escaped. Lofty barrows still mark the scene
of the slaughter. Meanwhile Erik ended his voyage fairly,
and the wedding of Alfhild and Erode was kept.
[150] Then came tidings of an inroad of the Sclavs, and Erik
was commissioned to suppress it with eight ships, since Erode
as yet seemed inexperienced in war. Erik, loth ever to flinch
from any manly undertaking, gladly undertook the business,
and did it bravely. Learning that the pirates had seven
ships, he sailed up to them with only one of his own, ordering
the rest to be girt with timber parapets, and covered over
with pruned boughs of trees. Then he advanced to observe
the number of the enemy more fully, but when the Sclavs
pursued closely, he beat a quick retreat to his men. But the
1 Omi] ab Orni, conjectured to be the harbour once called i Aumum,
in the province of Jaederen (Stavanger).
enemy, blind to the trap, and as eager to take the fugitives,
rowed smiting the waters fast and incessantly. For the
ships of Erik could not be clearly distinguished, looking
like a leafy wood. The enemy, after venturing into a wind-
ing strait, suddenly saw themselves surrounded by the fleet
of Erik. First, confounded by the strange sight, they thought
that a wood was sailing ; and then they saw that guile lurked
under the leaves. Therefore, tardily repenting their rash-
ness, they tried to retrace their incautious voyage : but while
they were trying to steer about, they saw the enemy boarding
them. Erik, however, put his ship ashore, and slung stones
against the enemy from afar. Thus most of the Sclavs were
killed, and forty taken, who afterwards, under stress of bonds
and famine, and in strait of divers torments, gave up the
ghost.
Meantime Erode, in order to cross on an expedition into
Sclavia, had mustered a mighty fleet from the Danes, as well
as from neighbouring peoples. The smallest boat of this fleet
could carry twelve sailors, and be rowed by as many oars.
Then Erik, bidding his men await him patiently, went to tell
Erode the tidings of the defeat he had inflicted. As he sailed
along he happened to see a pirate ship aground on some
shallows ; and being wont to utter weighty words upon chance
occurrences, he said, " Obscure is the lot of the base-born, and
mean is the fortune of the lowly." Then he brought his ship
up close and destroyed the pirates, who were trying to get ofl"
their own vessel with poles, and busily engrossed in saving
her. This accomplished, he made his way back to the king's
fleet ; and wishing to cheer Erode with a greeting that hei'alded
his victory, he said, " Hail to the maker of a most prosperous
peace ! "^ The king prayed that his word might come true, and [151]
declared that the spirit of the wise man was prophetic. Erik
answered that he spoke truly, and that the petty victory
brought an omen of a greater one ; declaring that a presage of
great matters could often be got from trifles. Then the king
^ A most prosperous peace] Tliis is the first suggestion of Frode's title,
The Peaceful, Fredegod.
186 S AXO GRAMMATICUS.
counselled him to scatter his force, and ordered the horsemen
o£ Jutland to go by the land way, while the rest of the army
went by the short sea-passage. But the sea was covered with
such a throng of vessels, that there were not enough harbours
to take them in, nor shores for them to encamp on, nor money
for their provisions ; while the land army is said to have been
so great that, in order to shorten the way, it levelled mountains,
made marshes passable, filled up pits with material, and the
hugest chasms by casting in great boulders.
Meanwhile Strunik the King of the Sclavs sent envoys to
ask for a truce : but Frode refused him time to equip himself,
saying that an enemy ought not to be furnished with a truce.
Moreover, he said, he had hitherto passed his life without
experience of war, and now he ought not to delay its begin-
ning by waiting in doubt : for the man that conducted his
first campaign successfully might hope for as good fortune in
the rest. For each side would take the augury afforded by
the first engagements as a presage of the combat ; since the
preliminary successes of war were often a prophecy of the
sequel. Erik commended the wisdom of the reply, declaring
that the game ought to be played abroad just as it had been
begun at home : meaning that the Danes had been challenged
by the Sclavs. After these words he fought a furious battle,
slew Strunik with the bravest of his race, and received the
surrender of the rest. Then Frode called the Sclavs together,
and proclaimed by a herald that any man among them who
had been trained to theft or plunder should be speedily
given up ; promising that he would reward the chai-acter of
such men with the highest honours. He also ordered that all
of them who were versed in evil arts should come forth to
have their reward. This offer pleased the Sclavs : and some
of them, tempted by their hopes of the gift, betrayed them-
selves with more avarice than judgment, before the others
could make them known. These were misled by such great
covetousness, that they thought less of shame than lucre, and
accounted as their glory what was really their guilt. When
these had given themselves up of their own will, he said :
"Sclavs! this is the pest from which you must clear your
land yourselves." And straightway he ordered the exe-
cutioners to seize them, and had them fixed upon the highest
gallows by the hand of their own countrymen. The punishers
looked fewer than the punished. And thus the shrewd king,
by refusing to those who owned their guilt the pardon which [152]
he granted to the conquered foe, destroyed almost the entire
stock of the Sclavic race. Thus the longing for an undeserved
reward was visited with a deserved penalty, and the thirst for
an undue wage justly punished. I should think that these
men were rightly delivered to their doom, who brought the
peril on their own heads by speaking, when they could have
saved their lives by the protection of silence.
The king, exalted by the honours of his fresh victory, and
loth to seem less strong in justice than in battle, resolved to
remodel his army by some new laws, some of which are
retained by present usage, while others men have chosen to
abolish for new ones, (a) For he decreed, when the spoil was
divided, that each of the vanguard^ should receive a greater
share than the rest of the soldiery : while he granted all gold
that was taken to the generals (before whom the standards
were always borne in battle) on account of their rank ; wishing
the common soldiers to be content with silver. He ordered
that the arms should go to the champions, but the captured
ships should pass to the common people, as the due of those
who had the right of building and equipping vessels, (b) Also
he forbade that anyone should venture to lock up his house-
hold goods, as he would receive double the value of any losses
from the treasury of the king ; but if anyone thought fit to
keep it in locked cofiers, he must pay the king a gold mark,
(c) He also laid down that anyone who spared a thief should
be punished as a thief, (d) Further, that the first man to
^ Each of the vanguard] primipilus quisque (so below) : possibly,
"each captain of a division". These are provisions which Saxo thinks
befit the king of the supposed age of peace, contemporary with the birth
of Christ. They rest upon old traditions of a great legal reformer, a
Danish Lycurgus of the past.
188 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
■flee in battle should forfeit all common rights, (e) But when
he had returned into Denmark he wished to amend by good
measures any corruption caused by the evil practices o£ Grep^;
and therefore granted women free choice in marriage, so that
there might be no compulsory wedlock. And so he provided
by law that women should be held duly married to those
whom they had wedded without consulting their fathers.
{/) But if a free woman agreed to marry a slave, she must
fall to his rank, lose the blessing of freedom, and adopt the
standing of a slave, (g) He also imposed on men the statute
that they must marry any woman whom they had seduced.
(h) He ordained that adulterers should be deprived of a
member by the lawful husbands, so that continence might not
be destroyed by shameful sins, (i) Also he ordained that if
a Dane plundered another Dane, he should repay double, and
be held guilty of a breach of the peace, (fc) And if any man
were to take to the house of another- anything which he had
got by thieving, his host, if he shut the door of his house
behind the man, should incur forfeiture of all his goods, and
should be beaten in full assembly, being regarded as having
made himself guilty of the same crime. (Q Also, whatsoever
exile should turn enemy to his country, or bear a shield
[153] against his countrymen,^ should be punished with the loss of
life and goods, (m) But if any man, from a contumacious
spirit, were slack in fulfilling the orders of the king, he should
be punished with exile. For, on an occasion of any sudden and
urgent war, an arrow of wood, looking like iron,^ used to be
passed on everywhere from man to man as a messenger, (n)
But if any one of the commons went in front of the vanguard
in battle, he was to rise from a slave into a freeman, and from
a peasant into a nobleman ; but if he were nobly -born already,
he should be created a governor.* So great a guerdon did
1 Evil practices of Grep] See above, p. 150, etc.
2 Bear a shield against his countrymen] inimicum, civilnis scutum
afferret, Dan. atfSre avindskiold miod riget, an old legal phrase.
^ An arrow of wood looking like iron] Dan. vidiebrand.
* Governor of a district] satrapa, Icel, lendrma'Sr. — M.
valiant men earn of old; and thus did the ancients think
noble rank the due of bravery. For it was thought that the
luck a man had should be set down to his valour, and not his
valour to his luck, (o) He also enacted that no dispute should
be entered on with a promise made under oath and a gage
deposited^ ; but whosoever requested another man to deposit a
gage against him should pay that man half a gold mark, on
pain of severe bodily chastisement. For the king had fore-
seen that the greatest occasions of strife might arise from
the depositing of gages, (p) But he decided that any quarrel
whatsoever should be decided by the sword, thinking a combat
of weapons more honourable than one of words. But if either
of the combatants drew back his foot, and stepped out of the
ring of the circle previously marked, he was to consider himself
conquered, and suffer the loss of his case. But a man of the
people, if he attacked a champion on any score, should be
armed to meet him ; but the champion should only fight with
a truncheon an ell long, (g) Further, he appointed that if an
alien killed a Dane, his death should be redressed by the
slaying of two foreigners.
Meanwhile, Gotar, in order to punish Erik, equipped his
army for war : and Frode, on the other side, equipped a great
fleet to go against Norway. When both alike had put into
Rennes-Isle, Gotar, terrified by the greatness of Frode's
name, sent ambassadors to pray for peace. Erik said to them,
" Shameless is the robber who is the first to seek peace, or
ventures to offer it to the good. He who longs to win must
struggle : blow must counter blow, malice repel malice."
Gotar listened attentively to this from a distance, and then
said, as loudly as he could: "Each man fights for valour
according as he remembers kindness." Erik said to him : " I
have requited thy kindness by giving thee back counsel."
By this speech he meant that his excellent advice was worth
more than all manner of gifts. And, in order to show that
■ No dispute . . . gage deposited] Such as those of Gotwar and
Westmar with Erik, above, p. 171. There need be no reference to a
lawsuit.
190 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
Gotar was ungrateful for the counsel he had received, he said :
[154] "When thou desiredst to take my life and my wife, thou didst
mar the look of thy fair example. Only the sword has the
right to decide between us." Then Gotar attacked the fleet of
the Danes ; he was unsuccessful in the engagement, and slain.
Afterwards Roller received his realm from Frode as a gift;
it stretched over seven provinces. Erik likewise presented
RoUer with the province which Gotar had once bestowed upon
him. After these exploits Frode passed three years in com-
plete and tranquil peace.
Meanwhile the King of the Huns, when he heard that his
daughter had been put away, allied himself with 01m ar. King
of the Easterlings,^ and in two years equipped an armament
against the Danes. So Frode levied an army not only of
native Danes, but also of Norwegians and Sclavs. Erik,
whom he had sent to spy out the array of the enemy, found
Olmar, who had received the command of the fleet, not far
from Russia ; while the King of the Huns led the land forces.
He addressed Olmar thus :
" What means, prithee, this strong equipment of war ? Or
whither dost thou speed. King Olmar, mighty in thy fleet ?"
Olmar. "We are minded to attack the son of Fridleif. And
who art thou, whose bold lips ask such questions ?"
Erilc. "Vain hope of conquering the unconquered hath filled
thy heart ; over Frode no man can prevail."
Olmar. " Whatsoever befalls, must once happen for the first
time ; and often enough the unexpected comes to pass."
By this saying he let him know that no man must put too
much trust in fortune. Then Erik rode up to inspect the army
of the Huns. As it passed by him, and he in turn by it, it
showed its vanguard to the rising and its rear to the setting sun.
So he asked those whom he met, who had the command of all
those thousands. Hun, the King of the Huns, happened to see
him, and heard that he had undertaken to reconnoitre, and asked
[155] what was the name of the questioner. Erik said he was the man
who came everywhere and was found nowhere. Then the king,
1 Easterlinga] Orientalium, inhabitants of W. Eussia.
"when an interpreter was brought, asked what work Frode was ^
about. Erik replied, " Frode never waits at home for a hostile
army, nor tarries in his house for his foe. For he who covets
the pinnacle of another's power must watch and wake all night.
No man has ever won a victory by snoring, and no wolf has
ever found a carcass by lying asleep."
The king, perceiving that he was a cunning speaker of
choice maxims, said : '' Here, perchance, is that Erik who, as I
have heard, accused my daughter falsely."
But Erik, when they were bidden to seize him instantly,
said that it was unseemly for one man to be dragged off
by many ; and by this saying he not only appeased the mind
of the king, but even inclined him to be willing to pardon him.
But it was clear that this impunity came moi-e from cunning
than kindness ; for the chief reason why he was let go was
that he might terrify Frode by the report of their vast
numbers. When he returned, Frode bade him relate what he
had discovered, and he said that he had seen six kings each
with his fleet^ ; and that each of these fleets contained five
thousand ships, each ship being known to hold three hundred
rowers. Each millenary of the whole total he said consisted of
four wings: now, since the full number of a wing is three
hundred, he meant that a millenary should be understood to
contain twelve hundred men. When Frode wavered in doubt
what he could do against so many, and looked eagerly round
for reinforcements, Erik said : "Boldness helps the righteous : a
valiant dog must attack the bear : we want wolf-hounds, and
not little unwarlike birds." This said, he advised Frode to
muster his fleet. When it was drawn up they sailed off"
against the enemy; and so they fought and subdued the
islands lying between Denmark and the East; and as they
advanced thence, met some ships of the Rutenian fleet. Frode
thought it shameful to attack such a handful, but Erik said :
" We must seek food from the gaunt and lean. He who falls
1 Six kings each with his fleet] Grand total, 10,800,000 men, reckoning
(with Saxo) each " hundred" (seeled. Diet. a. v. hundraS) as equal to 120,
according to the Old Norse duodecimal system.
192 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
shall seldom fatten, nor has that man the power to bite
whom the huge sack has devoured."^ By this warning he
cured the king o£ all shame about making an assault, and
presently induced him to attack a small number with a
throng ; for he showed him that advantage must be counted
before honour.
After this they went on to meet Olniar, who because of the
[156] slowness of his multitude preferred awaiting the enemy to
attacking it ; for the vessels of the Rutenians seemed dis-
organised, and, owing to their size, not so well able to row. But
not even did the force of his multitudes avail him. For the ex-
traordinary masses of the Rutenians were stronger in numbers
than in bravery, and yielded the victory to the stout handful
of the Danes. When Frode tried to return home, his voyage
encountered an unheard-of difficulty. For the crowds of dead
bodies, and likewise the fragments of shields and spears,
bestrewed the entire gulf of the sea, and tossed on the tide, so
that the harbours were not only straitened, but stank. The
vessels stuck, hampered amid the corpses. They could neither
thrust off with oars, nor drive away with poles, the rotting
carcasses that floated around, or prevent, when they had put
one away, another rolling up and driving against the fleet.
You would have thought that a war had arisen with the
dead, and there was a strange combat with the lifeless.
So Frode summoned the nations which he had conquered,
and enacted (a) that any father of a family who had fallen
in that war should be buried with his horse and all his
arms and decorations. And if any body-snatcher, in his
abominable covetousness, made an attempt on him, he was to
suffer for it, not only with his life, but also with the loss of
burial for his own body ; he should have no barrow and no
funeral. For he thought it just that he who despoiled
another's ashes should be granted no burial, but should repeat
1 He who falls . . . has devoured] The moral of the first clause is to
fell your enemy so that he may not thrive ; of the second, that the beast
safely in the sack [i.e., the enemy in your power] cannot bite: loel. Ekki
Mtr Vat i helg leggr. Saxo renders belg by follis.
feook FIVE. 193
in his own person the fate he had inflicted on another. He
appointed that the body of a centurion or governor^ should
receive funeral on a pyre built of his own ship. He ordered
that the bodies of every ten pilots^ should be burnt together
with a single ship, but that every earP or king that was killed
should be put on his own ship and burnt with it. He wished
this nice attention to be paid in conducting the funerals of the
slain, because he wished to prevent indiscriminate obsequies.
By this time all the kings of the Russians except Olmar and
Dag had fallen in battle. (&) He also ordered the Russians to
conduct their warfare in imitation of the-Danes, and (c) never
to marry a wife without buying her. He thought that bought
marriages would have more security, believing that the troth
which was sealed with a .price was the safest, (d) Moreover,
anyone who durst attempt the violation of a virgin was to be
punished with the severance of his bodily parts, or else to
requite the wrong of his intercourse with a thousand talents,
(e) He also enacted that any man that applied himself to
war, who aspired to the title of tried soldier, should attack
a single man, should stand the attack of two, should only [iS7]
withdraw his foot a little to avoid three, but should not blush
to flee from four. (/) He also proclaimed that a new custom
concerning the pay of the soldiers should be observed by the
princes under his sway. He ordered that each native soldier
and house-carl* should be presented in the winter season
with three marks* of silver, a common or hired soldier with
two, a private soldier who had finished his service^ with only
' Centurion or governor] centurionis vel satrapae. M. thinks that
Saxo means the same oflScial by these two words, namely the governor
of a district.
^ Pilots] gubernatorum. Perhaps "captains". Compare the account
of Harald Hyldetatl's death in Bk. viii. , and p. 166. ' Earl] ducem.
* Native soldier and house-carl] patrium domestiavumque militem. See
below, note 6.
5 Three marks (talentd) of silver] ' ' nolumus computationem huius summae
instituere ; haeo enim, omnia pro modulo aetatis aureae instituta sunt." — M.
' Who had finished his service] militiae laboribus defunctum. This
is the plain meaning ; but M. interprets quemvis e plebe ad militiam
O
194 sAxo gramMaticuS.
one. By this law he did injustice to valour, reckoning the
rank of the soldiers and not their courage ; and he was open
to the charge of error in the matter, because he set familiar
acquaintance above desert.
After this the king asked Erik whether the army of the
Huns was as large as the forces of Olimar, and Erik answered
in the following song :
" By Hercules, I came on a countless throng, a throng that
neither earth nor wave could hold. Thick flared all their
camp-fires, and the whole wood blazed up; the flame be-
tokened a numberless array. The earth sank under the fray-
ing of the horse-hoofs ; the creaking waggons rattled swiftly.
The wheels rumbled, the driver rode upon the winds, so
that the chariots sounded like thunder. The earth hardly
bore the throngs of men-at-arms, speeding on confusedly:
they trod it, but it could not bear their weight. I thought
that the air crashed and the earth was shaken, so mighty was
the motion of the stranger army. For I saw fifteen standards
flickering at once ; each of them has a hundred^ lesser stand-
ards, and after each of these could have been seen twenty ;
and the captains in their order were equal in number to the
standards."
Now when Erode asked wherewithal he was to resist so
many, Erik instructed him that he must return home and
sufler the enemy first to perish of their own hugeness. His
counsel was obeyed, the advice being approved as heartily as it
was uttered. But the Huns went on through pathless deserts,
and, finding provisions nowhere, began to run the risk of
general starvation ; for it was a huge and swampy district,
and nothing could be found to relieve their want. At last,
emcahmi, qui per aestatem vel in castris vel in claese meruerat ; thus being
compelled to establish a distinction between privatus of this sentence,
and the "native soldier" of the previous one ; whom he has to identify
with the house-carl {domesticus mUes), making -que equivalent to "or".
1 A hundred] If we are to press the poet's arithmetic, the centum
would probably represent the O. Norse hvndraS, or a hundred and twenty;
thus bringing the mythical total up to 36,000.
when the beasts of burden had been cut down and eaten,
they began to scatter, lacking carriages as much as food.
Now their straying from the road was as perilous to them
as their hunger. Neither horses nor asses were spared, nor
did they refrain from filthy garbage. At last they did not
even spare dogs: to dying men every abomination was law- [158]
ful ; for there is nothing too hard for the bidding of extreme
need. At last, when they were worn out with hunger,
there came a general mortality. Bodies were carried out
for burial without end, for all feared to perish, and none
pitied the perishing. Fear indeed had cast out humanity.
So first the divisions deserted from the king little by little ;
and then the army melted away by companies. He was also
deserted by the prophet Ygg,^ a man of unknown age, which
was prolonged beyond the human span : this man went as
a deserter to Frode, and told him of all the preparations of
the Huns.
Meanwhile Hedin, prince of a considerable tribe of the
Norwegians, approached the fleet of Frode with a hundred
and fifty vessels. Choosing twelve out of these, he proceeded
to cruise nearer, signalling the approach of friends by a shield
raised on the mast. He thus greatly augmented the forces of
the king, and was received into his closest friendship. A
mutual love afterwards arose between this man and Hilda,
the daughter of Hogni, a chieftain of the Jutes, and a maiden
of most eminent renown. For, though they had not yet seen
one another, each had been kindled by the other's glory.
But when they had a chance of beholding one another; neither
could look away ; so steadfast was the love that made their
eyes linger.
Meanwhile, Frode distributed his soldiers through the
towns, and carefully gathered in the materials needed for the
winter supplies ; but even so he could not maintain his army,
with its burden of expense : and plague fell on him almost
as great as the destruction that met the Huns. Therefore, to
1 Ygg] Uggerus, a name of Odin.
196 SAXO GRAMMAtlCVS.
prevent the influx of foreigners, he sent a fleet to the Elbe to
take care that nothing should cross ; the admirals were Eevil
and Mevil. When the winter broke up, Hedin and Hogni
resolved to make a roving-raid together ; for Hogni did not
know that his partner was in love with his daughter. Now
Hogni was of unusual stature, and stiff in temper ; while
Hedin was very comely, but short. Also, when Frode saw
that the cost of keeping up his army grew daily harder to
bear, he sent Roller to Norway, Olmar to Sweden, King Onef
and Glomer, a rover captain, to the Orkneys for supplies, each
with his own forces. Thirty kings followed Frode, and were
[159] his friends or vassals. But when Hun heard that Frode had
sent away his forces he mustered another and a fresh army.
But Hogni betrothed his daughter to Hedin, after they had
sworn to one another that whichever of them should perish
by the sword should be avenged by the other.
In the autumn, the men in search of supplies came back,
but they were richer in trophies than in food. For Roller had
made tributary the provinces Sundmor and Nordmor, after
slaying Arthor^ their king. But Olmar conquered Thor the
Long, the King of the Jemts and the Helsings, with two other
captains of no less power, and also took Esthonia and Kur-
land, and the isles that fringe Sweden ; thus he was a most
renowned conqueror of savage lands. So he brought back 700
ships, thus doubling the numbers of those previously taken out.
Onef and Glomer, Hedin and Hogni, won victories over the
Orkneys, and returned with 900 ships. And by this time
revenues had been got in from far and wide, and there were
ample materials gathered by plunder to recruit their resources.
They had also added twenty kingdoms to the sway of Frode,
whose kings, added to the thirty named before, fought on the
side of , the Danes. Thus trusting in their strength, they
engaged with the Huns. Such a carnage broke out on the
first day of this combat that the three chief rivers of Russia
1 Arthor] Arthorius, rather the Norse name Arnthor, than any
allusion to Arthur.
were bestrewn with a kind of bridge of corpses, and could
be crossed and passed over. Also the traces of the massacre
spread so wide that for the space of three days' ride the
ground was to be seen covered with human carcasses. So,
when the battle had been seven days prolonged. King Hun
fell ; and his brother of the same name, when he saw the line
of the Huns giving way, without delay surrendered himself
and his company. In that war 170 kings, who were either
Huns or fighting amongst the Huns, surrendered to the king.
This great number Erik had comprised in his previous de-
scription of the standards, when he was giving an account
of the multitude of the Huns in answer to the questions of
Frode. So Frode summoned the kings to assembly, and im-
posed a rule upon them that they should all live under one
and the same laAV. Now he set Olmar over Holmgard ; Onef
over Conogard ; and he bestowed Saxony on Hun his prisoner,
and gave Revil the Orkneys. To one Dimar he allotted
the management of the provinces of the Helsings, of the
Jarnbers, and the Jemts, as well as both Laplands; while on
Dag he bestowed the government of Esthonia. Each of these
men he burdened with fixed conditions of tribute, thus
making allegiaiice a condition^of his kindness. So the realms
of Frode embraced Russia on the east, and on the west were [i6o]
bounded by the Rhine.
Meantime certain slanderous tongues accused Hedin to
Hogni of having tempted and defiled his daughter before the
rites of betrothal; which was then accounted an enormous
crime by all nations. So the credulous ears of Hogni drank
in this lying report, and with his fleet he attacked Hedin, who
was collecting the king's dues among the Slavs ; there was
an engagement, and Hogni was beaten, and went to Jutland.
And thus the peace instituted by Frode was disturbed by
intestine war, and natives were the first to disobey the king's
law. Frode, therefore, sent men to summon them both at
once, and inquired closely what was the reason of their
feud. When he had heard it, he gave judgment according to
the terms of the law he had enacted ; but when he saw tha
198 SAXO GKAMMATICUS.
even this could not reconcile them (for the father obstinately-
demanded his daughter back), he decreed that the quarrel
should be settled by the sword — it seemed the only remedy
for ending the dispute. The fight began, and Hedin was
grievously wounded ; but when he began to lose blood and
bodily strength, he received unexpected mercy from his enemy.
For though Hogni had an easy chance of killing him, yet,
pitying his youth and beauty, he constrained his cruelty to
give way to clemency. And so, loth to cut off a stripling who
was panting at his last gasp, he refrained his sword. For
of old it was accounted shameful to deprive of his life one
who was ungrown or a weakling ; so closely did the antique
bravery of champions take heed of all that could incline them
to modesty. So Hedin, with the help of his men, was taken
back to his ship, saved by the kindness of his foe.
In the seventh year after, these same men began to fight
on Hedin's isle, and wounded each other so that they died.
Hogni would have been lucky if he had shown severity rather
than compassion to Hedin when he had once conquered him.
They say that Hilda longed so ardentlj'' for her husband, that
she is believed to have conjured up the spirits of the com-
batants by her spells in the night in order to renew the war.
At the same time came to pass a savage war between Alrik,
king of the Swedes, and Gestiblind, king of the Goths. The
latter, being the weaker, approached Frode as a suppliant,
willing, if he might get his aid, to surrender his kingdom and
himself. He soon received the aid of Skalk, the Skanian, and
Erik, and came back with reinforcements. He had determined
[i6i] to let loose his attack on Alrik, but Erik thought that he
should first assail his son Gunthion, governor of the men of
Wermland and Solongs,^ declaring that the storm-weary
mariner ought to make for the nearest shore, and moreover
that the rootless trunk seldom burgeoned. So he made an
attack, wherein perished Gunthion, whose tomb records his
name. Alrik, when he heard of the destruction of his son,
1 Solongs] Dwellers in the Soleyar, named below.
hastened to avenge him, and when he had observed his
enemies, he summoned Erik, and, in a secret interview, re-
counted the leagues of their fathers, imploring him to refuse
to fight for Gestihlind. This Erik steadfastly declined, and
Alrik then asked leave to fight Gestihlind, thinking that a
duel was better than a general engagement. But Erik said
that Gestihlind was unfit for arms by reason of old age,
pleading his bad health, and above all his years ; but offered
himself to fight in his place, explaining that it would be
shameful to decline a duel on behalf of the man for whom he
had come to make a war. Then they fought without delay :
Alrik was killed, and Erik was most severely wounded ; it
was hard to find remedies, and he did not for a long time
recover health. Now a false report had come to Erode that
Erik had fallen, and was tormenting the king's mind with
sore grief ; but Erik dispelled this sadness with his welcome
return ; indeed, he reported to Erode that by his efforts
Sweden, Wermland, Helsingland^ and the islands of the Sun
[Soleyar] had been added to his realm. Erode straightway
made him king of the nations he had subdued, and also
granted to him Helsingland with the two Laplands, Einland
and Esthonia, under a yearly tribute. None of the Swedish
kings before him was called by the name of Erik, but the
title passed from him to the rest.
At the same time Alf was king in Hethmark, and he had a
son Asmund. Biorn ruled in the province of Wik, and had a
son Aswit. Asmund was engaged on an unsuccessful hunt,
and while he was proceeding either to stalk the game with
dogs or to catch it in nets, a mist happened to come on. By
this he was separated from his snarers on a lonely track,
wandered over the dreary ridges, and at last, destitute of horse
and clothing, ate fungi and mushrooms, and wandered on aim-
lessly till he came to the dwelling of King Biorn. Moreover,
1 Helsingland] M. brackets this word, thinking it a gloss, on the
ground that Helsingland has been already named as conquered and made
tributary by Olmar ; but inconsistency in a story like this is seldom
sufficient ground for doubting a reading.
206 SAXO GRAMMATICXTS.
the son of the king and he, when they had lived together a
short while, swore By every vow, in order to ratify the friend-
ship which they observed to one another, that whichever of
[162] them lived longest should be buried with him who died. For
their fellowship and love were so strong, that each determined
he would not prolong his days when the other was cut off by
death.
After this Frode gathered together a host of all his subject
- nations, and attacked Norway with his fleet, Erik being bidden
to lead the land force. For, after the fashion of human greed,
the more he gained the more he wanted, and would not suffer
even the dreariest and most rugged region of the world to
escape this kind of attack ; so much is increase of wealth
wont to encourage covetousness. So the Norwegians, casting
away all hope of self-defence, and losing all confidence in
their power to revolt, began to flee for the most part to
Halogaland. The maiden Stikla also withdrew from her
country to save her chastity, preferring the occupations of
war to those of wedlock.
Meanwhile Aswid died of an illness, and was consigned with
his horse and dog to a cavern in the earth. And Asmund,
because of his oath of friendship, had the courage to be buried
with him, food being put in for him to eat.
Now just at this time Erik, who had crossed the uplands
with his army, happened to draw near the barrow of Aswid ;
and the Swedes, thinking that treasures were in it, broke
the hill open with mattocks, and saw disclosed a cave deeper
than they had thought. To examine it, a man was wanted,
who would lower himself on a hanging rope tied round him.
One of the quickest of the youths was chosen by lot; and
Asmund, when he saw him let down in a basket following
a rope, straightway cast him out and climbed into the basket.
Then he gave the signal to draw him up to those above who
were standing by and controlling the rope. They drew in
the basket in the hopes of a great treasure ; but when they
saw the unknown figure of the man. they had taken out, they
were scared by his extraordinary look, and, thinking that
the dead had come to life, flung down the rope and fled all
ways. For Asmund looked ghastly and seemed to be covered
as with the corruption of the charnel. He tried to recall the
fugitives, and began to clamour that they were wrongfully
afraid of a living man. And when Erik saw him, he marvelled
most at the aspect of his bloody face : the blood flowing forth
and spurting over it. For Aswid had come to life in the nights,
and in his continual struggles had wrenched oif his left ear ;
and there was to be seen the horrid sight of a raw and un-
healed scar. And when the bystanders bade him tell how he
had got such a wound, he began to speak thus : —
" Why stand ye aghast, who see me colourless ? Surely [163]
every live man fades among the dead. Evil to the lonely man,
and burdensome to the single, remains every dwelling in the
world.^ Hapless are they whom chance hath bereft of human
help. The listless night of the cavern, the darkness of the
ancient den, have taken all joy from my eyes and soul. The
ghastly ground, the crumbling barrow, and the heavy tide of
filthy things have marred the grace of my youthful counten-
ance, and sapped my wonted pith and force. Besides all this,
I have fought with the dead, enduring the heavy burden and
grievous peril of the wrestle ; Aswid rose again and fell on
me with rending nails, by hellish might renewing ghastly
warfare after he was ashes.
" Why stand ye aghast, who see me colourless ? Surely
every live man fades among the dead.
" By some strange enterprise of the power of hell the spirit
of Aswid was sent up from the nether world, and with cruel
tooth eats the fleet-footed [horse], and has given his dog to
his abominable jaws. Not sated with devouring the horse or
hound, he soon turned his swift nails upon me, tearing my
cheek and taking oflT my ear. Hence the hideous sight of
my slashed countenance, the blood-spurts in the ugly wound.
Yet the bringer of horrors did it not unscathed ; for soon I
cut off his head with my steel, and impaled his guilty carcase
with a stake.
1 Every dwelling in the world] omnis domus orbis. St. explains
" the whole dwelling of this world", vasta mundi fabrua, which is
strained.
202 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
" Why stand ye aghast who see me colourless ? Surely
every live man fades among the dead."
Frode had by this taken his fleet over to Halogaland ; and
here, in order to learn the numbers of his host, which seemed
to surpass all bounds and measure that could be counted, he
ordered his soldiers to pile up a hill, one stone being cast upon
the heap for each man. The enemy also pursued the same
method of numbering their host, and the hills are still to be
seen to convince the visitor. Here Frode joined battle with
the Norwegians, and the day was bloody. At nightfall
both sides determined to retreat. As daybreak drew near,
[164] Erik, who had come across the land, came up and advised the
king to renew the battle. In this war the Danes suffered such
slaughter that out of 3,000 ships only 170 are supposed to
have survived. The Northmen, however, were exterminated
in such a mighty massacre, that (so the story goes) there were
not men left to till even a fifth of their villages.
Frode, now triumphant, wished to renew peace among all
nations, that he might ensure each man's property from the
inroads of thieves and now ensure peace to his realms after
war. So he hung one bracelet on a crag which is called Frode's
Rock, and another in the district of Wig, after he had addressed
the assembled Norwegians ; threatening that these necklaces
should serve to test the honesty which he had decreed, and
threatening that if they were filched punishment should fall
on all the governors of the district. And thus, sorely im-
perilling the oiBBcers, there was the gold unguarded, hanging
up full in the parting of the roads, and the booty, so easy to
plunder, a temptation to all covetous spirits, (a) Frode also
enacted that seafarers should freely use oars wherever they
found them ; while to those who wished to cross a river he
granted free use of the horse which they found nearest to the
ford. He decreed that they must dismount from this horse
when its fore feet only touched land and its hind feet were
still washed by the waters. For he thought that services
such as these should rather be accounted kindness than
wrongdoing. Moreover, he ordained that whosoever durst
Book five. 203
try and make further use of the horse after he had crossed
the river should be condemned to death, {b) He also ordered
that no man should hold his house or his coffer under lock
and key, or should keep anything guarded by bolts, promis-
ing that all losses should be made good threefold, (c) Also,
he appointed that it was lawful to claim as much of another
man's food for provision as would suffice for a single supper.
If ainyone exceeded this measure in his takings, he was to be
held guilty of theft. Now, a thief (so he enacted) was to be
hung up with a sword passed through his sinews, with a wolf
fastened by his side, so that the wicked man might look like
the savage beast, both being punished alike. He also had the
same penalty extended to accomplices in thefts. Here he
passed seven most happy years of peace, begetting a son Alf
and a daughter Eyfura.^
It chanced that in these days Arngrim, a champion of
Sweden, who had challenged, attacked, and slain Skalk the
Skanian because he had once robbed him of a vessel, came to [165]
Frode. Elated beyond measure with his deed, he ventured to
sue for Frode's daughter ; but, finding the king deaf to him,
he asked Erik, who was ruling Sweden, to help him. Erik
advised him to win Frode's goodwill by some illustrious
service, and to fight against Egther, the King of Permland,
and Thengil, the King of Finmark, since they alone seemed
to repudiate the Danish rule, while all men else sub-
mitted. Without delay he led his army to that country.
Now, the Finns are the uttermost peoples of the North, who
have taken a portion of the world that is barely habitable to
till and dwell in. They are very keen spearmen, and no
nation has a readier skill in throwing the javelin. They fight
with large, broad arrows ; they are addicted to the study of
spells ; they are skilled hunters. Their habitation is not
fixed, and their dwellings are migratory: they pitch and
settle wherever they have caught game. Riding on curved
boards [skees . or snow-skates], they run over ridges thick
1 Eyfura] Ofura. The correction, adopted from Gheysmer, for the
Osv/ra of ed. pr.
204 SAXO GBAMMATICUS.
with snow. These men Arngrim attacked, in order to win
renown, and he crushed them. They fought with ill success ;
but, as they were scattering in flight, they cast three pebbles
behind them, which they caused to appear to the eyes of the
enemy like three mountains. Arngrim's eyes were dazzled
and deluded, and he called back his men from the pursuit of the
enemy, fancying that he was checked by a barrier of mighty
rocks. Again, when they engaged and were beaten on the
morrow, the Finns cast snow upon the ground and made it
look like a mighty river. So the Swedes, whose eyes were
utterly deluded, were deceived by their misjudgment, for it
seemed the roaring of an extraordinary mass of waters. Thus,
the conqueror dreading the unsubstantial phantom of the
waters, the Finns managed to escape. They renewed the war
again on the third day ; but there was no effective means of
escape left any longer, for when they saw that their lines
were falling back, they surrendered to the conqueror. Arngrim
imposed on them the following terms of tribute : that the
number of the Finns should be counted, and that, after the
lapse of [every] three years, every ten of them should pay
a carriageful of deer-skins by way of assessment. Then he
challenged and slew in single combat Egther, the captain
of the men of Permland, imposing on the men of Perm-
land the condition that each of them should pay one skin.
Enriched with these spoils and trophies, he returned to Erik,
who went with him into Denmark, and poured loud praises of
the young warrior into the ear of Frode, declaring that he
who had added the ends of the world to his realm deserved
[i66] his daughter. Then Frode, considering his splendid deserts,
thought it was not amiss to take for son-in-law a man who
had won wide-resounding fame by such a roll of noble deeds.
Arngrim had twelve sons by Eyfura, whose names I here
subjoin : Brand,^ Biarbe, Brodd, Hiarrande ; Tand, Tyrfing,
1 Brand, etc.] These names fall into three sets of four, each of which
constitutes an Icelandic verse of a familiar type, with two alliterations in
the first half and one in the second. They first occur in the list in
Hyndlo-ljdd, Corp. Poet. Bor., i, 230 ; and also in Orvar-Odd's Saga, with
variations in the first four.
SOOK FIVE. 205
two Haddings ; Hiortuar, Hiartuar, Hrane, Anganty. These
followed the business of sea-roving from their youth up ;
and they chanced to sail all in one ship to the island Samsd,
where they found lying off the coast two ships belonging to
Hialmar and Arvarodd [Arrow-Odd] the rovers. These ships
they attacked and cleared of rowers ; but, not knowing whether
they had cut down the captains, they fitted the bodies of the
slain to their several thwarts, and found that those whom they
sought were missing. At this they were sad, knowing that the
victory they had won was not worth a straw, and that their
safety would run much greater risk in the battle that was to
come. In fact, Hialmar and Arvarodd, whose ships had been
damaged by a storm, which had torn off their rudders, went
into a wood to hew another ; and, going round the trunk with
their axes, pared down the shapeless timber until the huge
stock assumed the form of a marine implement. This they
shouldered, and were bearing it down to the beach, ignorant
of the disaster of their friends, when the sons of Eyfura, reek-
ing with the fresh blood of the slain, attacked them, so that
they two had to fight many ; the contest was not even equal,
for it was a band of twelve: against two. But the victory
did not go according to the numbers. For all the sons of
Eyfura were killed ; Hialmar was slain by them, but Arvarodd
gained the honours of victory, being the only survivor left by
fate out of all that band of comrades. He, with an incredible
effort, poised the still shapeless hulk of the rudder, and drove
it so strongly against the bodies of his foes that, with a single
thrust of it, he battered and crushed all twelve. And so,
though they were rid of the general storm of war, the band of
rovers did not yet quit the ocean.
This it was that chiefiy led Frode to attack the West, for
his one desire was the spread of peace. So he summoned
Erik, and mustered a fleet of all the kingdoms that did
him allegiance, and sailed to Britain with numberless ships.
But the king of that island, perceiving that he was unequal
in force (for the ships seemed to cover the sea), went to Frode,
affecting to surrender, and not only began to flatter his great- [167]
206 &XX0 GEAMMATiCUg.
ness, but also promised to the Danes, the conquerors of nations,
the submission of himself and of his country ; proffering taxes,
assessment, tribute, what they would. Finally, he gave them
a hospitable invitation. Frode was pleased with the courtesy
of the Briton, though his suspicions of treachery were kept
by so ready and unconstrained a promise of everything, so
speedy a surrender of the enemy before fighting ; such oifers
being seldom made in good faith. They were also troubled
with alarm about the banquet, fearing that as drunkenness
came on their sober wits might be entangled in it, and attacked
by hidden treachery. So few guests were bidden, moreover,
that it seemed unsafe for them to accept the invitation ; and
it was further thought foolish to trust their lives to the
good faith of an enemy whom" they did not know. And
when the king found their minds thus wavering he again
approached Frode, and invited him to the banquet with 2,400
men; having before bidden him to come to the feast with
1,200 nobles. Frode was encouraged by the increase in the
number of guests, and was able to go to the banquet with greater
inward confidence ; but he could not yet lay aside his suspi-
cions, and privily caused men to scour the interior and let him
know quickly of any treachery which they might espy. On
this errand they went into the forest, and, coming upon the
array of an armed encampment belonging to the forces of the
Britons, they halted in doubt, but hastily retraced their steps
when the truth was apparent. For the tents were dusky in
colour, and muffled in a sort of pitchy coverings, that they
might not catch the eye of anyone who came near. When
Frode learned this, he arranged a -counter-ambuscade with
a strong force of nobles, that he might not go heedlessly to
the banquet, and be cheated of timely aid. They went into
hiding, and he warned them that the note of the trumpet was
the signal for them to bring assistance. Then with a select
band, lightly armed, he went to the banquet. The hall was
decked with regal splendour ; it was covered all round with
crimson hangings of marvellous rich handiwork. A curtain
of purple dye adorned the panelled walls. The flooring
was bestrewn with bright mantles, which a man would fear
to trample on. Up above was to be seen the twinkle of
many lanterns, the gleam of lamps lit with oil ; and the
censers poured forth fragrance whose sweet vapour was laden
with the choicest perfumes. The whole way was blocked by [i68]
the tables loaded with good things; and the places for reclining
were decked with gold-embroidered couches; the seats were
full of pillows. The majestic hall seemed to smile upon the
guests, and nothing could be noticed in all that pomp either
inharmonious to the eye or offensive to the smell. In the
midst of the hall stood a great butt ready for refilling the
goblets, and holding an enormous amount of liquor ; enough
could be drawn from it for the huge revel to drink its fill.
Servants, dressed in purple, bore golden cups, and courteously
did the office of serving the drink, pacing in ordered ranks.
Nor did they fail to offer the draught in the horns of the
wild ox.^ The feast glittered with golden bowls, and was
laden with shining goblets, many of them studded with flash-
ing jewels. The place was filled with an immense luxury ;
the tables groaned with the dishes, and the bowls brimmed
over with divers liquors. Nor did they use wine pure and
simple, but, with juices sought far and wide, composed a
nectar of many flavours. The dishes glistened with delicious
foods, being filled mostly with the spoils of the chase;
though the flesh of tame animals was not lacking either. The
natives took care to drink more sparingly than the guests ;
for the latter felt safe, and were tempted to make an orgie ;
while the others, meditating treachery, had lost all tempta-
tion to be drunken. So the Danes, who, if I may say so with
my country's leave, were seasoned to drain the bowl against
each other, took quantities of wine. The Britons, when they
saw that the Danes were very drunk, began gradually to slip
away from the banquet, and, leaving their guests within the
hall, made immense efforts, first to block the doors of the palace
by applying bars and all kinds of obstacles, and then to set
1 Wild ox IbubaliHorum : the great-horned wild ox is meant.
208 SAXO GRAMMATIdUS.
fire to the house. The Danes were penned inside the hall,
and when the fire began to spread, battered vainly at the
doors ; but they could not get out, and soon attempted to make
a sally by assaulting the wall. And the Angles, when they saw
that it was tottering under the stout attack of the Danes,
began to shove against it on their side, and to prop the
staggering pile by the application of large blocks on the out-
side, to prevent the wall being shattered and releasing the
prisoners. But at last it yielded to the stronger hand of the
Danes, whose efforts increased with their peril ; and those
pent within could sally out with ease. Then Frode bade
the trumpet strike in, to summon the band that had been
posted in ambush ; and these, roused by the note of the clang-
ing bugle, caught, the enemy in their own trap : for the King
of the Britons, with countless hosts of his men, was utterly
[169] destroyed. Thus the band helped Frode doubly, being both
f the salvation of his men and the destruction of his enemies.
Meantime the renown of the Danish bravery spread far,
and moved the Irish to strew iron calthrops on the ground, in
order to make their land harder to invade, and forbid access
to their shores. Now the Irish use an armour which is light
and easy to procure. They crop the hair close with razors, and
shave all the hair off the back of the head, that they may not
be seized by it when they run away. They also turn the
points of their spears towards the assailant, and deliberately
point their sword against the pursuer ; and they generally
fling their lances behind their back, being more skilled at
conquering by flight than by fighting. Hence, when you
fancy that the victory is yours, then is the moment of danger.
But Frode was wary and not rash in his pursuit of the foe
who fled so treacheroifsly, and he routed Kervil [Cearbal], the
leader. of the nation, in battle. Kervil's brother survived, but
lost heart for resistance, and surrendered his country to the
king [Frode], who distributed among his soldiers the booty he
had won, to show himself free from all covetousness and
excessive love of wealth, and only ambitious to gain honour.
After the triumphs in Britain and the spoiling of the Irish
they went back to Denmark ; and for thirty years there was
a pause from all warfare. At this time the Danish name
became famous over the whole world almost for its extra-
ordinary valour. Frode, therefore, desired to prolong and
establish for ever the lustre of his empire, and made it
his first object to inflict severe treatment upon thefts and
brigandage, feeling these were domestic evils and intestine
plagues, and that if the nations were rid of them they would
come to enjoy a more tranquil life ; so that no ill-will should
mar and hinder the continual extension of peace. He also
took care that the land should not be devoured by any
plague at home when the enemy was at rest, and that in-
testine wickedness should not encroach when there was peace
abroad. At last he ordered that in Jutland, the chief district
of his realm, a golden bracelet, very heavy, should be set
up on the highways : wishing by this magnificent prize to
test the honesty which he had enacted. Now, though the
minds of the dishonest were vexed with the provocation it
furnished, and the souls of the evil tempted, yet the un-
questioned dread of danger prevailed. For so potent was
the majesty of Frode, that it guarded even gold that was
thus exposed to pillage, as though it were fast with bolts and
bars. The strange device brought great glory upon its in- [170]
ventor. After dealing destruction everywhere, and gaining
famous victories far and wide, he resolved to bestow quiet on
all men, that the cheer of peace should follow the horrors
of war, and the end of slaughter might be the beginning of
safety. He further thought that for the same reason all
men's property should be secured to them by a protective
decree, so that what had been saved from a foreign enemy
might not find a plunderer at home.
About the same time, the Author of our general salvation,
coming to the earth in order to save mortals, bore to put on
the garb of mortality ; at which time the fires of war were
quenched, and all the lands were enjoying the calmest and
most tranquil peace. It has been thought that the peace then
shed abroad so widely, so even and uninterrupted over the
P
2 10 ylXO GRAMMATldXJg.
'\ whole world, attended not so much an earthly rule as that
divine birth ; and that it was a heavenly provision that this
extraordinary gift of time should be a witness to the presence
of Him who created all times.
Meantime a certain matron, skilled in sorcery, who trusted
in her art more than she feared the severity of the king,
tempted the covetousness of her son to make a secret effort
for the prize ; promising him impunity, since Frode was
almost at death's door, his body failing, and the remnant of
his doting spirit feeble. To his mother's counsels he objected
the greatness of the, peril ; but she bade him take better hope,
declaring, that either a sea-cow should have a calf, or that the
king's vengeance should be baulked by some other chance.
By this speech she banished her son's fears, and made him
obey her advice. When the deed was done, Frode, stung
by the affront, rushed with the utmost heat and fury to raze
the house of the matron, sending men on to arrest her and
bring her with her children. This the woman foreknew, and
deluded her enemies by a trick, changing from the shape
of a woman into that of a mare. When Frode came up
she took the shape of a sea-cow, and seemed to be straying
and grazing about the shore; and she also made her sons
look like calves of smaller size. This portent amazed the
king, and he ordered that they should be . surrounded and
cut off from returning to the waters. Then he left the
carriage, which he used because of the feebleness of his aged
body, and sat on the ground marvelling. But the mother,
who had taken the shape of the larger beast, charged at the
king with outstretched tusk, and pierced one of his sides.
The wound killed him ; and his end was unworthy of such
majesty as his. His soldiers, thirsting to avenge his death,
threw their spears and transfixed the monsters, and saw, when
[171] they were killed, that they were the corpses of human beings
with the heads of wild beasts : a circumstance which exposed
the trick more than anything.
', So ended Frode, the most famous king in the whole world.
' The nobles, when he had been disembowelled, had his body
fiOOK I'lVE. 211
kept embalmed for three years, for they feared the provinces
would rise if the king's end were published. And they
wished his death to be concealed above all from foreigners,
so that by the pretence he was alive they might preserve
the boundaries of that empire, which had been extended for
so long ; and that, on the strength of the ancient authority
of their general, they might extract the usual tribute from
their subjects. So the lifeless corpse was carried away by
them in such a way that it seemed to be taken, not in a
funeral bier, but in a royal carriage, as if it were a due and
proper tribute from the soldiers to an infirm old man not
in full possession of his forces. Such splendour did his
friends bestow on him even in death. But when his limbs
rotted, and were seized with extreme decay, and when the
corruption could not be arrested, they buried his body with a
royal funeral in a barrow near Waere, a bridge of Zealand ;
declaring that Frode had desired to die and be buried in
what was thought the chief province of his kingdom.
END OF BOOK FIVE.
V 2
[172] After the death of Frode, the Danes wrongly supposed that
Fridleif, who was being reared in Russia, had perished ; and,
thinking that the sovereignty halted for lack of an heir, and
that it could no longer be kept on in the hands of the royal
line, they considered that the sceptre would be best deserved
by the man who should affix to the yet fresh grave of Frode
a song of praise in his glorification, and commit the renown
r of the dead king to after ages by a splendid memorial. Then
I one HiARN, very skilled in writing Danish poetry, wishing to
\ give the fame of the hero some notable record of words, and
1 tempted by the enormous prize, composed, after his own
/ fashion, a barbarous stave. Its purport, expressed in four
lines, I have transcribed as follows :
' " Frode, whom the Danes would have wished to live long,
\they bore long through their lands when he was dead. The
great chief's body, with this turf heaped above it, bare earth
covers under the lucid sky."
When the composer of this song had uttered it, the Danes
rewarded him with the crown. Thus they gave a kingdom
for an epitaph, and the weight of a whole empire was
presented to a little string of letters. Slender expense for so
vast a guerdon ! This huge payment for a little poem
exceeded the glory of Caesar's recompense^ ; for it was enough
for the divine Julius to pension with a township the writer
and glorifier of those conquests which he had achieved
over the whole world. But now the spendthrift kindness of
the populace squandered a kingdom on a churl. Nay, not
1 Ceesar's (.recompense] Saxo appears to be thinking of the reward
which Pompey is said to have given to Theophanesof Mytilene. (Cicero
'Pro Archia, 9.)
even Afrieanus/ when he rewarded the records of his deeds,
rose to the munificence of the Danes. For there the wage of [173]
that laborious volume was in mere gold, while here a few
callow verses won a sceptre for a peasant.
At the same time Erik, who held the governorship of
Sweden, died of disease ; and his son Halfdan, who governed
in his father's stead, alarmed by the many attacks of twelve
brothers of Norwegian birth, and powerless to punish their
violence, fled, hoping for reinforcements, to ask aid of Fridleif,
then sojourning in Russia. Approaching him with a sup-
pliant face, he lamented that he was himself shattered and
bruised by a foreign foe, and brought a dismal plaint of
his wrongs. From him Fridleif heard the tidings of his father's
death, and granting the aid he sought, went to Norway
in armed array. At this time the aforesaid brothers, their
allies forsaking them, built a very high rampart within an
island surrounded by a swift stream, also extending their
earthworks along the level. Trusting to this refuge, they
harried the neighbourhood with continual raids. For they
built a bridge on which they used to get to the mainland
when they left the island. This bridge was fastened to the
gate of the stronghold ; and they worked it by the guidance
of ropes, in such a way that it turned as if on some revolving
hinge, and at one time let them pass across the river ; while
at another, drawn back from above by unseen cords, it helped
to defend the entrance. Now these warriors were of valiant
temper, young and stalwart, of splendid bodily presence,
renowned for victories over giants, full of trophies of con-
quered nations, and wealthy with spoil. I record the names
of some them — for the rest have perished in antiquity —
Gerbiorn, Gunbiorn, Arinbiorn, Stenbiorn, Esbiorn, Thor-
biom, and Biorn. Biorn is said to have had a horse which
was splendid and of exceeding speed, so that when all the rest
were powerless to cross the river it alone stemmed the roar-
1 Africanus] The reference is again obscure. M. quotes, from Pro
Archia 9, a belief that Ennius was honoured with a, statue in the tomb
of the Scipios. Livy (xxxviii, 56) refers to three statues on the monu-
ment of the Scipios, one of which was said to be of Ennius.
214 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
ing eddy without weariness. This rapid comes down in so
swift and sheer a volume that animals often lose all power of
swimming in it, and perish. For, trickling from the topmost
crests of the hills, it comes down the steep sides, catches on
the rocks, and is shattered, falling into the deep valleys with
a manifold clamour of waters ; but, being straightway rebuffed
by the rocks that bar the way, it keeps the speed of its
current ever at the same even pace. And so, along the
[174] whole length of the channel, the waves are one- turbid mass,
and the white foam brims over everywhere. But, after
rolling out of the narrows between the rocks, it spreads
abroad in a slacker and stiller flood, and turns into an
island a rock that lies in its course. On either side of the
rock juts out a sheer ridge, thick with divers trees, which
screen the river from distant view. Biorn had also a dog of
extraoi-dinary fierceness, a terribly vicious brute, dangerous
for people to live with, which had often singly destroyed
twelve men. But, since the tale is hearsay rather than cer-
tainty, let good judges weigh its credit. This dog, as I have
heard, was the favourite of the giant Offbt [Un-foot], and used
to watch his herd amid the pastures.
Now the warriors, who were always pillaging the neigh-
bourhood, used often to commit great slaughters. Plundering
houses, cutting down cattle, sacking everything, making great
hauls of booty, rifling houses, then burning them, massacring ,
male and female promiscuously — these, and not honest deal-
ings, were their occupations. Fridleif surprised them while
on a reckless raid, and drove them all back for refuge to
the stronghold ; he also seized the immensely powerful horse,
whose rider, in the haste of his panic, had left it on the
hither side of the river in order to fly betimes ; for he
durst not take it with him over the bridge. Then Fridleif
proclaimed that he would pay the weight of the dead body
in gold to any man who slew one of those brothers. The
hope of the prize stimulated some of the champions of the
king ; and yet they were fired not so much with covetous-
ness as with valour ; so, going secretly to Fridleif, they
promised to attempt the task, vowing to sacril&ce their lives
if they did not bring home the severed heads of the robbers.
Fridleif praised their valour and their vom^s, but bidding the
onlookers wait, went in the night to the river, satisfied with
a single companion. For, not to seem better provided with
other men's valour than with his own, he determined to fore-
stall their aid by his own courage. Thereupon he crushed
and killed his companion with a shower of flints, and flung
his bloodless corpse into the waves, having dressed it in his
own clothes ; which he stripped off", borrowing the cast-off
garb of the other, so that when the corpse was seen it might
look as if the king had perished. He further deliberately
drew blood from the beast on which he had ridden, and be-
spattered it, so that when it came back into camp he might
make them think he himself was dead. Then he set spur
to his horse and drove it into the midst of the eddies, crossed
the liver and alighted, and tried to climb over the rampart
that screened the stronghold by steps set up against the
mound. When he got over the top and could grasp the
battlements with his hand, he quietly put his foot inside,
and, without the knowledge of the watch, went lightly on
tiptoe to the house into which the bandits had gone to carouse.
And when he had reached its hall, he sat down under the
porch overhanging the door. Now the strength of their fast- U/SJ
ness made the warriors feel so safe that they were tempted
to a debauch ; for they thought that the swiftly rushing river
made their garrison inaccessible, since it seemed impossible
either to swim over or to cross in boats. For no part of the
river allowed of fording. Then Biorn, filled with the mirth
of the revel, said that in his sleep he had seen a beast come
out of the waters, which spouted ghastly fire from its
mouth, enveloping everything in a sheet of flame. Therefore
the holes and corners of the island should, he said, be searched ;
nor ought they to trust so much to their position, as rashly
to let overweening confidence bring them to utter ruin. No
situation was so strong that the mere protection of nature
was enough for it without human effort. Moreover they
216 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
must take great care that the warning of his slumbers was
not followed by a yet more gloomy and disastrous fulfilment.
So they all sallied forth from the stronghold, and narrowly
scanned the whole circuit of the island ; and finding the horse,
they surmised that Fridleif had been drowned in the waters
of the river. They received the horse within the gates with
rejoicing, supposing that it had flung ofi" its rider and swum
over. But Biorn, still scared with the memory of the visions
of the night, advised them to keep watch, since it was not
safe for them yet to put aside suspicion of danger. Then he
went to his room to rest, with the memory of his vision
deeply stored in his heart. Meanwhile the horse, which
Fridleif, in order to spread a belief in his death, had
besprinkled with blood (though only with that which lies
between flesh and skin), burst all bedabbled into the camp of
his soldiers. They went straight to the river, and finding the
carcase of the slave, took it for the body of the king; the
hissing eddies having cast it on the bank, dressed in brave
attire. . Nothing helped their mistake so much as the swelling
of the battered body ; inasmuch as the skin was torn and
bruised with the flints, so that all the features were blotted
out, bloodless and wan. This exasperated the champions who
had just promised Fridleif to see that the robbers were extir-
pated : and they approached the perilous torrent, that they
might not seem to tarnish the honour of their promise by a
craven neglect of their vow. The rest imitated their bold-
ness, and with equal ardour went to the river, ready to avenge
their king or to endure the worst. When Fridleif saw them
he hastened to lower the bridge to the mainland ; and when
he had got the champions he cut down the watch at the first
[176] attack. Thus he went on to attack the rest and put them to
the sword, all save Biorn ; whom he tended very carefully and
cured of his wounds ; whereupon, under pledge of solemn oath,
he made him his colleague, thinking it better to use his services
than to boast of his death. He also declared it would be shame-
ful if such a flower of bravery were plucked in his first youth
and perished by an untimely death.
Now the Danes had long ago had false tidings of Fridleif's
death, and when they found that he was approaching, they sent
men to fetch him, and ordered Hiarn to quit the sovereignty,
because he was thought to be holding it only on sufferance and
carelessly. But he could not bring himself to resign such an
honour, and chose sooner to spend his life for glory than pass
into the dim lot of common men. Therefore he resolved to
fight for his present estate, that he might not have to resume
his former one stripped of his royal honours. Thus the land
was estranged and vexed with the hasty commotion of civil
strife ; some were of Hiarn's party, while others agreed to the
claims of Fridleif, because of the vast services of Frode ; and
the voice of the commons was perplexed and divided, some of
them respecting things as they were, others the memory of the
past. But regard for the memory of Frode weighed most, and
its sweetness gave Fridleif the balance of popularity. For
many men of deeper understanding thought that a man of
peasant rank should be removed from th« sovereignty ; since,^
contrary to the rights of birth, and only by the favour of
fortune, he had reached an unhoped-for eminence ; and in
order that the unlawful occupant might not debar the rightful
heir to the office. Fridleif told the envoys of the Danes to
return, and request Hiarn either to resign the kingdom or to
meet him in battle. Hiarn thought it more grievous than
death to set lust of life before honour, and to seek safety at
the cost of glory. So he met Fridleif in the field, was
crushed, and fled into Jutland, where, rallying a band, he
again attacked his conqueror. But his men were all con-
sumed with the sword, and he fled unattended, as the island
testifies which has taken its name from his [Hiarno]. And
so, feeling his lowly fortune, and seeing himself almost stripped
of his forces by the double defeat, he turned his mind to craft,
and went to Fridleif with his face disguised, meaning to be-
come intimate, and find an occasion to slay him treacherously.
He was received by the king, and awhile hid his purpose
under the pretence of servitude. For, giving himself out as a
^ Since] Ed. pr. and Holder have qiianquam; Madvig emended qrwniam.
218 SAXO GRAMMATICTTS.
salt-distiller, he performed base offices among the servants
who did the filthiest work. He used also to take the last
[ ' 77'\ place at meal-time, and he refrained from the baths, lest his
multitude of scars should betray him if he stripped. The
king, in order to ease his own suspicions, made him wash ;
and when he knew his enemy by the scars, he said : " Tell
me now, thou shameless bandit, how wouldst thou have dealt
with me, if thou hadst found out plainly that I wished to
murder thee ?" Hiarn, stupified, said : " Had I caught thee I
would have first challenged thee, and then fought thee, to give
thee a better chance of wiping out thy reproach." Fridleif
presently took him at his word, challenged him and slew him,
and buried his body in a barrow that bears the dead man's name.
Soon after Fkidleif was admonished by his people to think
about marrying, that he might prolong his line ; but he main-
tained that the unmarried life was best, quoting his father
Frode, on whom his wife's wantonness had brought great
dishonour. At last, yielding to the persistent entreaties of all,
he proceeded to send ambassadors to ask for the daughter of
Amund, King of Norway. One of these, named Frok, was
swallowed by the waves in mid-voyage, and shewed a strange
portent at his death. For when the closing flood of billows
encompassed him, blood arose in the midst of the eddy,
and the whole face of the sea was steeped with an alien red-
ness, so that the ocean, which a moment before was foaming
and white with tempest, was . presently swollen with crimson
waves, and was seen to wear a colour foreign to its nature.
But Amund implacably declined to consent to the wishes of
the king, and treated the legates shamefully, declaring that he
spumed the embassy because the tyranny of Frode had of
old borne so heavily upon Norway. But Amund's daughter,
Frogertha, not only looking to the birth of Fridleif, but also
honouring the glory of his deeds, began to upbraid her father,
because he scorned a son-in-law whose nobility was perfect,
being both sufficient in valour and flawless in birth. She
added that the portentous aspect of the sea, when the waves
were suddenly turned into blood) simply and solely signified
the defeat of Norway, and was a plain presage of the victory
of Denmark. And when Fridleif sent a further embassy to
ask for her, wishing to vanquish the refusal by persistency,
Araund was indignant that a petition he had once denied
should be obstinately pressed, and hurried the envoys to
death, wishing to ofi'er a brutal check to the zeal of this brazen
wooer. Fridleif heard news of this outrage, and summoning
Halfdan and Biorn, sailed round Norway. Amund, equipped [178]
with his native defences, put out his fleet against him. The
firth into which both fleets had mustered is called Frokasund.
Here Fridleif left the camp at night to reconnoitre; and,
hearing an unusual kind of sound close to him as of brass
being beaten, he stood still and looked up, and heard the
following song of three swans, who were crying above him :
" While Hythin sweeps over the sea and cleaves the ravening
tide, his serf drinks out of gold and licks the cups of milk.
Best is the estate of the slave on whom waits the heir, the
king's son, for their lots are rashly interchanged." Next,
after the birds had sung, a belt fell from on high, which
showed writing to interpret the song. For while the son of
Hythin, the King of Tellemark,' was at his boyish play, a giant,
assuming the usual appearance of men, had carried him off,
and using him as an oarsman (having taken his skiff over to
the neighbouring shore), was then sailing past Fridleif while
he was occupied reconnoitring. But the king would not
suffer him to use the service of the captive youth, and longed
to rob the spoiler of his prey. The youth warned him that
he must first use sharp reviling against the giant, promising
1 Son of Hythin, the King of Tellemark] The words Hythin nomine
are in ed. pr. applied to the giant. M. transfers them to the king, in
order to make thom consistent with the sequel, p. 223, where Fridleif is
said to win for Halfdan "Hythin's daughter, whom he had once freed
from a monster". There, Hythin ia a king and not a giant. But the present
passage is helped little by this transposition. The swan-song clearly
says, not that Hythin's son, but that Hythin, "sweeps the sea", while
the base slave, namely the giant, sits by drinking. The suggestion of St.
to read filiam for filium, on the strength of the passage on p. 223, does
not help this difficulty, and some confusion still remains;
220 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
that he would prove easy to attack, if only he were assailed
with biting verse. Then Fridleif began thus :
" Since thou art a giant of three bodies, invincible, and
almost reachest heaven with thy crest, why does this silly
sword bind thy thigh ? Why doth a broken spear gird thy
huge side ? Why perchance dost thou defend thy stalwart
breast with a feeble sword, and forget the likeness of thy
bodily stature, trusting in a short dagger, a petty weapon ?
Soon, soon will I balk thy bold onset, when with blunted blade
thou attemptest war. Since thou art thyself a timid beast,
a lump lacking proper pith, thou art swept headlong like
a flying shadow, having with a fair and famous body got a
[179] heart that is unwarlike and unstable with fear, and a spirit
quite unmatched to thy limbs. Hence thy frame totters,
for thy goodly presence is faulty through the overthrow of thy
soul, and thy nature in all her parts is at strife. Hence shall
all tribute of praise quit thee, nor shalt thou be accoi;nted
famous among the brave, but shalt be reckoned among ranks
obscure."
When he had said this he lopped ofl" a hand and foot of the
giant, made him fly, and set his prisoner free. Then he
went straightway to the giant's headland, took the treasure
out of his cave, and carried it away. Rejoicing in these
trophies, and employing the kidnapped youth to row him over
the sea, he composed with cheery voice the following strain :
" In the slaying of the swift monster we wielded our blood-
stained swords and our crimsoned blade, whilst thou, Amund,
lord of the Norwegian ruin, wert in deep slumber ; and since
blind night covers thee, without any light of soul, thy valour
has melted away and beguiled thee. But we crushed a giant
who lost use of his limbs and wealth, and we pierced into
the disorder of his dreary den. There we seized and plundered
his piles of gold. And now with oars we sweep the wave-
wandering main, and joyously return, rowing back to the
shore our booty-laden ship ; we fleet over the waves in a skiff
that travels the sea ; gaily let us furrow those open waters, lest
the dawn come and betray us to the foe. Lightly therefore, and
pulling our hardest, let us scour the sea, making for our camp
and fleet ere Titan raise his rosy head out of the clear waters ;
that when fame noises the deed about, and Frogertha knows
that the spoil has been won with a gallant struggle, her heart
may be stirred to be more gentle to our prayer."
On the morrow there was a great muster of the forces, and
Fridleif had a bloody battle with Amund, fought partly by sea
and partly by land. For not only were the lines drawn up
in the open country, but the warriors also made an attack with
their fleet. The battle which followed cost much blood. So
Biorn, when his ranks gave back, unloosed his hound and sent [ 1 8o]
it against the enemy ; wishing to win with the biting of a dog
the victory which he could not achieve with the sword. The
enemy were by this means shamefully routed, fot a square
of the warriors ran away when attacked with its teeth.
There is no saying whether their flight was more dismal or
more disgraceful. Indeed, the army of the Northmen was a
thing to blush for ; for an enemy crushed it by borrowing the
aid of a brute. Nor was it treacherous of Fridleif to recruit
the failing valour of his men with the aid of a dog. In
this war Amund fell ; and his servant Ane, surnamed the
Archer, challenged Fridleif to fight him ; but Biorn, being a
man of meaner estate, not sufiering the king to engage with a
common fellow, attacked him himself. And when Biorn had
bent his bow and was fitting the arrow to the string, suddenly
a dart sent by Ane pierced the top of the cord. Soon another
arrow came after it and struck amid the joints of his fingers.
A third followed, and fell on the arrow as it was laid to the
string. For Ane, who was most dexterous at shooting arrows
from a distance, had purposely only struck the weapon of his
opponent, in order that, by showing it was in his power to do
likewise to his person, he might recall the champion from his
purpose. But Biorn abated none of his valour for this, and,
scorning bodily danger, entered the fray with heart and face
so steadfast, that he seemed neither to yield anything to the
skill of Ane, nor lay aside aught of his wonted courage. Thus
he would in nowise be made to swerve from his purpose, and
222 Saxo GkAMmAMctIS.
dauntlessly ventured on the battle. Both of them left it
wounded ; and fought another also on Agdar Ness with an
emulous thirst for glory.
By the death of Amund, Fridleif was freed from a most
bitter foe, and obtained a deep and tranquil peace ; whereupon
he forced his savage temper to the service of delight ; and,
transferring his ardour to love, equipped a fleet in order to
seek the marriage which had once been denied him. At last
he set forth on his voyage ; and his fleet being becalmed, he
invaded some villages to look for food ; where, being received
hospitably by a certain Grubb, and at last winning his
daughter in marriage, he begat a son named Olaf. After some
time had passed he also won Frogcrtha ; but, while going back
to his own country, he had a bad voyage, and was driven on
the shores of an unknown island. A certain man appeared to
him in a vision, and instructed him to dig up a treasure that
was buried in the ground, and also to attack the dragon that
guarded it, covering himself in an ox-hide to escape the poison ;
[i8ij teaching him also to meet the envenomed fangs with a hide
stretched over his shield. Therefore, to test the vision, he
attacked the snake as it rose out of the waves, and for a
long time cast spears against its scaly side ; in vain, for its
hard and shelly body foiled the darts flung at it. But the
snake, shaking its mass of coils, uprooted the trees which it
brushed past by winding its tail about them. Moreover, by
constantly dragging its body, it hollowed the ground down
to the solid rock, and had made a sheer bank on either hand,
just as in some places we see hills parted by an intervening
valley. So Fridleif, seeing that the upper part of the creature
was proof against attack, assailed the lower side with his
sword, and piercing the groin, drew blood from the quivering
beast. When it was dead, he unearthed the money from the
underground chamber and had it taken off in his ships.
When the year had come to an end, he took great pains to
reconcile Biorn and Ane, who had often challenged and fought
one another, and made them exchange their hatred for friend-
ship ; and even entrusted to them his three-year-old son Olaf,
to rear. But his mistress, Juritha, the mother of Olaf, he gave
book siS. 223
in marriage to Ane, whom he made one of his warriors ; think-
ing that she would endure more calmly to be put away, if she
wedded such a champion, and received his robust embrace
instead of a king's.
The ancients were wont to consult the oracles of the Fates
concerning the destinies of their children. In this way
Fridleif desired to search into the fate of his son Olaf ; and,
after solemnly offering up his vows, he went to the house of
the gods in entreaty ; where, looking into the chapel, he saw
three maidens,^ sitting on three seats. The iirst of them was
of a benignant temper, and bestowed upon the boy abundant
beauty and ample store of favour in the eyes of men. The
second granted him the gift of surpassing generosity. But
the third, a woman of more mischievous temper and malignant
disposition, scorning the unanimous kindness of her sisters,
and likewise wishing to mar their gifts, marked the future
character of the boy with the slur of niggardliness. Thus the
benefits of the others were spoilt by the poison of a lamentable
doom ; and hence, by virtue of the twofold nature of these gifts,
Olaf got his surname from the meanness which was mingled
with his bounty. So it came about that this blemish which
found its way into the gift marred the whole sweetness of its
first benignity.
When Fridleif had returned from Norway, and was travel-
ling through Sweden, he took on himself to act as ambassador,
and sued successfully for Hythin's daughter, whom he had
once rescued from a monster, to be the wife of Halfdan, he
being still unwedded. Meantime his wife Frogertha bore a [182]
son Frode, who afterwards got his surname from his noble
munificence. And thus Frode, because of the memory of his
o-randsire's prosperity, which he recalled by his name, became
from his very cradle and earliest childhood such a darling of
all men, that he was not suffered even to step or stand on the
o-round, but was continually cherished in people's laps and
kissed. Thus he was not assigned to one upbringer only, but
was in a manner everybody's fosterling. And, after his
1 Three maidens] Noma. See Mogk, op. cit., p. 1025. cf. Helgi Lay (I)
inC. P. -B.,i, 131.
s>
224 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
father's death, while he was in his twelfth year, Swerting
and Hanef, the kings of Saxony, disowned his sway, and tried
to rebel openly. He overcame them in ^battle, and imposed
on the conquered peoples a poll-tax of a coin, which they
were to pay as his slaves. For he showed himself so
generous that he doubled the ancient pay of the soldiers : a
,',' ' fashion of bounty which then was novel. For he did not, as
despots do, expose himself to the vulgar allurements of vice,
but strove to covet ardently whatsoever he saw was nearest
honour ; to make his wealth public property ; to surpass all
other men in bounty, to forestall them all in offices of kind-
ness ; and, hardest of all, to conquer envy by virtue. By this
means the youth soon won such favour with all men, that he
not only equalled in renown the honours of his forefathers,
but surpassed the most ancient records of kings.
At the same time one Starkad, the son of Storwerk, escaped
alone, either by force or fortune, from a wreck in which his
friends perished, and was received by Frode as his guest for
his incredible excellence both of mind and body. And, after
being for some little time his comrade, he was dressed in a
better and more comely fashion every day, and was at last given
a noble vessel, and bidden to ply the calling of a rover, with the
charge of guarding the sea. For nature had gifted him with
a body of superhuman excellence ; and his greatness of spirit
equalled it, so that folk thought him behind no man in
valour. So far did his glory spread, that the renown of his
name and deeds continues famous even yet. He shone out
among our own countrymen by his glorious roll of exploits,
and he had also won a most splendid record among all the
provinces of the Swedes and Saxons. Tradition says that he
was born originally in the country^ which borders Sweden on
the east, where barbarous hordes of Esthonians and other
nations now dwell far and wide. But a fabulous yet common
[183] rumour has invented tales about his birth which are contrary
to reason and flatly incredible. For some relate that he was
^ The country] Probably the mythical giant-land.
sprung from giants, and betrayed his monstrous birth by an
extraordinary number of hands, four of which, engendered by
the superfluity of his nature, they declare that the god Thor
tore off, shattering the framework of the sinews, and wrench-
ing from his whole body the monstrous bunches of fingers ;
so that he had but two' left, and that his body, which had
before swollen to the size of a giant's, and, by reason of its
shapeless crowd of limbs looked gigantic, was thenceforth
chastened to a better appearance, and kept within the bounds
of human shortness.
For there were of old certain men versed in sorcery, Thor,
namely, and Odin, and many others, who were cunning in
contriving marvellous sleights ; and they, winning the minds
of the simple, began to claim the rank of gods. For, in
particular, they ensnared Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in
the vainest credulity, and by prompting these lands to
worship them, infected them with their imposture. The
effects of their deceit spread so far, that all other men adored
a sort of divine power in them, and, thinking them either
gods or in league with gods, offered up solemn prayers to
these inventors of sorceries, and gave to blasphemous error the
honour due to religion. Hence it has come about that the
holy days, in their regular course, are called among us by the
names of these men ; for the ancient Latins are known to have
named these days severally, either after the titles of their own
gods, or after the planets, seven in number. But it can be
plainly inferred from the mere names of the holy days that
the objects worshipped by our countrymen were not the same
as those whom the most ancient of the Romans called Jove
and Mercury nor those to whom Greece and Latium paid
idolatrous homage. For the days, called among our country-
men Thors-day or Odins-day, the ancients termed severally the
holy day of Jove or of Mercury. If, therefore, according to the
distinction implied in the interpretation I have quoted, we
take it that Thor is Jove and Odin Mercury, it follows that
Jove was the son of Mercury ; that is, if the assertion of our
countrymen holds, among whom it is told as a matter of
common belief, that Thor was Odin's son. Therefore, M'hen
226 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
the Latins, believing to the contrary effect, declare that Mercury-
was sprung from Jove, then, if their declaration is to stand,
we are driven to consider that Thor was not the same as Jove,
and that Odin was also different from Mercury. Some say that
[184J the gods, whom our countrymen worshipped, shared only the
title^ with those honoured by Greece or Latium, but that, being
in a manner nearly equal to them in dignity, they borrowed
from them the worship as well as the name. This must be a
sufficient discourse upon the deities of Danish antiquity. I
have expounded this briefly for the general profit,^ that my
readers may know clearly to what worship in its heathen
superstition our country has bowed the knee. Now I will go
back to my subject where I left it.
Ancient tradition says that Starkad, whom I mentioned
above, offered the first-fruits of his deeds to the favour of
the gods by slaying Wikar, the king of the Norwegians. The
affair, according to the version of some people, happened as
follows : —
Odin once wished to slay Wikar hj a grievous death ; but,
loth to do the deed openly, he graced Starkad, who was already
remarkable for his extraordinary size, not only with bravery,
but also with skill in the composing of spells, that he might
the more readily use his services to accomplish the destruction
of the king. For that was how he hoped that Starkad would
show himself grateful for the honour he paid him. For the
same reason he also endowed him with three spans of mortal
life, that he might be able to commit in them as many abomin-
able deeds. So Odin resolved that Starkad's days should be
prolonged by the following crime. Starkad presently went to
Wikar and dwelt awhile in his company, hiding treachery
under homage. At last he went with him sea-roving. And
in a certain place they were troubled with prolonged and
1 Shared only the title] namely, of gods : i.e., the classical and Scan-
dinavian gods were not the same, but the latter, by their resemblance
to the former, got, first, the title of gods, and then the honour of having
the days of the vreek named after them.
2 For the general profit] Here begins Lassen's fragment which we
call B, and about which see Introduction. It lasts to p. 231, 1. 16.
bitter storms ; and when the winds checked their voyage so
much that they had to lie still most of the year, they thought
that the gods must be appeased with human blood. When
the lots were cast into the urn it so fell that the king was
required for death as a victim. Then Starkad made a noose of
withies and bound the king in it ; saying that for a brief instant
he should pay the mere semblance of a penaltjr. But the
tightness of the knot acted according to its nature, and cut ofl'
his last breath as he hung. And while he was still quivering
Starkad rent away with his steel the remnant of his life ;
thus disclosing his treachery when he ought to have brought
aid. I do not think that I need examine the version which
relates that the pliant withies, hardened with the sudden grip,
acted like a noose of iron. Then he took Wikar's ship and
went to one Bemon, the most courageous of all the rovers of
Denmark, in order to take up the life of a pirate. For Bemon's
partner, named Frakk, weary of the toil of sea-roving, had [185]
lately withdrawn from partnership with him, after first making
a money-bargain. Now Starkad and Bemon were so careful to
keep temperate, that they are said never to have indulged in
intoxicating drink, for fear that continence, the greatest bond
of bravery, might be expelled by the power of wantonness.
So when, after overthrowing provinces far and wide, they in-
vaded Russia also in their lust for empire, the natives, trust-
ing little in their walls or arms, began to bar the advance of
the enemy with nails of uncommon sharpness, that they might
check their inroad, though they could not curb their onset in
battle ; and that the ground might secretly wound the soles of
the men whom their army shrank from confronting in the field.
But not even such a barrier could serve to keep ofi' the foe.
The Danes were cunning enough to foil the pains of the
Russians. For they straightway shod themselves with wooden
clogs, and trod with unhurt steps upon the points that lay
beneath their soles. Now this iron thing is divided into four
spikes, which are so arranged that on whatsoever side chance
may cast it, it stands steadily on three equal feet. Then they
struck into the pathless glades, where the woods were thickest,
and expelled Flokk, the chief of the Russians,from the mountain
Q 2
228 SAXO GKAMMATICUS.
hiding-places into which he had crept. And here they got so
much booty, that there was not one of them but went back to
the fleet laden with gold and silver.
Now when Bemon was dead, Starkad was summoned because
of his valour by the champions of Permland. And when he
had done many noteworthy deeds among them, he went into
the land of the Swedes, where he lived at leisure for seven
years' space with the sons of Frey. At last he left them and
betook himself to Hakon,^ the tyrant of Denmark, because
when stationed at Upsala, at the time of the sacrifices, he was
disgusted by the effeminate gestures and the clapping of the
mimes on the stage, and by the unmanly clatter of the bells.
Hence it is clear how far he kept his soul from lasciviousness,
not even enduring to look upon it. Thus does virtue with-
stand wantonness. Therefore he took his fleet into Ireland
with Hakon, in order that even the furthest kingdoms of the
world might not be untouched by the Danish arms. The
king of the island at this time was Hugleik, who, though he
had a well-filled treasury, was yet so prone to avarice, that
once, when he gave a pair of shoes which had been adorned
by the hand of a careful craftsman, he took off" the ties, and
[i86] by thus removing the latchets turned his present into a slight.
This unhandsome act blemished his gift so much that he
seemed to reap hatred for it instead of thanks. Thus he used
never to be generous to any respectable man, but to spend all
his bounty upon mimes and jugglers. For so base a fellow
was bound to keep friendly company with the base, and such
a slough of vices to wheedle his partners in sin with pander-
ing endearments. Still he had Geigad^ and Swipdag, nobles
of tried valour, who, by the singular lustre of their warlike
deeds, shone out among their unmanly companions like jewels
embedded in ordure; these alone were found to defend the
riches of the king. When a battle began between Hugleik
1 Hakon is properly Hake. Cf. Ynglinga Saga, c. 25.
' Geigad] Gegathus. The ed. pr. hais Begathus, Beigad, a wrong form, g
being confused, as often, with 6, See Ynglinga Saga, c. 25, and Startad's
song.
teooK six. 229
and Hakon, the hordes of mimes, whose light-mindedness un-
steadied their bodies, broke their ranks and scurried off in
panic ; and this shameful flight was their sole requital for all
their king's benefits. Then Geigad and Swipdag faced all
those thousands of the enemy single-handed, and fought with
such incredible courage, that they seemed to do the part not
merely of two warriors, but of a whole army. Geigad, more-
over, dealt Hakon, who pressed him hard, such a wound in
the breast that he exposed the upper part of his liver. It
was here that Starkad, while he was attacking Geigad with
his sword, received a very sore wound on the head ; where-
fore he afterwards related in a certain song that a ghastlier
wound had never befallen him at any time ; for, though the
divisions of his gashed head were bound up by the surround-
ing outer skin, yet the livid unseen wound concealed a foul
gangrene below. Starkad conquered, killing Hugleik and
also routing the Irish ; and he had any of the actors beaten
whom chance made prisoner ; thinking it better to order a
pack of buffoons to be ludicrously punished bj'' the loss of their
skins than to command a more deadly punishment and take .
their lives. Thus he visited with a disgraceful chastisement
the base-born throng of professional jugglers, and was content
to punish them with the disgusting flouts of the lash. Then
the Danes ordered that the wealth of the king should be
brought out of the treasury in the city of Dublin and publicly
pillaged. For so vast a treasure had been found that none
took much pains to divide it strictly.
After this, Starkad was commissioned, together with "Win,^
the chief of the Sclavs, to check the revolt of the East. They,
having fought against the armies of the Kurlanders, the [187]
Sembs, the Sangals, and, finally, all the Easterlings, won
splendid victories everywhere. A champion of great repute,
named Wisin, settled and dwelt upon a rock in Russia named
Ana-fial, and harried both neighbouring and distant provinces
with all kinds of outrage. This man used to blunt the edge
of every weapon by merely looking at it. He was made so bold
1 Win is the Brno dn.ce Flehace iiato of Starkad's song.
230 SAXO GBAMMATICUS.
in consequence, by having lost all fear of wounds, that he used
to carry oft" the wives of distinguished men and drag them to
outrage before the eyes of their husbands. Starkad was
roused by the tale of this villainy, and went to Eussia to
destroy the criminal ; thinking nothing too hard to overcome,
he challenged Wisin, attacked him, made even his tricks use-
less to him, and slew him. For Starkad covered his blade
with a very fine skin, that it might not meet the eye of the
sorcerer ; and neither the power of his sleights nor his great
strength were any help to Wisin, but he had to yield to
Starkad. Then Starkad, trusting in his bodily strength,
fought with and overcame a giant at Byzantium, reputed
invincible, named Tanne, and drove him to fly an outlaw
to unknown quarters of the earth. Therefore, finding that he
was too mighty for any hard fate to overcome him, he went
to the country of Poland, and conquered in a duel a cham-
pion whom our countrymen name Wasce ; but the Teutons,
arranging the letters differently, call him Wilzce.
Meanwhile the Saxons began to attempt a revolt, and to
consider particularly how they could destroy Frode, who was
unconquered in war, by some other way than an open conflict.
Thinking that it would be best done by a duel, they sent men
to provoke the king with a challenge, knowing that he was
always ready to court any hazard, and that his high spirit
would not yield to any admonition whatever. They fancied
that this was the best time to attack him, because they knew
that Starkad, whose valour most men dreaded, was away on
business. But while Frode hesitated, and said that he would
talk with his friends about the answer to be given, Starkad,
who had just returned from his sea-roving, appeared, and
blamed such a challenge, principally (he said) because it was
fitting for kings to fight only with their equals, and because they
should not take up arms against men of the people ; but it was
more fitting for himself, who was born in a lowlier station, to
[i88] manage the battle. So the Saxons approached Hame, who was
accounted their most famous champion, with many offers, and
promised him that, if he would lend his services for the duel.
they would pay him his own weight in gold.^ The fighter was
tempted by the money, and, with all the ovation of a military
procession, they attended him to the ground appointed for the
combat. Thereupon the Danes, decked in warlike array, led
Starkad, who was to represent his king, out to the duelling-
ground. Hame, in his youthful assurance, despised him as
withered with age, and chose to grapple rather than fight
with an outworn old man. Attacking Starkad, he would
have flung him tottering to the earth, but that fortune, who
would not suflFer the old man to be conquered, prevented him
from being hurt. For he is said to have been so crushed by
the fist of Hame, as he dashed on him, that he touched the
earth with his chin, supporting himself on his knees. But
he made up nobly for his tottering ; for, as soon as he could
raise his knee and free his hand to draw his sword, he clove
Hame through the middle of the body. Many lands and sixty
bondmen apiece were the reward of the victory. But, after
Hame was killed, the sway of the Danes over the Saxons
grew so insolent, that they were forced to pay every year
a small tax for each of their limbs that was a cubit [ell]
long, in token of their slavery. This Hanef could not bear,
and he meditated war in his desire to remove the tribute.
Steadfast love of his country filled his heart every day
with greater compassion for the oppressed ; and, longing to
spend his life for the freedom of his countrymen, he openly
showed a disposition to rebel. Frode took his forces over
the Elbe, and killed him near the village of Hanofra [Hanover],
so named after Hanef. But Swerting, though he was equally
moved by the distress of his countrymen, said nothing about
' the ills of his land, and revolved a plan for freedom with
a spirit yet more dogged than Hanef 's. Men often doubt
whether this zeal was liker to vice or to virtue ; but I cer-
tainly censure it as criminal, because it was produced by a
treacherous desire to revolt. It may have seemed most expe-
1 Pay him his own weight in gold] molem corpwis eius se auro repen-
suros. So p.d. pr. , which we follow. B. has sepuLturos (with repensuros
in margin from another hand) for se repensuros. Holder in his final cor-
rections adopts awro sepuLturus.
232 SAXO GHAMMATICUS.
dient to seek the freedom of the country, but it was not lawful
[189] to strive after this freedom by craft and treachery. Therefore,
since the deed of Swerting was far from honourable, neither
will it be called expedient ; for it is nobler to attack openly
him whom you mean to attack, and to exhibit hatred in the
light of day, than to disguise a real wish to do harm under a
spurious show of friendship. But the gains of crime are in-
glorious, its fruits are brief and fading. For even as that soul
is slippery, which hides its insolent treachery by stealthy
arts, so is it right that whatsoever is akin to guilt should
be frail and fleeting. For guilt has been usually found to
come home to its author ; and rumour relates that such was
the fate of Swerting. For he had resolved to surprise the king
under the pretence of a banquet, and burn him to death ; but
the king forestalled and slew him, though slain by him in
return. Hence the crime of one proved the destruction of
both ; and thus, though the trick succeeded against the foe,
it did not bestow immunity on its author.
Frode was succeeded by his son Ingild, whose soul was
perverted from honour. He forsook the examples of his fore-
fathers, and utterly enthralled himself to the lures of the most
wanton profligacy. Thus he had not a shadow of goodness
and righteousness, but embraced vices instead of virtue ; he cut
the sinews of self-control, neglected the duties of his kingly
station, and sank into a filthy slave of riot. Indeed, he fos-
tered everything that was adverse or ill-fitted to an orderly
life. He tainted the glories of his father and grandfather
by practising the foulest lusts, and bedimmed the brightest
honours of his ancestors by most shameful deeds. For he was .
so prone to gluttony, that he had no desire to avenge his father,
or repel the aggressions of his foes ; and so, could he but gratify
his gullet, he thought that decency and self-control need be
observed in nothing. By idleness and sloth he stained his
glorious lineage, living a loose and sensual life ; and his soul,
so degenerate, so far perverted and astray from the steps of
his fathers, he loved to plunge into most abominable gulfs
of foulness. Fowl-fatteners, scullions, frying-pans, countless
fiooK Six. 233
cook-houses, different cooks to roast or spice the banquet —
the choosing of these stood to him for glory. As to arms,
soldiering, and wars, he could endure neither to train himself
to them, nor to let others practise them. Thus he cast away-
all the ambitions of a man and aspired to those of women ;
for his incontinent itching of palate stirred in him love of
every kitchen-stench. Ever breathing of his debauch, and
stripped of every rag of soberness, with his foul breath he
belched the undigested filth in his belly. He was as infamous
in wantonness as Frode was illustrious in war. So utterly
had his spirit been enfeebled by the untimely seductions
of gluttony. Starkad was so disgusted at the excess of
Ingild, that he forsook his friendship, and sought the fellow-
ship of Half dan, the King of the Swedes, preferring work to
idleness. Thus he could not bear so much as to countenance
excessive indulgence. Now the sons of Swerting, fearing [190]
that they would have to pay to Ingild the penalty of their
father's crime, were fain to forestall his vengeance by a
gift, and gave him their sister in marriage. Antiquity^ relates
that she bore him sons, Frode, Fridleif, Ingild, and Olaf
(whom some say was the son of Ingild's sister).
Ingild's sister Helga had been led by amorous wooing to
return the flame of a certain low-born goldsmith, who was apt
for soft words, and furnished with divers of the little gifts
which best charm a woman's wishes. For since the death of
the king there had been none to honour the virtues of the father
by attention to the child ; she had lacked protection, and had no
guardians. When Starkad had learnt this from the repeated
tales of travellers, he could not bear to let the wantonness of
the smith pass unpunished. For he was always heedful to bear
kindness in mind, and as ready to punish arrogance. So he
hastened to chastise such bold and enormous insolence, wishing
to repay the orphan ward the benefits he had of old received
from Frode. Then he travelled through Sweden, went into
the house of the smith, and posted himself near the threshold,
1 Antiquity relates] A very corrupt passage. We follow, as usual,
the reading which Holder adopts from M. and St.
284i SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
muffling his face in a cap to avoid discovery. The smith,
who had not learnt the lesson that "strong hands are sometimes
found under a mean garment", reviled him, and bade him
quickly leave the house, saying that he should have the last
broken victuals among the crowd of paupers. But the old
man, whose ingrained self-control lent him patience, was
nevertheless fain to rest there, and gradually study the wanton-
ness of his host. FoT his reason was stronger than his im-
petuosity, and curbed his increasing rage. Then the smith
approached the girl with open shamelessness, and cast himself
in her lap, oif'ering the hair of his head to be combed out by
her maidenly hands. Also he thrust forward his loin-cloth,
and required her help in picking out the fleas ; and exacted from
this woman of lordly lineage that she should not blush to put
her sweet fingers in a foul apron. Then, believing that he was
free to have his pleasure, he ventured to put his longing
palms within her gown and to set his unsteady hands close to
her breast. But she, looking narrowly, was aware of the
presence of the old man whom she once had known, and felt
ashamed. She spurned the wanton and libidinous fingering,
and repulsed the unchaste hands, telling the man also that he
[191] had need of arms, and urging him to cease his lewd sport. Star-
kad, who had sat down by the door, with the hat muffling his
head, had already become so deeply enraged at this sight, that
he could not find patience to hold his hand any longer, but
put away his covering and clapped his right hand to his sword
to draw it. Then the smith, whose only skill was in lewd-
ness, faltered with sudden alarm, and finding that it had come
to fighting, gave up all hope of defending himself, and saw in
flight the only remedy for his need. Thus it was as hard to
break out of the door, of which the enemy held the approach,
as it was grievous to await the smiter within the house. At
last necessity forced him to put an end to his delay, and he
judged that a hazard wherein there lay but the smallest chance
of safety was more desirable than sure and manifest danger.
Also, hard as it was to fly, the danger being so close, yet he
desired flight because it seemed to bring him aid, and to be
the nearer way to safety ; and he cast aside delay, which seemed
to be an evil bringing not the smallest help, but perhaps irre-
trievable ruin. But just as he gained the threshold, the old
man watching at the door smote him through the hams, and
there, half dead, he tottered and fell. For the smiter thought he
ought carefully to avoid lending his illustrious hands to the
death of a vile cinder-blower, and considered that ignominy
would punish his shameless passion worse than death. Thus
some men think that he who suffers misfortune is worse
punished than he who is slain outright. Thus it was brought
about, that the maiden, who had never had parents to tend
her, came to behave like a woman of well-trained nature, and
did the part, as it were, of a zealous guardian to herself. And
when Stark ad, looking round, saw that the household sorrowed
over the late loss of their master, he heaped shame on the
wounded man with more invective, and thus began to mock :
" Why is the house silent and aghast ? What makes this
new grief ? Or where now rests that doting husband whom
the steel has just punished for his shameful love ? Keeps he
still aught of his pride and lazy wantonness ? Holds he to
his quest, glows his lust as hot as before? Let him while
away an hour with me in converse, and allay with friendly
words my hatred of yesterday. Let your visage come forth
with better cheer ; let not lamentation resound in the house,
or suffer the faces to become dulled with sorrow. Wishing
to know who burned with love for the maiden, and was
deeply enamoured of my beloved ward, I put on a cap, lest [192]
my familiar face might betray me. Then comes in that
wanton smith, with lewd steps, bending his thighs this way
and that with studied gesture, and likewise making eyes as he
ducked all ways. His covering was a mantle fringed with
beaver, his sandals were inlaid with gems, his cloak was
decked with gold. Gorgeous ribbons bound his plaited hair,
and a many-coloured^ band drew tight his straying locks.
1 Many-coloured] vdrioata (from vnricare, " to straddle"), explained by
M. as here equal to " broad", must bp, as the quantity shows, a mistake
for variata.
236 SAXO GRAMMATICXtg.
Hence grew a sluggish and puiFed-up temper; he fancied
that wealth was birth, and money forefathers, and reckoned
his fortune more by riches than by blood. Hence came pride
unto him, and arrogance led to fine attire. For the wretch
began to think that his dress made him equal to the high-
born ; he, the cinder-blower, who hunts the winds with
hides, and puffs with constant draught, who rakes the ashes
with his fingers, and often by drawing back the bellows
takes in the air, and with a little fan makes a breath and
kindles the smouldering fires ! Then he goes to the lap of the
girl, and leaning close, says, ' Maiden, comb my hair and catch
the skipping fleas, and remove what stings my skin.' Then he
sat and spread his arms that sweated under the gold,^ lolling on
the smooth cushion and leaning back on his elbow, wishing to
flaunt his adornment, just as a barking brute unfolds the
gathered coils of its twisted tail. But she knew me, and began
to check her lover and rebufi" his wanton hands; and, declaring
that it was I, she said, ' Refrain thy fingers, check thy prompt-
ings, take heed to appease the old man sitting close by the doors.
The sport will turn to sorrow. I think Starkad is here, and
his slow gaze scans thy doings.' The smith answered : ' Turn
not pale at the peaceful raven and the ragged old man ; never
has that mighty one whom thou fearest stooped to such
common and base attire. The strong man loves shining
raiment, and looks for clothes to match his courage.' Then
I uncovered and drew my sword, and as the smith fied I clove
his privy parts ; his hams were laid open, cut away from
[193] the bone ; they showed his entrails. Presently I rise and
crush the girl's mouth with my fist, and draw blood from
her bruised nostril. Then her lips, used to evil laughter, were
wet with tears mingled with blood, and foolish love paid for
all the sins it committed with soft eyes. Over is the sport of
the hapless woman who rushes on, blind with desire, like a
maddened mare, and makes her lust the grave of her beauty.
Thou deservest to be sold for a price to foreign peoples and to
' RoM] anro sudantia brachia. Juv. i. 28 : Ventilet cestivum digitis
sudantibus aurum.
grind at the mill, unless blood pressed from thy breasts prove
thee falsely accused, and thy nipple's lack of milk clear thee
of the crime. Howbeit, I think thee free from this fault ; yet
bear not tokens of suspicion, nor lay thyself open to lying
tongues, nor give thyself to the chattering populace to
gird at. Rumour hurts many, and a lying slander often
harms. A little word deceives the thoughts of common men.
Respect thy grandsires, honour thy fathers, forget not thy
parents, value thy forefathers ; let thy flesh and blood keep
its fame. What madness came on thee ? And thou, shame-
less smith, what fate drove thee in thy lust to attempt a
high-born race ? Or who sped thee, maiden, worthy of the
lordliest pillows, to loves obscure ? Tell me, how durst thou
taste with thy rosy lips a mouth reeking of ashes, or endure
on thy breast hands filthy with charcoal, or bring close to thy
side the arms that turn the live coals over, and put the palms
hardened with the use of the tongs to thy pure cheeks, and
embrace the head sprinkled with embers, taking it to thy bright
arms ? I remember how smiths differ from one another, for
once they smote me.^ All share alike the name of their
calling, but the hearts beneath are different in temper. I
judge those best who weld warriors' swords and spears for
the battle, whose temper shows their courage, who betoken
their hearts by the sternness of their calling, whose work
declares their prowess. There are also some to whom the
hollow mould yields bronze, as they make the likeness of
divers things in molten gold, who smelt the veins and recast
the metal. But Nature has fashioned these of a softer temper,
and has crushed with cowardice the hands which she has
gifted with rare skill. Often such men, while the heat of the [^94]
blast melts the bronze that is poured in the mould, craftily
filch flakes of gold from the lumps, when the vessel thirsts
after the metal they have stolen."
So speaking, Starkad got as much pleasure from his words
as from his works, and went back to Halfdan, embracing his
service with the closest friendship, and never ceasing from the
1 Alluding to his fl,dveiitures in Thelewark, See Starkad's song, v, 121,
238 SAXO GRAMMATICTJS.
exercise of war ; so that he weaned his mind from delights,
and vexed it with incessant application to arms.
Now Ingild had two sisters, Helga and Asa; Helga was
of full age to marry, while Asa was younger and unripe
for wedlock. Then Helge the Norwegian was moved with
desire to ask for Helga for his wife, and embarked. Now he
had equipped his vessel so luxuriously that he had lordly sails
decked with gold, held up also on gilded masts, and tied with
crimson ropes. When he arrived Ingild promised to grant
him his wish if, to test his reputation publicly, he would
first venture to meet in battle the champions pitted against
him. Helge did not flinch at the terms ; hB- answered that he
would most gladly abide by the compact. And so the troth-
plight of the future marriage was most ceremoniously solemnised.
A story is remembered that there had grown up at the same
time, on the Isle of Zealand, the nine sons of a certain prince, all
highly gifted with strength and valour, the eldest of whom
was Anganty. This last was a rival suitor for the same
maiden ; and when he saw that the match which he had been
denied was promised to Helge, he challenged him to a struggle,
wishing to fight away his vexation. Helge agreed to the
proposed combat. The hour of the fight was appointed for
the wedding-day by the common wish of both. For any man
who, being challenged, refused to fight, used to be covered
with disgrace in the sight of all men. Thus Helge was
tortured on the one side by the shame of refusing the battle,
on the other by the dread of waging it. For he thought
himself attacked unfairly and counter to the universal laws
of combat, as he had apparently undertaken to fight nine men
single-handed. While he was thus reflecting his betrothed
told him that he would need help, and counselled him to
refrain from the battle, wherein it seemed he would encounter
only death and disgrace, especially as he had not stipulated
for any definite limit to the number of those who were to
be his opponents. He should therefore avoid the peril, and
consult his safety by appealing to Starkad, who was sojourning
among the Swedes ; since it was his way to help the dis-
[195] tressed, and often to interpose successfully to retrieve some
dismal mischance. Then Helge, who hked this counsel well,
took a small escort and went into Sweden ; and when he
reached its most famous city, XJpsala, he forbore to enter, but
sent in a messenger who was to invite Starkad to the wedding
of Frode's daughter, after first greeting him respectfully to try
him. This courtesy stung Starkad like an insult. He looked
sternlj' on the youth, and said, "That had he not had his beloved
Frode named in his instructions, he should have paid dearly for
his senseless mission. He must think that Starkad, like some
buifoon or trencherman, was accustomed to rush off to the reek
of a distant kitchen for the sake of a richer diet." Helge, when
his servant had told him this, greeted the old man in the name of
Frode's daughter, and asked him to share a battle which he had
accepted upon being challenged, saying that he was not equal
to it by himself, the terms of the agreement being such as to
leave the number of his adversaries uncertain. Starkad, when
he had heard the time and place of the combat, not only
received the suppliant well, but also encouraged him with the
offer of aid, and told him to go back to Denmark with his
companions, telling him that he would find his way to him by
a short and secret path. Helge departed, and if we may trust
report, Starkad, by sheer speed of foot, travelled in one day's
journeying over as great a space as those who went before him
are said to have accomplished in twelve ; so that both parties,
by a chance meeting, reached their journey's end, the palace of
Ingild, at the very same time. Here Starkad passed, just as
the servants did, along the tables filled wdth guests; and the
aforementioned nine, howling horribly with repulsive gestures,
and running about as if they were on the stage, encouraged
one another to the battle. Some say that they barked like
furious dogs at the champion as he approached. Starkad re-
buked them for making themselves look ridiculous with such an
unnatural visage, and for clowning with wide grinning cheeks ;
for from this, he declared, soft and effeminate profligates
derived their wanton incontinence. So when he was asked
whether he had valour enough to fight, he answered that
doubtless he was strong enough to meet, not merely one, but
any number that might come against him. And when the
240 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
nine heard this they understood that this was the man whom
they had heard would come to the succour of Helge from
[196] afar. Starkad also, to protect the bride-chamber with a
more diligent guard, voluntarily took charge of the watch ;
and, drawing back the doors of the bedroom, barred them
with a sword instead of a bolt, meaning to post himself so
as to give undisturbed quiet to their bridal. When Helge
woke, and, shaking off the torpor of sleep, remembered his
pledge, he thought of buckling on his armour. But, seeing
that a little of the darkness of night yet remained, and
wishing to wait for the hour of dawn, he began to ponder the
perilous business at hand, when sleep stole on him and sweetly
seized him, so that he took himself back to bed laden with
slumber. Starkad, coming in on him at daybreak, saw him
locked asleep in the arms of his wife, and would not sufier
him to be vexed with a sudden shock, or summoned from his
quiet slumbers ; lest he should seem to usurp the duty of
wakening him and breaking upon the sweetness of so new
a union, all because of cowardice. He thought it, therefore,
more handsome to meet the peril alone than to gain a com-
rade by disturbing the pleasure of another. So he quietly
retraced his steps, and scorning his enemies, entered the
field which in our tongue is called Roliung,^ and, finding a
seat under the slope of a certain hill, he exposed himself to
wind and snow. Then, as though the gentle airs of spring
weather were breathing upon him, he put off his cloak, and
set to picking out the fleas. He also cast on the briars a
purple mantle which Helga had lately given him, that no
clothing might seem to lend him shelter against the raging
shafts of hail. Then the champions came and climbed
the hill on the opposite side; and, seeking a spot sheltered
from the winds wherein to sit, they lit a fire and drove
off the cold. At last, not seeing Starkad, they sent a man
to the crest of the hill, to watch his coming more clearly,
as from a watch-tower. This man climbed to the top of the
lofty mountain, and saw, on its sloping side, an old man
1 Roliung] The burial-place of Starkad in Ek. viii ia called Eolung.
covered shoulder-high with the snow that showered down.
He asked him if he was the man who was to fight according
to the promise. Starkad declared that he was. Then the
rest came up and asked him whether he had resolved to meet
them all at once or one by one. But he said, " Whenever a
surly pack of curs yelps at me, I commonly send them
flying all at once, and not in turn." Thus he let them know
that he would rather fight with them all together than one
by one, thinking that his enemies should be spurned with
words first and deeds afterwards. The fight began, and he
felled six of them without receiving any wound in return; and
though the remaining three wounded him so hard in seventeen [l97]
places that most of his bowels gushed out of his belly, he slew
them notwithstanding, like their brethren. Disembowelled,
with failing strength, he sufi'ered from dreadful straits of thirst,
and, crawling on his knees in his desire to find a draught, he
longed for water from the streamlet that ran close by. But
when he saw it was tainted with gore he was disgusted at the
look of the water, and refrained from its infected draught. For
Anganty had been struck down in the waves of the river, and
had dyed its course so deep with his red blood that it seemed
now to flow not with water, but with some ruddy liquid. So
Starkad thought it nobler that his bodily strength should fail
than that he should borrow strength from so foul a beverage.
Therefore, his force being all but spent, he wriggled on his
knees up to a rock that happened to be lying near, and for
some little while lay leaning against it. A hollow in its
surface is still to be seen, just as if his weight as he lay had
marked it with a distinct impression of his body. But I
think this appearance is due to human handiwork, for it seems
to pass all belief that the hard and uncleavable rock should
so imitate the softness of wax, as, merely by the contact of a
man leaning on it, to present the appearance of a man having
sat there, and assume concavity for ever.
A certain man, who chanced to be passing by in a car, saw
Starkad wounded almost all over his body. Equally aghast
and amazed, he turned and drove closer, asking what re-
R
242 SAXO GRAMMATICTJS.
wAvd he should have if he were to tend and heal his wounds.
But Starkad would rather be tortured by grievous wounds
than use the service of a man of base estate, and first asked
his birth and calling. The man said that his profession was
that of a sergeant.^ Starkad, not content with despising him,
also spurned him with revilings, because, neglecting all honour-
able business, he followed the calling of a hanger-on ; and be-
cause he had tarnished his whole career with ill repute, thinking
the losses of the poor his own gains; suffering none to be
innocent, ready to inflict wrongful accusation upon all men,
most delighted at any lamentable turn in the fortunes of
another; and toiling most at his own design, namely of
treacherously spying out all men's doings, and seeking some
traitorous occasion to censure the character of the innocent.
As this man departed, another came up, promising aid and
remedies. Like the last comer, he was bidden to declare his
[198] condition; and he said that he had a certain man's handmaid to
wife, and was doing peasant service to her master in order to
set her free. Starkad refused to accept his help, because he
had married in a shameful way by taking a slave to his embraces.
Had he had a shred of virtue he should at least have disdained
to be intimate with the slave of another, but should have
enjoyed some freeborn partner of his bed. What a mighty
man, then, must we deem Starkad, who, when enveloped in the
most deadly perils, showed himself as great in refusing aid as
in receiving wounds !
When this man departed a woman chanced to approach and
walk past the old man. She came up to him in order to
wipe his wounds, but was first bidden to declare what was
her birth and calling. She said that she was a handmaid use'd
fco grinding at the mill. Starkad then asked her if she had
children ; and when he was told that she had a female child,
he told her to go home and give the breast to her squalling
1 Sergeant] preconis: apparently a kind of bailiff, who arrested,
exacted fines, and was held in much the same esteem as the modern
tax-gatherer. The expression, "calling of the hanger-on" [scwrrilitatis
offitia] further defines his standing. See Ducange, s. v.
daughter; for he thought it most uncomely that he should
borrow help from a woman of the lowest degree. Moreover,
he knew that she could nourish her own flesh and blood with
milk better than she could minister to the wounds of a stranger.
While she also was departing, a young man followed, riding up
in a car. He saw the old man, and drew near to minister to his
wounds. On being asked who he was, he said his father was a
labourer, and added that he was used to the labours of a peasant.
Starkad praised his origin, and pronounced that his calling
was also most worthy of honour ; for, he said, such men
sought a livelihood by honourable traffic in their labour,
inasmuch as thejr knew not of any gain, save what they
had earned by the sweat of their brow. He also thought that
a country life was justly to be preferred even to the most
splendid riches ; for the most wholesome fruits of it seemed to
be born and reared in the shelter of a middle estate, halfway
between magnificence and squalor. But he did not wish to pass
the kindness of the youth unrequited, and rewarded the esteem
he had shown him with the mantle he had cast among the
thorns. So the peasant's son approached, replaced the parts
of his belly that had been torn away, and bound up with a
plait of withies the mass of intestines that had fallen out.
Then he took the old man to his car, and with the most
zealous respect carried him away to the palace.
Meantime Helga, in language betokening the greatest wari- [199]
ness, began to instruct her husband, saying that she knew that
Starkad, as soon as he came back from conquering the cham-
pions, would punish him for his absence, thinking that he had
inclined more to sloth and lust than to his promise to fight as
appointed. Therefore he must withstand Starkad boldly, be-
cause he always spared the brave but loathed the coward.
Helge respected equally her prophecy and her counsel, and
braced his soul and body with a glow of valorous enterprise.
Starkad, when he had been driven to the palace, heedless of
the pain of his wounds, leaped swiftly out of the car, and, just
like a man who was well from top to toe, burst into the bridal-
chamber, shattering the doors with his fist. Then Helge leapt
K 2
244 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
from his bed, and, as he had been taught by the counsel of his
wife, plunged his blade full at Starkad's forehead. And since
he seemed to be meditating a second blow, and to be about to
make another thrust with his sword, Helga flew quickly from
the couch, caught up a shield, and, by interposing it, saved the
old man from impending destruction ; for, notwithstanding,
Helge with a stronger stroke of his blade smote the shield
right through to the boss. Thus the praiseworthy wit of the
woman aided her friend, and her hand saved him whom her
counsel had injured ; for she protected the old man by her
deed, as well as her husband by her warning. Starkad was
induced by this to let Helge go scot-free ; saying that a man
whose ready and assured courage so surely betokened manli-
ness, ought to be spared ; for he vowed that a man ill
deserved death whose brave spirit was graced with such a
dogged will to resist.
Starkad went back to Sweden before his wounds had been
treated with medicine, or covered with a single scar. Halfdan
had been killed by his rivals; and Starkad, after quelling certain
rebels, set up Siward as the heir to his father's sovereignty.
With him he sojourned a long time ; but when he heard — for
the rumour spread — that Ingild, the son of Frode (who had
been treacherously slain), was perversely minded, and instead
of punishing his father's murderers, bestowed upon them kind-
ness and friendship, he was vexed with stinging wrath at so
dreadful a crime. And, resenting that a youth of such great
parts should have renounced his descent from his glorious
father, he hung on his shoulders a mighty mass of charcoal,
as though it were some costly burden, and made his way to
Denmark. When asked by those he met why he was taking
along so unusual a load, he said that he would sharpen the
dull wits of King Ingild to a point-' by bits of charcoal. So he
accomplished a swift and headlong journey, as though at a
[200] single breath, by a short and speedy track ; and at last, be-
coming the guesfc of Ingild, he went up, as his custom was,
1 Sharpen the dull wits of King Ingild to a point] i.e., as if by
melting them in the charcoal, and forging them anew,
into the seat appointed for the great men ; for he had been
used to occupy the highest post of distinction with the kings
of the last generation. When the queen came in, and saw
him covered with filth and clad in the mean, patched
clothes of a peasant, the ugliness of her guest's dress made her
judge him with little heed ; and, measuring the man by the
clothes, she reproached him with crassness of wit, because he
had gone before greater men in taking his place at table, and
had assumed a seat that was too good for his boorish attire.
She bade him quit the place, that he might not touch the
cushions with his dress, which was fouler than it should have
been. For she put down to crassness and brazenness what
Starkad only did from proper pride ; she knew not that on
a high seat of honour the mind sometimes shines brighter
than the raiment. The spirited old man obeyed, though vexed
at the rebuff, and with marvellous self -control choked down
the insult which his bravery so ill deserved ; uttering at the
disgrace he had received neither word nor groan. But he
could not long bear to hide the bitterness of his anger in
silence. Rising, and retreating to the furthest end of the
palace, he flung his body against the walls ; and strong as they
were, he so battered them with the shock, that the beams
quaked mightily ; and he nearly brought the house down in a
crash. Thus, stung not only with his rebuff", but with the
shame of having poverty cast in his teeth, he unsheathed his
wrath against the insulting speech of the queen with inexor-
able sternness.
Ingild, on his return from hunting, scanned him closely ;
and, when he noticed that he neither looked cheerfully about,
nor paid him the respect of rising, saw by the sternness
written on his brow that it was Starkad. For when he noted
his hands horny with fighting, his scars in front, the force and
fire of his eye, he perceived that a man whose body was
seamed with so many traces of wounds had no weakling soul.
He therefore rebuked his wife, and charged her roundly to
put away her haughty tempers, and to soothe and soften with
kind words and gentle offices the man she had reviled ; to
246 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
comfort him with food and drink, and refresh him with kindly-
converse ; saying, that this man had been appointed his tutor
by his father long ago, and had been a most tender guardian
of his childhood. Then, learning too late the temper of
the old man, she turned her harshness into gentleness, and
respectfully waited on him whom she had rebuffed and railed
at with bitter revilings. The angry hostess changed her part,
[20 1 J and became the most fawning of flatterers. She wished to
check his anger with her attentiveness ; and her fault was
the less, inasmuch as she was so quick in ministering to him
after she had been chidden. But she paid dearly for it, for
she presently beheld stained with the blood of her brethren
the place where she had flouted and rebuffed the brave old
man from his seat.
Now, in the evening, Ingild took his meal with the sons of
Swerting, and fell to a magnificent feast, loading the tables
with the profusest dishes. With friendly invitation he kept
the old man back from leaving the revel too early ; as
though the delights of elaborate dainties could have under-
mined that staunch and sturdy virtue ! But when Starkad
had set eyes on these things, he scorned so wanton a use of
them ; and, not to give way a whit to foreign fashions, he
steeled his appetite against these tempting delicacies with the
self-restraint which was his greatest strength. He would not
suffer his repute as a soldier to be impaired by the allurements
of an orgy. For his valour loved thrift, and was a stranger to
all superfluity of food, and averse to feasting in excess. For
his was a courage which never at any moment had time to
make luxury of aught account, and always forewent pleasure to
pay due heed to virtue. So when he saw that the antique
character of self-restraint, and all good old customs, were being
corrupted by new-fangled luxury and sumptuosity, he wished
to be provided with a morsel fitter for a peasant, and scorned
the costly and lavish feast. Thus, spurning profuse indulgence
in food, he took some smoky and rather rancid fare, appeasing
his hunger with a better relish because more simply; and
being unwilling to enfeeble his true valour with the tainted
sweetness of sophisticated foreign dainties, or break the rule
of antique plainness by such strange idolatries of the belly.
He was also very wroth that they should go to the extrava-
gance of having the same meat both roasted and boiled at the
same meal; for he considered an eatable which was steeped in
the vapours of the kitchen, and which the skill of the cook
rubbed over with many kinds of flavours, in the light of a
monstrosity. Unlike him, Ingild flung the example of his
ancestors to the winds, and gave himself freer licence of inno-
vation in the fashions of the table than the custom of his
fathers allowed. For when he had once abandoned himself
to the manners of Teutonland, he did not blush to yield to its
unmanly wantonness. No slight incentives to debauchery
have flowed down our country's throat from that sink of a
land. Hence came magniflcent dishes, sumptuous kitchens, [202]
the base service of cooks, and all sorts of abominable sausages.
Hence came our adoption, wandering from the ways of our
fathers, of a more dissolute dress. Thus our country, which
cherished self-restraint as its native quality, has gone begging
to our neighbours for luxury ; whose allurements so charmed
Ingild, that he did not think it shameful to requite wrongs
with kindness ; nor did the grievous murder of his father
make him heave one sigh of bitterness when it crossed his
mind.
But^ the queen would not depart without efi'ecting her
purpose. Thinking that presents would be the best way
to banish the old man's anger, she took ofl' her own head
a band of marvellous handiwork, and put it in his lap as
he supped; desiring to buy his favour, since she could not
blunt his courage. But Starkad, whose bitter resentment
was not yet^ abated, flung it back in the face of the giver,
thinking that in such a gift there was more scorn than
1 The next two paragraphs, down to p. 248, " But the woman," etc., are
not needed ; they are repetitions of the song and comment, p. 251, etc.
2 Not yet] necdum. Here begins Laverentzen's fragment (" C"), con-
tinuing to the place noted on p. 263, but with a large gap in the middle,
from '■ I am baited", p. 251, to "lack the last rites", p. 258.
548 SAXO GRAMMATinUS.
respect. And he was wise not to put this strange ornament
of female dress upon the head that was all bescarred and used
to the helmet ; for he knew that the locks of a man ought not
to wear a woman's head-band. Thus he avenged slight with
slight, and repaid with retorted scorn the disdain he had re-
ceived ; thereby bearing himself well-nigh as nobly in aveng-
ing his disgrace as he had borne himself in enduring it. To
the soul of this old warrior reverence for Frode was grappled
with indissoluble hooks of friendship. Drawn to him by count-
less deeds of bounty, countless kindnesses, he could not be
wheedled into giving up his purpose of revenge by any sort of
alluring complaisance. Even now, when Frode was no more,
he was eager to pay the gratitude due to his benefits, and to
requite the kindness of the dead, whose loving disposition and
generous friendship he had experienced while he lived. For
he bore graven so deeply in his heart the grievous picture of
Frode's murder, that his honour for that most famous captain
could never be plucked from the inmost chamber of his
soul ; and therefore he did not hesitate to rank his ancient
friendship before the present kindness. Besides, when he
recalled the previous affront, he could not thank the com-
plaisance that followed ; he could not put aside the disgraceful
wound to his self-respect. For the memory of benefits or in-
juries ever sticks more firmly in the minds of brave men than
in those of weaklings. For he had not the habits of those who
follow their friends in prosperity and quit them in adversity,
who pay more regard to fortune than to looks, and sit closer
[203] to their own gain than to charity towards others.
But^the woman held to her purpose, seeing that even so she
could not win the old man to convivial mirth. Qontinuing with
yet more lavish courtesy her efibrts to soothe him, and to heap
more honours on the guest, she bade a piper strike up, and
started music to melt his unbending rage. For she wanted to
unnerve his stubborn nature by means of cunning sounds. But
^ This paragraph on the piper ought to follow p. 255, 1. 9, after
"manners". Unfortunately, as noticed on p. 250, the verses of the
aong referring to the "actor" are lo3t.
the cajolery of pipe or string was just as powerless to enfeeble
that dogged warrior. When he heard it, he felt that the respect
paid him savoured more of pretence than of love. Hence the
crestfallen performer seemed to be playing to a statue rather
than a man, and learnt that it is vain for buffoons to assail with
their tricks a settled and weighty sternness, and that a mighty
mass cannot be shaken with the idle puffing of the lips. For
Starkad had set his face so firmly in his stubborn wrath, that
he seemed not a whit easier to move than ever. For the
inflexibility which he owed his vows was not softened either
by the strain of the lute or the enticements of the palate; and
he thought that more respect should be paid to his strenuous
and manly purpose than to the tickling of the ears or the lures
of the feast. Accordingly he flung the bone, which he had
stripped in eating the meat, in the face of the harlequin,^ and
dro.ve the wind violently out of his pufled cheeks, so that
they collapsed. By this he showed how his austerity loathed
the clatter of the stage ; for his ears were stopped with anger
and open to no influence of delight. This reward, befitting an
actor, punished an unseemly performance with a shameful
wage. For Starkad excellently judged the man's deserts, and
bestowed a shankbone for the piper to pipe on,^ requiting his
soft service with a hard fee. None could say whether the
actor piped or wept the louder ; he showed by his bitter flood
of tears how little place bravery has in the breasts of the
dissolute. For the fellow was a mere minion of pleasure, and
had never learnt to bear the assaults of calamity. This man's
hurt was ominous of the carnage that was to follow at the
feast. Right well did Starkad's spirit, heedful of sternness,
hold with stubborn gravity to steadfast revenge ; for he was
as much disgusted at the lute as others were delighted, and
repaid the unwelcome service by insultingly flinging a bone ;
thus avowing that he owed a greater debt to the glorious dust
of his mighty friend than to his shameless and infamous ward.
1 Harlequin] gestiaulantis.
2 Shankbone for the piper to pipe on] tibicini tibiam.
250 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
Then, to revile the actor more at length, he composed a song
after this manner^ . . . But the queen marvelled at the valour
[204] which she was powerless to enfeeble, and ended by admiring
the man whotn she had vainly courted with benefits.
But when Starkad saw that the slayers of Frode were in
high favour with the king, his stern glances expressed the
mighty wrath which he harboured, and his face betrayed what
he felt. The visible fury of his gaze betokened the secret
tempest in his heart. At last, when Ingild tried to appease
him with royal fare, he spurned the dainty. Satisfied with
cheap and common food, he utterly spurned outlandish
delicacies ; he was used to plain diet, and would not pamper
his palate with any delightful flavour. When he was asked
why he had refused the generous attention of the king with
such a clouded brow, he said that he had come to Denmark to
find the son of Frode, not a man who crammed his proud and
gluttonous stomach with rich elaborate feasts. For the Teuton
extravagance which the king favoured had led him, in his
longing for the pleasures of abundance, to set to the fire again,
for roasting, dishes which had been already boiled. There-
upon he could not forbear from attacking Ingild's character,
but poured out the whole bitterness of his reproaches on his
head. He condemned his unfilial spirit, because he gaped
with repletion and vented his squeamishness in filthy hawk-
ings ; because, following the lures of the Saxons, he strayed
and departed far from soberness ; because he was so lacking
in manhood as not to pursue even the faintest shadow of it.
But, declared Starkad, he bore the heaviest load of infamy,
because, even when he first began to see service, he forgot to
avenge his father, to whose butchers, forsaking the law of
nature, he was kind and attentive. Men whose deserts
were most vile he welcomed with loving atfection ; and not
only did he let those go scot-free, whom he should have
1 A song after this manner] Miiusmodi carmen. So C ; the ed. pr. has
mox citomd/u/m carmen. C is probably right, and this song has dropped
out; for the song "soon to be quoted", p. 251, does not "revile f^e
actor'' at all.
pxinished most sharply, but he even judged them fit persons
to live with and entertain at his table, whereas he should
rather have put them to death. Hereupon Starkad is also
said to have sung as follows :
" Let the unwarlike youth yield to the aged, let him honour
all the years of him that is old. When a man is brave, let
none reproach the number of his days.
" Though the hair of the ancient whiten with age, their
valour stays still the same ; nor shall the lapse of time have [205]
power to weaken their manly heart.
" I am elbowed away by the offensive' guest, who taints with
vice his outward show of goodness, whilst he is the slave of
his belly and prefers his daily dainties to anything.
" When I was counted as the comrade of Frode, I ever sat
in the midst of warriors on a high seat^ in the hall, and I was
the first of the princes to take my meal.
" Now, the lot of a nobler age is reversed ; I am shut in a
corner, I am like the fish that seeks shelter as it wanders to
and fro hidden in the waters.
"I, who used surely in the former age to lie back on a
couch handsomely spread, am now thrust among the hindmost
and driven from the crowded hall.
"Perchance I had been driven on my back at the doors,
had not the wall struck my side and turned me back, and had
not the beam in the way made it hard for me to fly when I
was thrust forth.
"I am baited with the jeers of the court-folk; I am not
received as a guest should be; I am girded at with harsh
gibing, and stung with babbling taunts.
" I am a stranger, and would gladly know what news are
spread abroad by busy rumour, what is the course of events,
what the order of the land, what is doing in your country.
" Thou, Ingild, buried in sin, why dost thou tarry in the
task of avenging thy father ? Wilt thou think tranquilly of
the slaughter of thy righteous sire ?
^ Offensive] gravis. Query "gorged", " heavy with food" ?
2 On a high seat] auMimis. See note on next page.
252 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
[206] " Why dost thou, sluggard, think only of feasting, and lean
thy belly back in ease, more effeminate than harlots ? Is the
avenging of thy slaughtered father a little thing to thee ?
" When last I left thee, Frode, I learned by my prophetic
soul that thou, mightiest of kings, wouldst surely perish by the
sword of enemies ;
" And while I travelled long in the land, a warning groan
rose in my soul, which augured that thereafter I was never
to see thee more.
" Wo is me, that then I was far away, harrying the farthest
peoples of the earth, when the traitorous guest aimed craftily
at the throat of his king.
" Else I would either have shown myself the avenger of my
lord, or have shared his fate and fallen where he fell, and
would joyfully have followed the blessed king in one and the
same death.
"I have not come to indulge in gluttonous feasting, the
sin whereof I will strive to chastise ; nor will 1 take mine ease,
nor the delights of the fat belly.
" No famous king has ever set me before in the middle by
the strangers.'- I have been wont to sit in the highest seats
among friends.
" I have come from Sweden, travelling over wide lands,
thinking that I should be rewarded, if only I had the joy to
find the son of my beloved Frode.
" But I sought a brave man, and I have come to a
glutton, a king who is the slave of his belly and of vice,
whose liking has been turned back towards wantonness by
filthy pleasure.
[207] " Famous is the speech men think that Halfdan spoke : he
1 In the middle by the strangers] Contrast the fourth stanza above,
where Starkad says that he used to sit on the high seat "in the midst of
the warriors'". In the O. Norse hall there were two long tables, joined by
a shorter one at the western end^ at which the king sat in his high seat.
In the middle of the table on the northern side was a second h^gh seat,
where Starkad had been used to sit. But now, apparently, he was put
" in the midst" of the other long table, among strangers.
warned us it would soon come to pass that an understanding
father should beget a witless son.
" Though the heir be deemed degenerate, I will not suifer
the wealth of mighty Frode to profit strangers or to be made
public like plunder."
At these words the queen trembled, and she took from her
head the ribbon with which she happened, in woman's fashion,
to be adorning her hair, and proffered it to the enraged old
man, as though she could avert his anger with a gift.
Starkad in anger flung it back most ignominiously in the
face of the giver, and began again in a loud voice :
" Take hence, I pray thee, thy woman's gift, and set back
thy headgear on thy head ; no brave man assumes the chaplets
that befit Love only.
" For it is amiss that the hair of men that are ready for
battle should be bound back with wreathed gold ; such attire is
right for the throngs of the soft and effeminate.
" But take this gift to thy husband, who loves luxury, whose
finger itches, while he turns over the rump and handles the
fiesh of the bird roasted brown.
" The flighty and skittish wife of Ingild longs to observe the
fashions of the Teutons ; she prepares the orgy and makes
ready the artificial dainties.
" For she tickles the palate with a new-fangled feast, she
pursues the zest of an unknown flavour, raging to load [20S]
all the tables with dishes yet more richly than before.
" She gives her lord wine to drink in bowls, pondering
all things with zealous preparation ; she bids the cooked meats
be roasted, and intends them for a second fire.
" Wantonly she feeds her husband like a hog ; a shameless
whore, trusting ....
" She roasts the boiled, and recooks the roasted meats, plan-
ning the meal with spendthrift extravagance, careless of right
and wrong, practising sin, a foul woman.
'' Wanton in arrogance, a soldier" of Love, longing for dainties,
she abjures the fair ways of self-control, and also provides
devices for gluttony.
254 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
" With craving stomach she desires turnip strained in a
smooth pan, cakes with thin juice, and shellfish in rows.
" I do not remember the great Frode putting his hand to
the sinews of birds, or tearing the rump of a cooked fowl
with crooked thumb.
" What former king could have been so gluttonous as to stir
the stinking filthy fiesh, or rummage in the foul back of a bird
with plucking fingers ?
" The food of valiant men is raw ; no need, methinks, of
sumptuous tables for those whose stubborn souls are bent on
> warfare.
[209] " It had been fitter for thee to have torn the stiff beard,i
biting hard with thy teeth, than greedily to have drained the
bowl of milk with thy wide mouth.
" We fled from the offence of the sumptuous kitchen ; we
stayed our stomach with rancid fare; few in the old days
loved cooked juices.
" A dish with no sauce of herbs gave us the flesh of rams
and swine. We partook temperately, tainting nothing with
bold excess.
" Thou who nowlickest the milk-white fat, put on, prithee, the
spirit of a man; remember Frode, and avenge thy father's death.
"The worthless and cowardly heart shall perish, and shall
not parry the thrust of death by flight, though it bury itself
in a valley, or crouch in darkling dens.
" Once we were eleven princes, devoted followers of King
Hakon, and here Geigad^ sat above Helge in the order of the
meal.
" Geigad us6d to appease the first pangs of hunger with a
dry rump of ham ; plenty of hard crust quelled the craving of
his stomach.
"No one asked for a sickly morsel; all took their food
in common ; the meal of mighty men cost but slight display.
^ Torn the stiff beard . . . .] Perhaps that of the enemy, in battle :
but probably his own beard : the reference being to some proverbial
expression, " Better eat your own beard.'
^ Geigad] Gegath/i.cs ; ed. pr. has wrongly Begathus. See note on p. 228.
"The commons shunned foreign victual, and the greatest [210]
lusted not for a feast ; even the king remembered to live
temperately at little cost.
"Scorning to look at the mead, he drank the fermented
juice of Ceres ; he shrank not from the use of under-cooked
meats, and hated the roast.
"The board used to stand with slight display, a modest
salt-cellar showed the measure of its cost ; lest the wise
ways of antiquity should in any wise be changed by foreign
usage.
" Of old, no man put flagons or mixing-bowls on the tables ;
the steward filled the cup from the butt, and there was no
abundance of adorned vessels.
" No one who honoured past ages put the smooth wine-jars
beside the tankards, and of old no bedizened lackey heaped the
platter with dainties.
" Nor did the vainglorious host deck the meal with little
salt-shell or smooth cup ; but all has been now abolished in
shameful wise by the new-fangled manners.
" Who would ever have borne to take money in ransom for
the death of a lost parent, or to have asked a foe for a gift to
atone for the murder of a father ?
" What strong heir or well-starred son would have sat side
by side with such as these, letting a shameful bargain utterly
unnerve the warrior ?
" Wherefore, when the honours of kings are sung, and bards [211]
relate the victories of captains, I hide my face for shame in
my mantle, sick at heart.
"Tor nothing shines in thy trophies, worthy to be recorded
by the pen ; no heir of Frode is named in the roll of the
honourable.
" Why dost thou vex me with insolent gaze, thou who
honourest the foe guilty of thy father's blood, and art thought
only to take thy vengeance with loaves and warm soup ?
" When men speak well of the avengers of crimes, then long
thou to lose thy quick power of hearing, that thy impious spirit
may not be ashamed.
256 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
" For oft has the virtue of another vexed a heart that knows
its guilt, and the malice in the breast is abashed by the fair
report of the good.
"Though thou go to the East, or live sequestered in the
countries of the West, or whether, driven thence, thou seek
the midmost place of the earth;
" Whether thou revisit the cold quarter of the heaven where
the pole is to be seen, and carries on the sphere with its swift
spin, and looks down upon the neighbouring Bear ;
"Shame shall accompany thee far, and shall smite thy
countenance with heavy disgrace, when the united assembly
of the great kings is taking pastime.
" Since everlasting dishonour awaits thee, thou canst not
come amidst the ranks of the famous ; and in every clime
thou shalt pass thy days in infamy.
[212] "The fates have given Frode an oifspring born into the
world when gods were adverse, whose desires have been
enthralled by crime and ignoble lust.
" Even as in a ship all things foul gather to the filthy hollow
of the bilge, even so hath a flood of vices poured into Ingild.
" Therefore, in terror of thy shame being published, thou
shalt lie crushed in the corners of thy land, sluggish on
thy foul hearth, and never to be seen in the array of the
famous.
" Then shalt thou shake thy beard at thine evil fate, kept
down by the taunts of thy mistresses, when thy paramour galls
thy ear with her querulous cries.
" Since chill fear retards thy soul, and thou dreadest to be-
come the avenger of thy sire, thou art utterly degenerate, and
thy ways are like a slave's.
" It would have needed scant preparation to destroy thee ;
even as if a man should catch and cut the throat of a kid, or
slit the weazand of a soft sheep and butcher it.
" Behold, a son of the tyrant Swerting shall take the in-
heritance of Denmark after thee; he whose slothful sister
thou keepest in infamous union.
" Whilst thou delightest to honour thy bride, laden with
gems and shining in gold apparel, we burn with an indignation
that is linked with shame, lamenting thy infamies.
" When thou art stirred by furious lust, our mind is
troubled, and recalls the fashion of ancient times, and bids us
grieve sorely.
"For we rate otherwise than thou the crime of the foes
whom now thou boldest in honour; wherefore the face of
this age is a burden to me, remembering the ancient ways.
" I would crave no greater blessing, 0 Frode, if I might see
those guilty of thy murder duly punished for such a crime."
Now. he prevailed so well by this stirring counsel, that his [213]
reproach served like a flint wherewith to strike a blazing flame
of valour in the soul that had been chill and slack. For
the king had at first heard the song inattentively ; but, stirred
by the earnest admonition of his guardian, he conceived in his
heart a tardy fire of revenge; and, forgetting the reveller, he
changed into the foeman. At last he leapt up from where he
lay, and poured the whole fiood of his anger on those at table
with him ; insomuch that he unsheathed his sword upon the
sons of Swerting with bloody ruthlessness, and aimed with
drawn blade at the throats of those whose gullets he had
pampered with the pleasures of the table. These men he
forthwith slew ; and bj' so doing he drowned the holy rites of
the table in blood. He sundered the feeble bond of their
league, and he exchanged a shameful revel for enormous
cruelty ; the host became the foe, and that vilest slave of
excess the bloodthirsty agent of revenge. For the vigorous
pleading of his counsellor bred a breath of courage in his soft
and unmanly youth ; it drew out his valour from its lurking-
place, and renewed it, and so fashioned it, that the authors of
a most grievous murder were punished even as they deserved.
For the young man's valour had been, not quenched, but only
in exile, and the aid of an old man had drawn it out into the
light ; and it accomplished a deed which was all the greater for
its tardiness ; for it was somewhat nobler to steep the cups in .
blood than in wine. What a spirit, then, must we think that
old man had, who by his eloquent adjuration expelled from
258 SAXO GEAMMATlOtrS.
that king's mind its infinite sin, and who, bursting the bonds
of iniquity, implanted a most eflectual seed of virtue. Starkad
aided the king with equal achievements; and not only showed
the most complete courage in his own person, but summoned
back that which had been rooted out of the heart of another.
[2 14] When the deed was done, he thus began^:
" King Ingild, farewell ; thy heart, full of valour, hath now
shown a deed of daring. The spirit that reigns in thy body is
revealed by its fair beginning; nor did there lack deep counsel
in thy heart, though thou wert silent till this hour ; for thou
dost redress by thy bravery what delay had lost, and redeemest
the sloth of thy spirit by mighty valour. Come now, let us
rout the rest, and let none escape the peril which all alike
deserve. Let the crime come home to the culprit, let the sin
return and crush its contriver.
" Let the servants take up in a car the bodies of the slain,
and let the attendant quickly bear out the carcasses. Justly
shall they lack the last rites ; they are unworthy to be covered
with a mound ; let no funeral procession or pyre suffer them
the holy honour of a barrow ; let them be scattered to rot in
the fields, to be consumed by the beaks of birds ; let them
taint the country all about with their deadly corruption.^
" Do thou too, king, if thou hast any wit, flee thy savage
bride, lest the she-wolf bring forth a litter like herself, and a
beast spring from thee that shall hurt its own father.
" Tell me, Rote,^ continual derider of cowards, thinkest thou
that we have avenged Frode enough, when we have spent seven
deaths on the vengeance of one ? Lo, those are borne out dead
who paid homage not to thy sway in deed, but only in show,
and though obsequious they planned treachery. But I always
cherished this hope, that noble fathers have noble offspring,
who will follow in their character the lot which they 'received
by their birth. Therefore, Ingild, better now than in time
1 Thus began] What follows is in verse (hexameters) in the original.
2 Compare Amleth's speech, pp. 119-120, supra.
' Rote] BotJio ; a name of one of the Walkyries in the prose Bdda,
whom Odin sent out to choose who should fall in battle.
iiOOK SIX. 259
past dost thou deserve to be called lord of Leire and of
Denmark.
"When, 0 King Hakon, I vs^as a beardless youth, and followed
thy leading and command in warfare, I hated luxury and
wanton souls, and practised only wars. Training body and
mind together, I banished every unholy thing from my soul,
and shunned the pleasures of the belly, loving deeds of
prowess. For those that followed the calling of arms had
rough clothing and common gear and short slumbers and
scanty rest. Toil drove ease far away, and the time ran
by at scanty cost. Not as with some men now, the light of
whose reason is obscured by insatiate greed with its blind
maw. Some one of these clad in a covering of curiously [215]
wrought raiment effeminately guides the fleet-footed [steed],
and unknots his dishevelled locks, and lets his hair fly
abroad loosely.
" He loves to plead^ often in the court, and to covet a base
pittance, and with this pursuit he comforts his sluggish life,
doing with venal tongue the business entrusted to him.
" He outrages the laws by force, he makes armed assault
upon men's rights, he tramples on the inHocent, he feeds
on the wealth of others,^ he practises debauchery and
gluttony, he vexes good fellowship with biting jeers, and goes
after harlots as a hoe after the grass.
" The coward falls when battles are lulled in peace. Though
he who fears death lie in the heart of a valley, no mantlet )
shall shelter him. His final fate carries off' every living man ; ,
doom is not to be averted by skulking. But I, who have '
shaken the whole world with my slaughters, shall I enjoy a
peaceful death ? Shall I be taken up to the stars in a quiet
end ? Shall I die in my bed without a wound ? "
1 To plead] dicere. So C for the discere of ed. pr.
2 Wealth of others] alieno pascitur cere ; namely, by getting into debt.
END OF BOOK SIX.
s 2
Book 7
[216] We are told by historians of old.^ that Ingild had four sons,
of whom three perished in war, while Olaf alone reigned after
his father ; but some say that Olaf was the son of Ingild's
sister, though this opinion is doubtful. Posterity has but an
uncertain knowledge of his deeds, which are dim with the dust
of antiquity ; nothing but the last counsel of his wisdom has
been rescued by tradition. For when he was in the last grip
of death he took thought for his sons Frode and Haeald,
and bade them have royal sway, one over the land and the
other over the sea, and receive these several powers, not in
prolonged possession, but in yearly rotation. Thus their share
in the rule was made equal ; but Frode, who was the first to
have control of the affairs of the sea, earned disgrace from
his continual defeats in roving. His calamity was due to his
sailors being newly married, and preferring nuptial joys at
home to the toils of foreign warfare. After a time Harald,
the younger son, received the rule of the sea, and chose
soldiers who were unmarried, fearing to be baffled like his
brother. Fortune favoured his choice ; for he was as glorious
a rover as his brother was inglorious ; and this earned him his
brother's hatred. Moreover, their queens, Signe and Ulfhild,
one of whom was the daughter of Siward, King^ of Sweden,
the other of Karl, the governor of Gothland, were continually
wrangling as to which was the nobler, and broke up the
mutual fellowship of their husbands. Hence Harald and
1 Historians of old] perita rerum antiqiiitas : probably referring to the
makers of the kings' genealogies. — M.
2 King] recje : here begins Kall-Rasmussen's fragment (D), thus over-
lapping C to some exteilt. It lasts to "public sacrifice" (Ubamine
cettseretur) on p. 265, but contains several gaps.
Frode, when their common household was thus shattered,
divided up the goods they held in common, and gave more [217]
heed to the wrangling altercations of the women than to the
duties of brotherly affection.
Moreover, Frode, judging that his brother's glory was a
disgrace to himself and brought him into contempt, ordered one
of his household to put him to death secretly; for he saw that
the man of whom he had the advantage in years was surpassing
him in courage. When the deed was done, he had the agent of
his treachery privily slain, lest the accomplice should betray the
crime. Then, in order to gain the credit of innocence and
escape the brand of crime, he ordered a full inquiry to be made
into the mischance that had cut off his brother so suddenly.
But he could not manage, by all his arts, to escape silent con-
demnation in the thoughts of the common people. He after-
wards asked Karl, " who had killed Harald?" and Karl replied
that it was deceitful in him to ask a question about some-
•thing which he knew quite well. These words earned him his
death ; for Frode thought that he had reproached him covertly
with fratricide.
After this, the lives of Harald and Halfdan, the sons of
Harald by Signe the daughter of Karl, were attem'pted by
their uncle. But the guardians devised a cunning method
of saving their wards. For they cut off the claws of wolves
and tied them to the soles of their feet ; and then made
them run along many times so as to harrow up the mud
near their dwelling, as well as the ground (then covered with
snow), and give the appearance of an attack by wild beasts.
Then they killed the children of some bond-women, tore
their bodies into little pieces, and scattered their mangled
limbs all about. So when the youths were looked for in vain,
the scattered limbs were found, the tracks of the beasts were
pointed out, and the ground was seen besmeared with blood.
It was believed that the boys had been devoured by raven-
ing wolves ; and hardly anyone was suffered to doubt so plain
a proof that they were mangled. The belief in this spectacle
served to protect the wards. They were presently shut up by
262 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
their guardians in a hollow oak, so that no trace of their being
alive should get abroad, and were fed for a long time under
pretence that they were dogs ; and were even called by hounds'
names, to prevent any belief getting abroad that they were
hiding.^
Frode alone refused to believe in their death ; and he went
and inquired of a woman skilled in divination where they
were hid. So potent were her spells, that she seemed able,
at any distance, to perceive anything, however intricately
locked away, and to summon it out to light. She declared
that one Ragnar had secretly undertaken to rear them, and
had called them by the names of dogs to cover the matter.
[218] When the young men found themselves dragged from their
hiding by the awful force of her spells, and brought before the
eyes of the enchantress, loth to be betrayed by this terrible
and imperious compulsion, they flung into her lap a shower of
gold which they had received from their guardians. When she
had taken the gift, she suddenly feigned death, and fell like
one lifeless. Her servants asked the reason why she fell so
suddenly ; and she declared that the refuge of the sons of
Harald was inscrutable ; for their wondrous might qualified
even the most awful eflfects of her spells. Thus she was con-
tent with a slight benefit, and could not bear to aAvait a
greater reward at the king's hands. After this Ragnar, find-
ing that the belief concerning himself and his wards was
becoming rife in common talk, took them both away into
Funen. Here he was taken by Frode, and confessed that he
had put the young men in safe keeping ; and he prayed the
king to spare the wards whom he had made fatherless, and
not to think it a piece of good fortune to be guilty of two un-
natural murders. By this speech he changed the king's cruelty
into shame ; and he promised that if they attempted any plots
in their own land, he would give information to the king.
Thus he gained safety for his wards, and lived many years in
freedom from terror.
1 A parallel is the Lionel-Lancelot story of children saved by being
turned into dogs,
When the boys grew up, they went to Zealand, and were
bidden by their friends to avenge their father. They vowed
that they and their uncle should not both live out the year.
When Ragnar found this out, he went by night to the palace,
prompted^ by the recollection of his covenant, and announced
that he was come privily to tell the king something he had
promised. But the king was asleep, and he would not suffer
them to wake him up, because Frode had been used to punish . ,
any disturbance of his rest with the sword. So mighty a
matter was it thought of old to break the slumbers of a king
by untimely intrusion. Frode heard this from the sentries in
the morning ; and when he perceived that Ragnar had come to
tell him of the treachery, he gathered together his soldiers,
and resolved to forestall deceit by ruthless measui-es. Harald's
sons had no help for it but to feign madness. For when
they found themselves suddenly attacked, they began to be-
have like maniacs, as if they were distraught. And when
Frode thought that they were possessed, he gave up his
purpose, thinking it shameful to attack with the sword those
who seemed to be turning the Sword against themselves. But
he was burned to death by them on the following night, and
was punished as befitted a fratricide. For they attacked the
palace, and first crushed the queen with a mass of stones ; and
then, having set fire to the house, they forced Frode to crawl
into a narrow cave that had been cut out long before, and into
the dark recesses of tunnels. Here he lurked in hiding and
perished, stifled by the reek and smoke.
After Frode was killed, Halfdan reigned over his country [219]
about three years, and then, handing over his sovereignty to
his brother Harald as deputy, went roving, and attacked and
ravaged Oland^ and the neighbouring isles, which are severed
from contact with Sweden by a winding sound. Here in the
winter he beached and entrenched his ships, and spent three
years on the expedition. After this he attacked Sweden, and
destroyed its king in the field. Afterwards he prepared to
meet the king's nephew Erik, the son of his own uncle Frode, in
1 Prompted] cmcitatus. Here C ends, 2 Oiand] D has Eallandw,
264 SAXO GRAMMATICTJS.
battle; and when he heard that Erik's champion, Hakon, was
skilful in blunting swords with his spells, he fashioned, to use
for clubbing, a huge mace studded with iron knobs, as if he
would prevail by the strength of wood over the power of
sorcery. Then — for he was conspicuous beyond all others for
his bravery — amid the hottest charges of the enemy, he
covered his head with his helmet, and, without a shield,
poised his club, and with the help of both hands whirled
it against the bulwark of shields before him. No obstacle
was so stout but it was crushed to pieces by the blow of
the mass that smote it. Thus he overthrew the champion,
who ran against him in the battle, with a violent stroke
of his weapon. But he was conquered notwithstanding, and
fled away into Helsingland, where he went to one Witolf
(who had served of old with Harald), to seek tendance for his
wounds. This man had spent most of his life in camp ; but at
last, after the grievous end of his general, he had retreated into
this lonely district, where he lived the life of a peasant, and
rested from the pursuits of war. Often struck himself by the
missiles of the enemy, he had gained no slight skill in leech-
craft by constantly tending his own wounds. But if anyone
came with flatteries to seek his aid, instead of curing him he
was accustomed to give him something that would secretly
injure him, thinking it somewhat nobler to threaten than to
wheedle for benefits. When the soldiers of Erik menaced his
house, in their desire to take Halfdan, he so robbed them of
the power of sight, that they could neither perceive the house,
nor trace it with certainty, though it was close to them. So
utterly had their eyesight been dulled by a delusive mist.
When Halfdan had by this man's help regained his full
strength, he summoned Thore, a champion of notable capacity,
and proclaimed war against Erik. But when the forces were
led out on the other side, and he saw that Erik was superior in
numbers, he hid a part of his army, and instructed it to lie in
ambush among the bushes by the wayside, in order to destroy
the enemy by an ambuscade as he marched through the
[220] narrow part of the path. Erik foresaw this, having recon-
noitred his means of advancing, and thought he must with-
draw ; for fear, if he advanced along the track he had in-
tended, of being hard-pressed by the tricks of the enemj-
among the steep windings of the hills. They therefore joined
battle, force against force, in a deep valley, inclosed all round
by lofty mountain ridges. Here Halfdan, when he saw the line
of his men wavering, climbed with Thore up a crag covered
with stones and, uprooting boulders, rolled them down upon
the enemy below ; and the weight of these as they fell crushed
the line that was drawn up in the lower position. Thus he
regained with stones the victory which he had lost with arms.
For this deed of prowess he received the name of Biargramm^ :
a word which seems to have been compounded from the name
of his fierceness and of the mountains. He soon gained so
much esteem for this among the Swedes, that he was thought
to be the son of the great Thor, and the people bestowed
divine honours upon him, and judged him worthy of public
libation.
But the souls of the conquered find it hard to rest, a;nd
the insolence of the beaten ever struggles towards the for-
bidden thing. So it came to pass that Erik, in his desire to re-
pair the losses incurred in flight, attacked the districts subject
to Halfdan. Even Denmark he did not exempt from this
harsh treatment ; for he thought it a most worthy deed to
assail the country of the man who had caused him to be driven
from his own. And so, being more anxious to inflict injury
than to repel it, he set Sweden free from the arms of the
enemy. When Halfdan heard that his brother Harald had
been beaten by Erik in three battles, and slain in the fourth,
he was afraid of losing his empire ; he had to quit the land of
the Swedes and go back to his own country. Thus Erik
regained the kingdom of Sweden all the more quickly, that
he quitted it so lightly. Had fortune wished to favour
him in keeping his kingdom as much as she had in regaining
it, she would in nowise have given him into the hand of
' Biargramm] Biargrammns. The name means " mountain- strong" or
" rock-strong", from biarg and ramrni. See VigMsson's Diet., a. v.
266 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
Halfdan. This capture was made in the following way.
When Halfdan had gone back into Sweden, he hid his fleet
craftily, and went to meet Erik with two vessels. Erik
attacked him with ten ; and Halfdan, sailing through sundry
winding channels, stole back to his concealed forces. Erik
pursued him too far, and the Danish fleet came out on the
sea. Thus Erik was surrounded ; but he rejected the life,
which was offered him under condition of thraldom. He
could not bear to think more of the light of day than liberty,
and chose to die rather than serve ; lest he should seem to love
life so well as to turn from a slave into a freeman ; and that
[221] he might not court with new-born obeisance the man whom
fortune had just before made only his equal. So little knows
virtue how to buy life with dishonour. Wherefore he was put
in chains, and banished to a place haunted by wild beasts ;
an end unworthy of that lofty spirit.
Halfdan had thus become sovereign of both kingdoms, and
graced his fame with a triple degree of honour. For he was
skilful and eloquent in composing poems in the fashion of
his country ; and he was no less notable as a valorous cham-
pion than as a powerful king. But when he heard that two
active rovers, Toke and Anund, were threatening the sur-
rounding districts, he attacked and routed them in a sea-fight.
For the ancients thought that nothing was more desirable than
glory which was gained, not by brilliancy of wealth, but by
address in arms. Accordingly^, the most famous men of old
were so minded as to love seditions, to renew quarrels, to
loathe ease, to prefer fighting to peace, to be rated by their
valour and not by their wealth, to find their greatest delight in
battles, and their least in banquetings.
But Halfdan was not long to seek for a rival. A certain
Siwald, of most illustrious birth, related with lamentation in
the assembly of the Swedes the death of Frode and his queen;
and inspired in almost all of them such a hatred of Halfdan,
that the vote of the majority granted him permission to re-
volt. Nor was he content with the mere goodwill of their
voices, but so won the heart of the commons by his crafty
cailvassing, that he induced almost all of them to set with
their hands the royal emblem on his head. Siwald had
seven sons, who were such clever sorcerers that often, in-
spired with the force of sudden frenzy, they would roar
savagely, bite their shields, swallow hot coals, and go through
any fire that could be piled up ; and their frantic passion
could only be checked by the rigour of chains, or pro-
pitiated by slaughter of men. With such a frenzy did their
own sanguinary temper, or else the fury of demons, inspire
them. When Halfdan heard of these things while busy
roving, he said it was right that his soldiers, who had hitherto
spent their rage upon foreigners, should now smite with the
steel the flesh of their own countrymen, and that they who
had been used to labour to extend their realm should now
avenge its wrongful seizure. On Halfdan approaching, Siwald
sent him ambassadors and requested him, if he was as great
in act as in renown, to meet himself and his sons in single
combat, and save the general peril by his own. When the [222]
other answered, that a combat could not lawfully be fought
by more than two men, Siwald said, that it was no wonder
that a childless bachelor should refuse the proffered conflict,
since his nature was void of heat, and had struck a disgraceful
frost into his soul and body. Children, he added, were not
different from the man who begot them, since they drew from
him their common principle of birth. Thus he and his sons
were to be accounted as one person, for nature seemed in a
manner to have bestowed on them a single body. Halfdan,
stung with this shameful affront, accepted the challenge ;
meaning to wipe out with noble deeds of valour such an
insulting taunt upon his celibacy. And while he chanced
to be walking through a shady woodland, he plucked up by the
roots an oak that stuck in his path, and, by simply stripping
it of its branches, made it look like a stout club. Having
this trusty weapon, he composed a short song as follows :
" Behold ' the rough burden which I bear with straining
crest, shall unto crests bring wounds and destruction. Never
shall any weapon of leafy wood crush the Goths with
268 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
direr augury. It shall shatter the towering strength of the
knotty neck, and shall bruise the hollow temples with the
mass of timber. The club which shall quell the wild madness
of the land shall be no less fatal to the Swedes. Breaking
bones, and brandished about the mangled limbs of warriors,
the stock I have wrenched off shall crush the backs of the
wicked, crush the hearths of our kindred, shed the blood
of our countryman, and be a destructive pest upon our
land."
When he had said this, he attacked Siwald aad his seven
sons, and destroyed them, their force and bravery being use-
less against the enormous mass of his club.
At this time one Hardbeen, who came from Helsingland,
gloried in kidnapping and ravishing princesses, and used to
kill any man who hindered him in his lusts. He preferred
high matches to those that were lowly ; and the more illus-
trious the victims he could violate, the more noble he thought
himself. No man escaped unpunished who durst measure
himself with Hardbeen in valour. He was so huge, that his
[223] stature reached the measure of nine ells. He had twelve
champions dwelling with him, whose business it was to rise up
and to restrain his fury with the aid of bonds, whenever the
rage came on him that foreboded of battle. These men asked
Halfdan to attack Hardbeen and his champions man by man ;
and he not only promised to fight, but assured himself the
victory with most confident words. When Hardbeen heard
this, a demoniacal frenzy suddenly took him ; he furiously bit
and devoured the edges of his shield ; he kept gulping down
fiery coals ; he snatched live embers in his mouth and let them
pass down into his entrails ; he rushed through the perils of
crackling fires ; and at last, when he had raved through every
sort of madness, he turned his sword -vC^ith raging hand
against the hearts of six of his champions. It is doubtful
whether this madness came from thirst for battle or natural
ferocity. Then with the remaining band of his champions
he attacked Halfdan, who crushed him with a hammer of
wondrous size, so that he lost both victory and life ; paying
the penalty both to Halfdan, whom he had challenged, and
to the kings whose offspring he had violently ravished.
But fortune never seemed satisfied with trying Halfdan's
strength, and used to offer him unexpected occasions for fight-
ing. It so happened that Egther, a Finlander, was harrying
the Swedes on a roving raid. Halfdan, having found that he
had three ships, attacked him with the same number. Night
closed the battle, so that he could not conquer him ; but he
challenged Egther next day, fought with and overthrew him.
He next heard that Grim, a champion of immense strength,
was suing, under threats of a duel, for Thorhild, the daughter
of the chief Hather, and that her father had proclaimed that
he who put the champion out of the way should have her.
Halfdan, though he had reached old age a bachelor, was
stirred by the promise of the chief as much as by the insolence
of the champion, and went to Norway. When he entered it, he
blotted out every mark by which he could be recognised, dis-
guising his face with splashes of dirt ; and when he came to
the spot of the battle, drew his sword first. And when he knew
that it had been blunted by the glance of the enemy, he cast it
on the ground, drew another one from the sheath, with which he
attacked Grim, cutting through the meshes on the edge of
his cuirass, as well as the lower part of his shield. Grim
wondered at the deed, and said, " I cannot remember a,n old
man who fought more keenly" ; and, instantly drawing his
sword, he pierced through and shattered the target that was
opposed to his blade. But as his right arm tarried on the
stroke, Halfdan, without wavering, met and smote it swiftly
with his sword. The other, notwithstanding, clasped his [224]
sword with his left hand, and cut through the thigh of the
striker, revenging the mangling of his own body with a slight
wound. Halfdan, now conqueror, allowed the conquered man
to ransom the remnant of his life with a sum of money ; he
would not be thought shamefully to rob a maimed man, who
could not fight, of the pitiful remainder of his days. By this
deed he showed himself almost as great in saving as in con-
quering his enemy. As a prize for this victory he won
270 SAXO GRAMMATldtJS.
Thorhild in marriage, and had by her a son Asmund ; from
whom the kings of Norway treasure the honour of being
descended ; retracing the regular succession of their line
down from Halfdan.
After this, Ebbe, a rover of common birth, was so confident
of his valour, that he was moved to aspire to a splendid
marriage. He was a suitor for Sigrid, the daughter of
Yngwin, King of the Goths, and moreover demanded half the
Gothic kingdom for her dowry. Halfdan was consulted
whether the match should be entertained, and advised that a
feigned consent should be given, promising that he would
baulk the marriage. He also gave instructions that a seat
should be allotted to himself among the places of the guests at
table. Yngwin approved the advice ; and Halfdan, utterly
defacing the dignity of his royal presence with an unsightly
and alien disguise, and coming by night on the wedding feast,
alarmed those who met him ; for they marvelled at the coming
of a man of such superhuman stature. As soon as he entered
the palace, he looked round on them all, and asked, who was he
that had taken the place next to the king ? Upon Ebbe reply-
ing that the future son-in-law of the king was next to his
side, Halfdan asked him, in the most passionate language,
what madness, or what demons, had brought him to such
wantonness, as to make bold to unite his contemptible and
filthy race with a splendid and illustrious line, or to dare to
lay his peasant finger upon the royal family : and, not content
even with such a claim, to aspire, as it seemed, to a share
even in the kingdom of another. Then he bade Ebbe fight him,
saying that he must get the victory before he got his wish.
The other answered that the night was the time to fight for
monsters, but the day the time for men : but Halfdan, to
prevent him shirking the battle by pleading the hour, de-
clared that the moon was shining with the brightness of day-
light. Thus he forced Ebbe to fight, and felled him, turning
the banquet into a spectacle, and the wedding into a funeral.
Some years passed, and he went back into his own country,
where, being childless, he bequeathed the royal wealth by will
feOoK sEveM. 271
to Yngwin, and appointed him king. Yngwin was afterwards
overthrown in war by a rival named Ragnald, and he left a
son SlWALD.
Siwald's daughter, Sigrid, was of such excellent modesty, [225]
that though a great concourse of suitors wooed her for her
beauty, it seemed as if she could not be brought to look at one
of them. Confident in this power of self-restraint, she asked
her father for a husband who by the sweetness of his blandish-
ments should be able to get a look back from her. For in old
time among us the self-restraint of the maidens was a great
subduer of wanton looks, lest the soundness of the soul should
be infected by the licence of the eyes ; and women desired to
avouch the purity of their hearts by the modesty of their faces.
Then one Ottar, the son of Ebb, kindled with confidence in
the greatness either of his own achievements, or of his courtesy
and eloquent address, stubbornly and ardently desired to woo
the maiden. And though he strove with all the force of his
wit to soften her gaze, no device whatever could move her
downcast eyes ; and, marvelling at her persistence in her in-
domitable rigour, he departed. A giant desired the same
thing, but, finding himself equally foiled, he suborned a woman ;
and she, pretending friendship for the girl, served her for a
while as her handmaid, and at last enticed her far from her
father's house, by cunningly going out of the way ; then
the giant rushed upon her and bore her off into the closest
fastnesses of a ledge on the mountain. Others think that he
disguised himself as a woman, treacherously continued his
devices so as to draw the girl away from her own house,
and in the end carried her off. When Ottar heard of this,
he ransacked the recesses of the mountain in search of the
maiden, found her, slew the giant, and bore her off". But the
assiduous giant had bound back the locks of the maiden,
tightly twisting her hair in such a way that the matted mass
of tresses was held in a kind of curled bundle ; nor was it easy
for anyone to unravel their plaited tangle, without using the
steel. Again he tried with divers allurements to provoke the
maiden to look at him ; and when he had long laid vain siege
272 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
to her listless eyes, he abandoned his quest, since his purpose
turned out so little to his liking. But he could not bring
himself to violate the girl, loth to defile with ignoble inter-
course one of illustrious birth. She then wandered long, and
sped through divers desert and circuitous paths, and happened
to come to the hut of a certain huge woman of the woods, who
set her to the task of pasturing her goats. Again Ottar
granted her his aid to set her free, and again he tried to move
her, addressing her in this fashion :
[226] " Wouldst thou rather hearken to my counsels, and embrace
me even as I desire, than be here and tend the flock of rank
goats ?
" Spurn the hand of thy wicked mistress, and flee hastily
from thy cruel taskmistress, that thou mayst go back with me
to the ships of thy friends and live in freedom.
'■ Quit the care of the sheep entrusted to thee ; scorn to
drive the steps of the goats ; share my bed, and fitly reward
my prayers.
" 0 thou whom I have sought with such pains, turn again
thy listless beams ; for a little while — it is an easy gesture —
lift thy modest face.
" I will take thee hence, and set thee by the house of thy
father, and unite thee joyfully with thy loving mother, if but
once thou wilt show me thine eyes stirred with soft desires.
" Thou, whom I have borne so oft from the prisons of the
giants, pay thou some due favour to my toil of old ; pity my
hard endeavours, and be stern no more.
"For why art thou become so distraught and brainsick,
that thou wilt choose to tend the flock of another, and be
counted among the servants of monsters, sooner than encour-
age our marriage-troth with fitting and equal consent ?"^
But she, that she might not suffer the constancy of her
chaste mind to falter by looking at the world without,
restrained her gaze, keeping her lids immovably rigid. How
modest, then, must we think, were the women of that age,
when, under the strongest provocations of their lovers, they
' For why . . . equal consent] This sentence is in prose in the original.
could not be brought to make the slightest motion of their
eyes ! So when Ottar found that even by the merits of his
double service he could not stir the maiden's gaze towards him,
he went back to the fleet, wearied out with shame and
chagrin. Sigrid, in her old fashion, ran far away over the [227]
rocks, and chanced to stray in her wanderings to the abode
of Ebb ; where, ashamed of her nakedness and distress, she
pretended to be a daughter of paupers. The mother of Ottar
saw that this woman, though bestained and faded, and covered
with a meagre cloak, was the scion of some noble stock ; and
took her, and with honourable courtesy kept her by her side
in a distinguished seat. For the beauty of the maiden was a
sign that betrayed her birth, and her tell-tale features echoed
her lineage. Ottar saw her, and asked why she hid her face
in her robe. Also, in order to test her mind more surely, he
feigned that a woman was about to become his wife, and, as he
went up into the bride-bed, gave Sigrid the torch to hold. The
lights had almost burnt down, and she was hard put to it by
the flame coming closer ; but she showed such an example of
endurance, that she was seen to hold her hand motionless, and
might have been thought to feel no annoyance from the heat.
For the fire within mastered the fire without, and the glow of
her longing soul deadened the burn of her scorched skin. At
last Ottar bade her look to her hand. Then, modestly lifting
her eyes, she turned her calm gaze upon him ; and straight-
way, the pretended marriage being put away, went up unto
the bride-bed to be his wife. Siwald afterwards seized
Ottar, and thought that he ought to be hanged for defiling his
daughter. But Sigrid at once explained how she had happened
to be carried away, and not only brought Ottar back into the
king's favour, but also induced her father himself to marry
Ottar 's sister.
After this a battle was fought between Siwald and Ragnald
in Zealand, warriors of picked valour being chosen on both
sides. , ' For three days they slaughtered one another ; but
so great was the bravery of both sides, that it was doubtful
how the victory would go. Then Ottar, whether seized with
T
S74 SAXO GRAMMATiCUS.
weariness at the prolonged battle, or with desire of glory,
broke, despising death, through the thickest of the foe, cut
down Ragnald among the bravest of his soldiers, and won the
Danes a sudden victory. This battle was notable for the
cowardice of the greatest nobles. For the whole mass fell
into such a panic, that forty of the bravest of the Swedes are
said to have turned and fled. The chief of these, Starkad,
had been used to tremble at no fortune, however cruel, and no
danger, however great. But some strange terror stole upon
him, and he chose to follow the flight of his friends rather
than to despise it. I should think that he was filled with this
alarm by the power of heaven, that he might not think him-
[228] self courageous beyond the measure of human valour. Thus
the prosperity of mankind is wont ever to be incomplete.
Then all these warriors embraced the service of King Hakon,
the mightiest of the rovers, like remnants of the war drifting
to him.
[Concerning King Sigar, whence the town Syersted took its
name.-']
After this Siwald was succeeded by his son Sigar, who had
sons Siwald, Alf, and Alger, and a daughter Signe. Alf
excelled the rest in spirit and beauty, and devoted himself to
the business of a rover. Such a grace was shed on his hair,
which had a wonderful dazzling glow, that his locks seemed
to shine silvery. At the same time Siward, the king of the
Goths, is said to have had two sons, Wemund and Osten,
and a daughter Alfhild, who showed almost from her cradle
such faithfulness to modesty, that she continually kept her face
muffled in her robe, lest she should cause her beauty to pro-
voke the passion of another. Her father banished her into
very close keeping, and gave her a viper and a snake to rear,
wishing to defend her chastity by the protection of these
reptiles when they came to grow up. For it would have been
hard to pry into her chamber when it was barred by so
dangerous a bolt. He also enacted that if any man tried to
enter it, and failed, he must straightway yield his head to be
1 This sentence in the ed, pr. is evidently a gloss.
fiOOK SEVEN. 275
taken off and impaled on a stake. The terror which was
thus attached to wantonness chastened the heated spirits of
the young men. Then Alf, the son of Sigar, thinking that
the peril of the attempt only made it the nobler, declared
himself a wooer, and was told to subdue the beasts that kept
watch beside the room of the maiden ; inasmuch as, according
to the decree, the embraces of the maiden were the prize of
their subduer. Alf covered his body with a blood-stained hide
in order to make them more frantic against him. Girt with
this, as soon as he had entered the doors of the enclosure, he
took a piece of red-hot steel in the tongs, and plunged it into
the yawning throat of the viper, which he laid dead. Then
he flung his spear full into the gaping mouth of the snake as
it wound and writhed forward, and destroyed it. And when
he demanded the gage which was attached to victory by the
terms of the covenant, Siward answered that he would accept
that man only for his daughter's husband of whom she
made a free and decided choice. None but the girl's
mother was stiff against the wooer's suit ; and she privately
spoke to her daughter in order to search her mind. The
daughter warmly praised her suitor for his valour ; whereon
the mother upbraided her sharply, that her chastity should
be unstrung, and she captivated by charming looks; and
because, forgetting to judge his virtue, she cast the gaze of a [229]
wanton mind upon the flattering lures of beauty. Thus Alf-
hild was led to despise the young Dane ; whereupon she
exchanged woman's for man's attire, and, no longer the most
modest of maidens, began the life of a warlike rover. Having
also enrolled in her service many maidens who were of the
same mind, she happened to come to a spot where a band
of rovers were lamenting the death of their captain, who had
been lost in war ; they made her their rover-captain for her
beauty, and she did deeds beyond the valour of woman.
Alf made many toilsome voyages in pursuit of her, and in
winter happened to come on a fleet of the Blackmen. The
waters were at this time frozen hard, and the ships were
caught in such a mass of ice, that they could not get on by
t2
276 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
the most violent rowing. But the continued frost promised
the prisoners a safer way of advance ; and Alf ordered his
men to try the frozen surface of the sea in their brogues,
after they had taken off their slippery shoes, so that they
could run over the level ice more steadily. The Black-
men supposed that they were taking to flight with all the
nimbleness of their heels, and began to fight them ; but their
steps tottered exceedingly and they gave back, the slippery
surface under their soles making their footing uncertain. But
the Danes crossed the frozen sea with safer steps, and foiled
the feeble advance of the enemy, whom they conquered,
and then turned and sailed to Finland. Here they chanced
to enter a rather narrow gulf, and, on sending a few men
to reconnoitre, they learnt that the harbour was being
held by a few ships. For Alfhild had gone before them
with her fl.eet into the same narrows. And when she saw
the strange ships afar off, she rowed in swift haste forward
to encounter them, thinking it better to attack the foe than
to await them. Alf's men were against his attacking so
many ships with so few ; but he replied that it would be
shameful if anyone should report to Alfhild that his desire
to advance could be checked by a few ships in the path ;
for he said that their record of honours ought not to be
tarnished by such a trifle. The Danes wondered not a
little whence their enemies got such grace of bodily beauty
and such supple limbs. So, when they began the sea-fight, the
young man Alf leapt on Alfhild's prow, and advanced towards
the stern, slaughtering all that withstood him. His comrade
Borgar struck off Alfhild's helmet, and, seeing the smoothness
of her chin, saw that he must fight with kisses and not with
[230] arms; that the cruel spears must be put away, and the enemy
handled with gentler dealings. So Alf rejoiced that the
woman whom he had sought over land and sea in the face
of so many dangers was now beyond all expectation in his
power ; whereupon he took hold of her eagerly, and made her
change her man's apparel for a woman's ; and afterwards
begot on her a daughter, Gurid. Also Borgar wedded the
attendant of Alfhild, Groa, and had by her a son, Harald, to
whom the following age gave the surname Hyldetand.
And that no one may wonder that this sex laboured at
warfare, I will make a brief digression, in order to give a
short account of the estate and character of such women.
There were once women among the Danes who dressed them-
selves to look like men, and devoted almost every instant of
their lives to the pursuit of war, that they might not suffer
their valour to be unstrung or dulled by the infection of
luxury. For they abhorred all dainty living, and used to
harden their minds and bodies with toil and endurance.
They put away all the softness and lightmindedness of
women, and inured their womanish spirit to masculine ruth-
lessness. They sought, moreover, so zealously to be skilled in
warfare, that they might have been thought to have unsexed
themselves. Those especially, who had either force of character
or tall and comely persons, used to enter on this kind of life.
These women, therefore (just as if they had forgotten their
natural estate, and preferred sternness to soft words), offered
war rather than kisses, and would rather taste blood than
busses, and went about the business of arms more than
that of amours. They devoted those hands to the lance
which they should rather have applied to the loom. They
assailed men with their spears whom they could have
melted with their looks, they thought of death and not of
dalliance. Now I will cease to wander, and will go back to
my theme.
In the early spring, Alf and Alger, who had gone back to
sea-roving, were exploring the sea in various directions, when
they lighted with a hundred ships upon Helwin, Hagbard, and
Hamund, sons of the kinglet Hamund. These they attacked
and only the twilight stayed their blood-wearied hands ; and
in the night the soldiers were ordered to keep truce. On
the morrow this was ratified for good by a mutual oath ; for
such loss had been suffered on both sides in the battle of
the day before that they had no force left to fight again. Thus,
exhausted by equality of valour, they, were driven perforce
278 SAXO GRAMMATIOUS.
to make peace. About the same time Hildigisl, a Teuton of
noble birth, relying on his looks and his rank, sued for Signe,
[231J the daughter of Sigar. But she scorned him, chiefly for his
insignificance, inasmuch as he was not brave, but wished to
adorn his fortunes with the courage of other people. But
this woman was inclined to love Hakon, chiefly for the
high renown of his great deeds. For she thought more of
the brave than the feeble ; she admired notable deeds more
than looks, knowing that every allurement of beauty is
mere dross when reckoned against simple valour, and can-
not weigh equal with it in the balance. For there are maids
that are more charmed by the fame than by the face of their
lovers ; who go not by the looks, but by the mind, and whom
naught but regard for a man's spirit can kindle to pledge
their own troth. Now Hagbard, going to Denmark with the
sons of Sigar, gained speech of their sister without their know-
ledge, and in the end induced her to pledge her word to him
that she would secretly become his mistress. Afterwards,
when the waiting-women happened to be comparing the
honourable deeds of the nobles, she preferred Hakon to
Hildigisl, declaring that the latter had nothing to praise
but his looks, while in the case of the other a wrinkled
visage was outweighed by a choice spirit. Not content
with this plain kind of praise, she is said to have sung as
follows :
" This man lacks fairness, but shines with foremost courage,
measuring his features by his force.
"For the lofty soul redeems the shortcoming of harsh
looks, and conquers the body's blemish.
" His look flashes with spirit, his face, notable in its very
harshness, delights in fierceness.
" He who strictly judges character praises not the mind for
the fair hue, but rather the complexion for the mind.
' This man is not prized for beauty, but for brave daring
and war- won honour,
"While the other is commended by his comely head and
radiant countenance and crest of lustrous locks.
"Vile is the empty grace of beauty, self-confounded the
deceptive pride of comeliness.
" Valour and looks are swayed by different inclinations :
one lasts on, the other perishes.
" Empty red and white brings in vice, and is frittered away
little by little by the lightly gliding years ;
" But courage plants firmer the hearts devoted to it, and
does not slip and straightway fall.
" The voice of the multitude is beguiled by outward good, [232]
and forsakes the rule of right ;
" But I praise virtue at a higher rate, and scorn the grace
of comeliness."
This utterance fell on the ears of the bystanders in such
a way, that they thought she praised Hagbard under the
name of Hakon. And Hildigisl, vexed that she preferred
Hagbard to himself, bribed a certain blind man, Bolwis, to
bring the sons of Sigar and the sons of Hamund to turn their
friendship into hatred. For King Sigar had been used to
transact almost all affairs by the advice of two old men, one
of whom was Bolwis. The temper of these two men was so
different, that one used to reconcile folk who were at feud,
while the other loved to sunder in hatred those who were
bound by friendship, and by estranging folk to fan pestilent
quarrels.
So Bolwis began by reviling the sons of Hamund to the
sons of Sigar, in lying slanders, declaring that they never
used to preserve the bonds of fellowship loyally, and that
they must be restrained by war rather than by league. Thus
the alliance of the young men was broken through; and
while Hagbard was far away, the sons of Sigar, Alf and
Alger, made an attack, and Helwin and Hamund were de-
stroyed by the harbour which is called Hamund's Bay. Hag-
bard then came up with fresh forces to avenge his brothers, and
destroyed them in battle. HildigisP slunk off with a spear
through both buttocks, which was the occasion for a jeer at
^ Of. Nial's Saga, where Skapti is shot through both calves at the battle
at the Moot-stead and disgraced.
280 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
the Teutons, since the ugliness of the blow did not fail to
brand it with disgrace.
Afterwards Hagbard dressed himself in woman's attire,
and, as though he had not wronged Sigar's daughter by slaying
her brothers, went back to her alone, trusting in the promise
he had from her, and feeling more safe in her loyalty than
alarmed by reason of his own misdeed. Thus does lust
despise peril. And, not to lack a pretext for his journey, he
gave himself out as a fighting-maid of Hakon, saying that
he took an embassy from him to Sigar. And when he was
taken to bed at night among the handmaids, and the women
who washed his feet were wiping them, they asked him why
he had such hairy legs, and why his hands were not at all
soft to touch, he answered :
[253] "What wonder that the soft hollow of my foot should
harden, and that long hairs should stay on my shaggy leg,
when the sand has so often smitten my soles beneath, and the
briars have caught me in mid-step ?
" Now I scour the forest with leaping, now the waters
with running. Now the sea, now the earth, now the wave is
my path.
" Nor could my breast, shut in bonds of steel, and wont to
be beaten with lance and missile, ever have been soft to the
touch, as with you who are covered by the mantle or the
smooth gown.
"Not the distaff or the wool-frails, but spears dripping
from the slaughter, have served for our handling."
Signe did not hesitate to back up his words with like
dissembling, and replied that it was natural that hands which
dealt more in wounds than wools, and in battle than in tasks
of the house, should show the hardness that befitted their
service ; and that, unenfeebled with the pliable softness of
women, they should not feel smooth to the touch of others.
For they were hardened partly by the toils of war, partly by
the habit of seafaring. For, said she, the warlike handmaid
of Hakon did not deal in woman's business, but had been
wont to bring her right hand blood-stained with hurling
speai's and flinging missiles. It was no wonder, therefore, if
her soles were hardened by the immense journeys she had
gone ; and that, when the shores she had scoured so often had
bruised them with their rough and broken shingle, they
should toughen in a horny stiffness, and should not feel soft
to the touch like theirs, whose steps never strayed, but who
were for ever cooped within the confines of the palace.
Hagbard received her as his bedfellow, under plea that he
was to have the couch of honour ; and, amid their converse
of mutual delight, he addressed her slowly in such words as
these :
" If thy father takes me and gives me to bitter death, wilt
thou ever, when I am dead, forget so strong a troth, and
again seek the marriage-plight ?
" For if the chance should fall that way, I can hope for no
room for pardon ; nor will the father who is to avenge his [234]
sons spare or have pity.
" For I stripped thy brothers of their power on the sea and
slew them ; and now, unknown to thy father, as though I
had done naught before counter to his will, I hold thee in
the couch we share.
" Say, then, my one love, what manner of wish wilt thou
show when thou lackest the accustomed embrace ?"
Signe answered :
" Trust me, dear ; I wish to die with thee, if fate brings thy
turn to perish first, and not to prolong my span of life at all,
when once dismal death has cast thee to the tomb.
" For if thou chance to close thy eyes for ever, a victim to
the maddened attack of the men-at-arms; — by whatsoever
doom thy breath be cut off, by sword or disease, by sea or soil,
I forswear every wanton and corrupt flame, and vow myself
to a death like thine ; that they who were bound by one
marriage-union may be embraced in one and the same
punishment. Nor will I quit this man, though I am to feel
the pains of death ; I have resolved he is worthy of my
love who gathered the first kisses of my mouth, and had
the first fruits of my delicate youth. I think that no vow
282 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
will be surer than this, if speech of woman have any loyalty
at all."
This speech so quickened the spirit of Hagbard, that he
found more pleasure in her promise than peril in his own
going away.^ The serving-women betrayed him ; and, when
Sigar's men-at-arms attacked him, he defended himself long
and stubbornly, and slew many of them in the doorway. But
at last he was taken, and brought before the assembly, and
found the voices of the people divided over him. For very
many said that he should be punished for so great an offence ;
[235] but Bilwis, the brother of Bolwis, and others, conceived a
better judgment, and advised that it would be better to use
his stout service than to deal with him too ruthlessly. Then
Bolwis came forward and declared that it was evil advice
which urged the king to pardon when he ought to take
vengeance, and to soften with unworthy compassion his
righteous impulse to anger. For how could Sigar, in the case
of this man, feel any desire to spare or pity him, when he had
not only robbed him of the double comfort of his sons, but
had also bestained him with the insult of deflowering his daugh-
ter ? The greater part of the assembly voted for this opinion ;
Hagbard was condemned, and a gallows-tree planted to re-
ceive him. Hence it came about that he who at first had
hardly one sinister voice against him was punished with
general harshness. Soon after the queen handed him a cup,
and, bidding him assuage his thirst, vexed him with threats
after this manner :
"Now, insolent Hagbard, whom the whole assembly has
pronounced worthy of death, now to quench thy thirst thou
shalt give thy lips liquor to drink in a cup of horn.
" Wherefore, cast away fear, and, at this last hour of thy
life, taste with bold lips the deadly goblet ;
" That, having drunk it, thou mayst presently land by the
dwellings of those below, passing into the sequestered palace of
stern Dis, giving thy body to the gibbet and thy spirit to Orcus."
1 Going away] digressione ; i.e., in the morning. St. interpreted
"death".
Then the young man took the cup offered him, and is said
to have made answer as follows :
" With this hand, wherewith I cut off thy twin sons, I will
take my last taste, yea the draught of the last drink.
" Now not unavenged shall I go to the Elysian regions, not
unchastising to the stern ghosts. For these men have first
been shut in the dens of Tartarus by a slaughter wrought [236]
by my endeavours. This right hand was wet with blood
that was yours ; this hand robbed thy children of the years
of their youth, children whom thy womb brought to light ;
but the deadly sword spared it not then. Infamous woman,
raving in spirit, hapless, childless mother, no years shall
restore to thee the lost, no time and no day whatsoever shall
save thy child from the starkness of death, or redeem him !"
Thus he avenged the queen's threats of death by taunting
her with the youths whom he had slain ; and, flinging back
the cup at her, drenched her face with the sprinkled wine.
Meantime Signe asked her weeping women whether they
could endure to bear her company in the things which she
purposed. They promised that they would carry out and
perform themselves whatsoever their mistress should come to
wish, and their promise was loyally kept. Then, drowned
in tears, she said that she wished to follow in death the only
partner of her bed that she had ever had ; and ordered
that, as soon as the signal had been given from a place of
watch, torches should be put to the room, then that halters
should be made out of their robes ; and to these they should
proffer their throats to be strangled, thrusting away the
support to the feet. They agreed ; and that they might
blench the less at death, she gave them a draught of wine.
After this Hagbard was led to the hill, which afterwards took
its name from him, to be hanged. Then, to test the loyalty
of his true love, he told the executioners to hang up his
mantle, saying that it would be a pleasure to him if he could
see the likeness of his approaching death rehearsed in some
way. The request was granted ; and the watcher on the out-
look, thinking that the thing was being done to Hagbard,
284 SAXO GRAMMA.TICUS.
reported what she saw to the maidens who were shut within
the palace. They quickly fired the house, and, thrusting away
the wooden supports under their feet, gave their necks to the
noose to be writhen. So Hagbard, when he saw the palace
wrapped in fire, and the familiar chamber blazing, said that
he felt more joy from the loyalty of his mistress than sorrow
at his approaching death. He also charged the bystanders to
do him to death, witnessing how little he made of his doom
by a song like this :
" Swiftly, 0 warriors ! let me be caught and lifted into the
air. Sweet, 0 my bride ! is it for me to die when thou hast
gone.
[237] " I perceive the crackling and the house ruddy with flames ;
and the love, long-promised, declares our troth.
" Behold, thy covenant is fulfilled with no doubtful vows,
since thou sharest my life and my destruction.
" We shall have one end, one bond after our troth, and
somewhere our first love will live on.
" Happy am I, that have deserved to have joy of such a
consort, and not to go basely alone to the gods of Tartarus !
" Then let the knot gripe the midst of the throat ; nought
but pleasure the last doom shall bring,
" Since there remains a sure hope of the renewal of love,
and a death which will soon have joys of its own.
" Either country is sweet ; in both worlds shall be held in
honour the repose of our souls together, our equal troth in
love,
" For, see now, I welcome the doom before me ; since not
even among the shades does very love suffer the embrace of
its partner to perish."^ And as he spoke the executioners
strangled him. And, that none may think that all traces of
antiquity have utterly disappeared, a proof of the aforesaid
event is afforded by local marks yet existing ; for the killing
of Hagbard gave his name to the stead ; and not far from the
town of Sigar there is a place to be seen, where a mound a
little above the level, with the appearance of a swelling in
1 For, see now, .... perish] This sentence is in prose in the original.
the ground, looks like an ancient homestead.^ Moreover, a
man told Absalon that he had «een a beam found in the
spot, which a countryman struck with his ploughshare as he
burrowed into the clods.
Hakon, the son of Hamund, heard of this ; but when he
was seen to be on the point of turning his arms from the
Irish against the Danes in order to avenge his brother, Hakon
the Zealander, the son of Wigar, and Starkad deserted him.
They had been his allies from the death of Ragnald up to that
hour: one, because he was moved by regard for friendship,
the other by regard for his birth ; so that different reasons
made both desire the same thing. Now patriotism diverted
Hakon [of Zealand] from attacking his country; for it was
apparent that he was going to fight his own people, while all the
rest warred with foreigners. But Starkad forbore to become
the foe of the aged Sigar, whose hospitality he had enjoyed,
lest he should be thought to wrong one who deserved well of
him. For some men pay such respect to hospitality, that, if
they can remember ever to have experienced kindly offices from
folk, they cannot be brought to inflict any annoyance on [238]
them. But Hakon thought the death of his brother a worse
loss than the defection of his champions ; and, gathering his fleet
into the haven called Herwig in Danish, and in Latin
Hosts' Bight,^ he drew up his men, and posted his line of foot-
soldiers in the spot where the town built by Esbern now
defends with its fortifications those who dwell hard by, and
repels the approach of barbarous savages. Then he divided
his forces in three, and sent on two-thirds of his ships,
appointing a few men to row to the river Susa. This force
was to advance on a dangerous voyage along its winding
reaches, and to help those on foot if necessary. He marched
in person by land with the remainder, advancing chiefly over
wooded country to escape notice. Part of this path, which
was once closed up with thick woods, is now land ready for
I M. says that a hill called after Hagbard remains ; and that there is a
Sigersbed in Alsted, near a hill called Galgehor— Gallows-hill.
^ Hosts' Bight] Exercitvmn Simts, translating the Danish word.
286 , SAXO GRAMMATlCtr^.
the plough, and fringed with a scanty scrub. And, in ordef
that when they got out into the plain they might not lack the
shelter of trees, he told them to cut and carry branches.
Also, that nothing might burden their rapid march, he bade
them cast away some of their clothes, as well as their scab-
bards, and carry their swords naked. In memory of this
event he left the mountain and the ford a perpetual name.^
Thus by his night march he eluded two pickets of sentries ;
but when he came upon the third, a scout, observing the
marvellous event, went to the sleeping-room of Sigar, saying
that he brought news of a portentous thing; for he saw
leaves and shrubs like men walking. Then the king asked
him how far off was the advancing forest; and when he
heard that it was near, he added that this prodigy boded
his own death.^ Hence the marsh where the shrubs were
cut down was styled in common parlance Deadly Marsh.
Therefore, fearing the narrow passages, he left the town, and
went to a level spot which was more open, there to meet
the enemy in battle. Sigar fought unsuccessfully, and was
crushed and slain at the spot that is called in common
speech Walbrunna, but in Latin^ the Spring of Corpses or
Carnage. Then Hakon used his conquest to cruel purpose,
and followed up his good fortune so wickedly, that he lusted
for an indiscriminate massacre, and thought no forbearance
should be shown to rank or sex. Nor did he yield to any
regard for compassion or shame, but stained his sword in the
blood of women, and attacked mothers and children in one
general and ruthless slaughter.
SlWALD, the son of Sigar, had thus far stayed under his
father's roof. But when he heard of this, he mustered an
army in order to have his vengeance. So Hakon, alarmed at
[239] the gathering of such numbers, went back with a third of his
1 Not traced.
^ Own death] " Saxo seems to imply a previous oracle given to Sigar
concerning the advancing wood." — (M.) Macbeth's similar experience,
taken by Shakespeare from Holinshed, is traceable to Hector Boece, Bk. xii.
' In Latin] cadaverum vel stragis puteus.
feOOK SEVEN. 287
avmy to his fleet at Her wig, and planned to depart by sea.
But his colleague Hakon, surnamed the Proud, thought that
he ought himself to feel more confidence at the late victory
than fear at the absence of Hakon ; and, preferring death to
flight, tried to defend the remainder of the army. So he
drew back his camp for a little, and for a long time waited
near the town of Axelsted,i for the arrival of the fleet,
blaming his friends for their tardy conung. For the fleet
that had been sent into the river had not yet come to anchor
in the appointed harbour. Now the killing of Sigar and the
love of Siwald were stirring the temper of the people one
and all, so that both sexes devoted themselves to war, and
you would have thought that the battle did not lack the aid
of women. On the morrow Hakon and Siwald encountered,
and fought two whole days. The combat was most frightful ;
both generals fell ; and victory graced the remnants of the
Danes. But, in the night after the battle, the fleet, having
penetrated the Susa, reached the appointed haven. It was
once possible to row along this river; but its bed is now
choked with solid substances, and is so narrowed by its
straits that few vessels can get in, being prevented by its
sluggishness and contractedness. At daybreak, when the
sailors saw the corpses of their friends, they heaped up, in
order to bury the general, a barrow of notable size, which is
famous to this day, and is commonly named Hakon's Howe.
But Borgar, with Skanian chivalry suddenly came up and
slaughtered a multitude of them. When the enemy were
destroyed, he manned their ships, which now lacked their
rowers, and hastily, with breathless speed, pursued the son of
Hamund. He encountered him, and ill-fortune befell Hakon,
who fled in hasty panic with three ships to the country of the
Scots, where, after two years had gone by, he died.
All these perilous wars and fortunes had so exhausted the
royal line among the Danes, that it was found to be reduced
to GuRiD alone, the daughter of Alf, and granddaughter of
Sigar. And when the Danes saw themselves deprived of
' Axelsted] identified by M. with Alsted in Zealand.
288 SAXO GRAMMATICITS.
their usual high-born sovereigns, they committed the king-
dom to men of the people, and appointed rulers out of the
commons, assigning to Ostmar the regency of Skaane, and that
of Zealand to Hunding ; on Hane they conferred the lordship
of Funen ; while in the hands of Eorik and Hather they put
the supreme power of Jutland, the authority being divided.
Therefore, that it may not be unknown from what father
sprang the succeeding line of kings, some matters come to
my mind which must be glanced at for a while in a needful
[240] digression. They say that Gunnar, the bravest of the Swedes,
was once at feud with Norway for the most weighty reasons,
and that he was granted liberty to attack it, but that he
turned this liberty into licence by the greatest perils, and
fell, in the first of the raids he planned, upon the district
of Jather,^ which he put partly to the sword and partly
to the flames. Forbearing to plunder, he rejoiced only in
passing through the paths that were covered with corpses,
and the blood-stained ways. Other men used to abstain
from bloodshed, and love pillage more than slaughter; but
he preferred bloodthirstiness to booty, and liked best to
wreak his deadly pleasure by slaughtering men. His cruelty
drove the islanders to forestall the impending danger by
a public submission. Moreover, Regnald, the King of the
Northmen, now in extreme age, when he heard how the
tyrant busied himself, had a cave made and shut up in it his
daughter Drott, giving her due attendance, and providing
her maintenance for a long time. Also he committed to the
cave some swords which had been adorned with the choicest
smithcraft, besides the royal household gear; so that he might
not leave the enemy to capture and use the sword, which he
saw that he could not wield himself. And, to prevent the cave
being noticed by its height, he levelled the hump down to
the firmer ground. Then he set out to war; but, being
unable, with his aged limbs, to go down into battle, he leaned
on the shoulders of his escort and walked forth propped by
the steps of others. So he perished in the battle, where he
' Jather] Jedder in Stavanger.
fought with more ardour than success, and left his country a
sore matter for shame.
For Gunnar, in order to punish the cowardice of the con-
quered race by terms of extraordinary baseness, had a dog
set over them as a governor. What can we suppose to have
been his object in this action, unless it were to make a haughty
nation feel that their arrogance was being more signally pun-
ished, when they bowed their stubborn heads before a yapping
hound ? To let no insult be lacking, he appointed governors to
look after public and private affairs in its name ; and he ap-
pointed separate ranks of nobles to keep continual and stead-
fast watch over it. He also enacted that if any one of the
courtiers thought it contemptible to do allegiance to their
chief, and omitted offering most respectful homage to its
various goings and comings as it ran hither and thither, he
should be punished with the loss of his limbs. Also Gunnar
imposed on the nation a double tribute, one to be paid out
of the autumn harvest, the other in the spring. Thus he
burst the bubble conceit of the Norwegians, to make them
feel clearly how their pride was gone, when they saw it forced
to do homage to a dog.^
Now when he heard that the king's daughter was shut up [241]
in some distant hiding-place, he strained his wits in every
nerve to track her out. Hence, while he was himself con-
ducting the search with others, his doubtful ear caught the
distant sound of a subterranean hum. Then he went on slowly,
and recognised a human voice with greater certainty. He
ordered the ground underfoot to be dug down to the solid
rock ; and when the cave was suddenly laid open, he saw the
winding tunnels. The servants were slain as they tried to
guard the now uncovered entrance to the cave, and the girl was
dragged out of the hole, together with the booty therein con-
cealed. With great foresight, she had consigned at any rate
her father's swords to the protection of a more secret place.
Gunnar forced her to submit to his will, and she bore a son
Hildiger. This man was such a rival to his father in cruelty,
For a dog king, cf. Heimskriiigla, i.
U
290 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
that he was ever thirsting to kill, and was bent on nothing but
the destruction of men, panting with a boundless lust for
bloodshed. Outlawed by his father on account of his un-
bearable ruthlessness, and soon after presented by Alver with
a government, he spent his whole life in arras, visiting his
neighbours with wars and slaughters ; nor did he, in his estate
of banishment, relax his accustomed savagery a whit, but
would not change his spirit with his habitation.
Meanwhile Borgar, finding that Gunnar had married Drota,
the daughter of Regnald, by violence, took from him both
life and wife, and wedded Drota himself. She was not an
unwilling bride; she thought it right for her to embrace
the avenger of her parent. For the daughter mourned her
father, and could never bring herself to submit with any
pleasure to his murderer. This woman and Borgar had a son
Halfdan, who through all his early youth was believed to be
stupid, but whose later years proved illustrious for the most
glorious deeds, and famous for the highest qualities that can
grace life. Once, when a stripling, he mocked in boyish
fashion at a champion of noble repute, who smote him
with a buffet; whereupon Halfdan attacked him with the
staff he was carrying and killed him. This deed was an
omen of his future honours; he had hitherto been held in
scorn, but henceforth throughout his life he had the highest
honour and glory. The affair, indeed, was a prophecy of the
greatness of his deeds in war.
At this period, Rothe, a Ruthenian rover, almost destroyed
our country with his rapine and cruelty. His harshness was
so notable that, while other men spared their prisoners utter
[242] nakedness, he did not think it uncomely to strip of their cover-
ings even the privy parts of their bodies ; wherefore we are
wont to this day to call all severe and monstrous acts of rapine
Rothe-Ran [Rothe's Robbery]. He used also sometimes to
inflict the following kind of torture. Fastening the men's
right feet firmly to the earth, he tied the left feet to
boughs bent for the purpose, so that when these sprang
back the body was rent asunder in the middle. Hane, Prince
of Funen, wishing to win honour and glory, tried to attack
this man with his sea-forces, but took to flight with one
attendant. It was in reproach of him that the proverb
arose : " The cock [Hane] fights better on its own dung-hill."^
Then Borgar, who could not bear to see his countrymen
perishing any longer, encountered Kothe. Together they fought
and together they perished. It is said that in this battle
Halfdan was sorely stricken, and was for some time feeble
with the wounds he had received. One of these was inflicted
conspicuously on his mouth, and its scar was so manifest that
it remained as an open blotch when all the other wounds
were , healed ; for the crushed portion of the lip was so
ulcerated by the swelling, that the flesh would not grow out
again and mend the noisome gash. This circumstance fixed
on him a most insulting nickname,^ . . . although wounds in
the front of the body commonly bring praise and not
ignominy. So spiteful a colour does the belief of the vulgar
sometimes put upon men's virtues.
Meanwhile Gurid, the daughter of Alf, seeing that the
royal line was reduced to herself alone, and having no equal
in birth whom she could marry, proclaimed a vow imposing
chastity on herself, thinking it better to have no husband
than to take one from the commons. Moreover, to escape
outrage, she guarded her room with a chBsen band of
champions. Once Halfdan happened to come to see her.
The champions, whose brother he had himself slain in his
boyhood, were away. He told her that she ought to loose
her virgin zone, and exchange her austere chastity for deeds
of love ; that she ought not to give in so much to her inclina-
tion for modesty as to be too proud to make a match, and so
by her service repair the fallen monarchy. So he bade her look
on himself, who was of eminently illustrious birth, in the
light of a husband, since it appeared that she would only admit
pleasure for the reason he had named. Gurid answered that
she could not bring her mind to ally the remnants of the
royal line to a man of meaner rank. Not content with [243]
reproaching his obscure birth, she also taunted his unsightly
1 On its own dung-hill] in propria Lare. ^ A lacuna here, probibly.
U 2
292 SAXO GBAMMATICUS.
countenance. HalMan rejoined that she brought against him
two faults : one, that his blood was not illustrious enough ;
another, that he was blemished with a cracked lip whose scar
had never healed. Therefore he would not come back to ask
for her before he had wiped away both marks of shame by
winning glory in war. He also entreated her to suffer no
man to be privy to her bed until she heard certain tidings either
of his return or his death. The champions, whom he had
bereaved of their brother long ago, were angry that he had
spoken to Gurid, and tried to ride after him as he went away.
When he saw it, he told his comrades to go into ambush, and
said he would encounter the champions alone. His followers
lingered, and thought it shameful to obey his orders, but he
drove them off" with threats, saying that Gurid should not
ffnd that fear had made him refuse to fight. Presently he
cut down an oak-tree and fashioned it into a club, fought the
twelve single-handed, and killed them. After their destruc-
tion, not content with the honours of so splendid an action,
and meaning to do one yet greater, he got from his mother the
swords of his grandfather, one of which was called Lyusing . . .
and the other Hwyting,^ after the sheen of its well-whetted
point. But when he heard that war was raging between
Alver, the King of Sweden, and the Ruthenians [Russians], he
instantly went to Russia, offered help to the natives, and was
received by all with the utmosi; honour. Alver was not far
off", there being only a little ground to cross to cover the
distance between the two. Alver's soldier Hildiger, the son of
Gunnar, challenged the champions of th6 Ruthenians to fight
him ; but when he saw that Half dan was put up against him,
though knowing well that he was Halfdan's brother, he let
natural feeling prevail over courage, and said that he, who was
famous for the destruction of seventy champions, would not
fight with an untried man. Therefore he told him to measure
himself in enterprises of lesser moment, and thenceforth to
follow pursuits fitted to his strength. He made this announce-
ment not from distrust in his own courage, but in order to
^ Lyusing . . . Hwyting] Shining . . . White. Probably a line is
dropped after Lyusing, explaining the name.
preserve his uprightness ; for he was not only very valiant,
but also skilled at blunting the sword with spells. For when
he remembered that Halfdan's father had slain his own, he
was moved by two feelings — the desire to avenge his father,
and his love for his brother. He therefore thought it better
to retire from the challenge than to be guilty of a very great
crime. Halfdan demanded another champion in his place,
slew him when he appeared, and was soon awarded the palm [244]
of valour even by the voice of the enemy, being accounted by
ptiblic acclamation the bravest of all. On the next day he
asked for two men to fight with, and slew them both. On
the third day he subdued three ; on the fourth he overcame
four who met him ; and on the fifth he asked for five. When
he had conquered these, and when the eighth day had been
reached with an equal increase in the combatants and in the
victory, he laid low eleven who attacked him at once. Hil-
diger, seeing that his own record of honours was equalled by
the greatness of Halfdan's deeds, could not bear to decline to
meet him any longer. And when he felt that Halfdan had
dealt him a deadly wound with a sword wrapped in rags, he
threw awaj^ his arms, and, lying on the earth, addressed his
brother as follows :
"It is pleasing^ to pass an hour away in mutual talk;
and, while the sword rests, to sit a little on the ground and
while away the time by speaking in turn, and keep ourselves
in good heart. Time is left for our purpose ; our two
destinies have a different lot ; one is surely doomed to die by
a fatal weird, while triumph and glory and all the good of
living await the other in better' years. Thus our omens differ,
and our portions are distinguished. Thou art a son of the
Danish land, I of the country of Sweden. Once, Drota thy
mother had her breast swell for thee ; she bore me, and by her
I am thy foster-brother. Lo now, there perishes a righteous
offspring, who had the heart to fight with savage spears;
1 It is pleasing . . . ] Obscure. Saxo, to judge from the fragments
of the original, has spun out his materials even more diffusely than usual.
See " Hildibrand's Lost Lay", Corp. Poet. Bar., i, 190, where the hero is
named Asmund.
294 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
brothers born of a shining race charge and bring death on one
another ; while they long for the height of power, they lose their
days, and, having now received a fatal mischief in their desire
for a sceptre, they will go to Styx in a common death. Fast
by my head stands my Swedish shield, which is adorned with
[as] a fresh mirror of diverse chasing, and ringed with layers of
marvellous fretwork. There a picture of many hues shows
slain nobles and conquered champions, and the wars also and
the notable deed of my right hand. In the midst is to be seen,
painted in bright relief,^ the figure of my son,^ whom this hand
bereft of his span of life. He was our only heir, the only
thought of his father's mind, and given to his mother with
comfort from above. An evil lot, which heaps years of ill-
[245] fortune on the joyous, chokes mirth in mourning, and troubles
our destiny. For it is lamentable and wretched to drag out a
downcast life, to draw breath through dismal days and to chafe
at foreboding. But whatsoever things are bound by the pro-
phetic order of the fates, whatsoever are shadowed in the
secrets of the divine plan, whatsoever are foreseen and fixed
in the course of the destinies, no change of what is transient
shall cancel these things."
When he had thus spoken, Halfdan condemned him for sloth
in avowing so late their bond of brotherhood ; he answered
that he had kept silence, that he might not be thought a coward
for refusing to fight, or a villain if he fought ; and while
intent on these words of excuse, he died. But report had
given out among the Danes that Hildiger had overthrown
Halfdan. After this, Siwar, a Saxon of very high birth, began
to be a suitor for Gurid, the only survivor of the royal blood
among the Danes. Secretly she preferred Halfdan to him,
and imposed on her wooer the condition that he should not
ask her in marriage till he had united into one body the king-
dom of the Danes, which was now torn limb from limb, and
^ Relief] caela/mine. Some ■mord suggesting hue would be expected
from "painted" (iLlita).
^ The figure of my son] Saxo has said nothing about the son in
question, but the original song of Asmund relates that he slew his son
"unwillingly".
restored by arms what had been wrongfully taken from her.
Siwar made a vain attempt to do this ; but as he bribed all
the guardians, she was at last granted to him in betrothal.
Halfdan heard of this in Russia through traders, and voyaged
so hard that he arrived before the time of the wedding-rites.
On their first day, before he went to the palace, he gave orders
that his men should not stir from the watches appointed them
till their ears caught the clash of the steel in the distance.
Unknown to the guests, he came and stood before the maiden,
and, that he might not reveal his meaning to too many by
bare and common speech, he composed a dark and ambiguous
song as follows :
" As I left my father's sceptre, I had no fear of the wiles of
woman's device nor of female subtlety,
" When I overthrew one and two, three and four, and soon
five, and next six, then seven, and also eight, yea eleven single-
handed, triumphant in battle. [24C]
" But neither did I then think that I was to be shamed
with the taint of disgrace, with thy frailness to thy word and
thy beguiling pledges."
Gurid answered: " My soul wavered in suspense, with slender
power over events, and shifted about with restless fickle-
ness. The report of thee was so fleeting, so doubtful, borne
on uncertain stories, and parched my doubting heart. I
feared that the years of thy youth had perished by the sword.
Could I withstand singly my elders and governors, when they
forbade me to refuse that thing, and pressed me to become
a wife ? My love and my flame are both yet unchanged, they
shall be mate and match to thine; nor has my troth been
disturbed, but shall have faithful approach to thee.
" For my promise has not j'et beguiled thee at all, though I,
being alone, could not reject the counsel of such manifold
persuasion, nor oppose their stern bidding in the matter of my
consent to the marriage bond."^
Before the maiden had finished her answer, Halfdan had "
already run his sword through the bridegroom. Not content
1 For my promise . . . marriage bond] In prose in the original.
296 SAXO GHAMMATICTJS.
with having killed one man, he massacred most of the guests.
Staggering tipsily backwards, the Saxons ran at him, hut
his servants came up and slaughtered them. After this
Halfdan took Gurid to wife. But finding in her the fault of
barrenness, and desiring much to have offspring, he went to
TJpsala in order to procure fruitfulness for her ; and being
told, in answer, that he must make atonement to the shades of
his brother if he would raise up children, he obeyed the oracle,
and was comforted by gaining his desire. For he had a son
by Gurid, to whom he gave the name of Harald. Under
his title Halfdan tried to restore the kingdom of the Danes
[247] to its ancient estate, as it was torn asunder by the injuries
of the chiefs ; but, while fighting in Zealand, he attacked
Wesete, a very famous champion, in battle, and was slain.
Gurid was at the battle m man's attire, from love for her
son. She saw the event ; the young man fought hotly, but
his companions fled ; and she took him on her shoulders to
a neighbouring wood. Weariness, more than anything else,
Ivept the enemy from pursuing him; but one of them shot
him as he hung, with an arrow, through the hinder parts, and
Harald thought that his mother's care brought him more
shame than help.
Harald, being of great beauty and unusual size, and sur-
passing those of his age in strength and stature, received such
favour from Odin (whose oracle was thought to have been the
cause of his birth), that steel could not injure his perfect sound-
ness, The result was, that shafts which wounded others were
disabled from doing him any harm. Nor was the boon un-
requited ; for he is reported to have promised to Odin all the
souls which his sword cast out of their bodies. He also had
his father's deeds recorded for a memorial by craftsmen on a
rock in Bleking, whereof I have made mention.^ After this,
hearing that Wesete was about to hold his wedding in Skane,
he went to the feast disguised as a beggar ; and when all were
sunken in wine and sleep, he battered the bride-chamber with
a beam. But Wesete, without inflicting a wound, so beat
his mouth with a cudgel, that he took out two teeth ; but two
^ Made mention] namely, in his Preface, p. 8.
grinders unexpectedly broke out afterwards and repaired
their loss : an event which earned him the name of Hyldetand/
which some declare he obtained on account of a prominent row
of teeth. Here he slew Wesete, and got the sovereignty of
Skaane. Next he attacked and killed Hather in Jutland ; and
his fall is marked by the lasting name of the town.^ After
this he overthrew Hunding and Rorik, seized Leire, and re-
united the dismembered realm of Denmark into its original
shape. Then he found that Asmund, the King of the Wikars,
had been deprived of his throne by his elder sister ; and,
angered by such presumption on the part of a woman, went
to Norway with a single ship, while the war was still un-
decided, to help him. The battle began ; and, clothed in a
purple cloak, with a coif broidered with gold, and with his
hair bound up, he went against the enemy trusting not in
arms, but in his silent certainty of his luck, insomuch that
he seemed dressed more for a feast than a fray. But his
spirit did not match his attire. For, though unarmed and only [24 8]
adorned with his emblems of royalty, he outstripped the rest
who bore arms, and exposed himself, lightly-armed as he was,
to the hottest perils of the battle. For the shafts aimed
against him lost all power to hurt, as if their points had
been blunted. When the other side saw him fighting unarmed,
they made an attack, and were forced for very shame into
assailing him more hotly. But Harald, whole in body, either
put them to the sword, or made them take to flight ; and thus
he overthrew the sister of Asmund, and restored him his
kingdom. When Asmund offered him the prizes of victory,
he said that the reward of glory was enough by itself ; and
demeaned himself as greatly in refusing the gifts as he had in
earning them. By this he made all men admire his self-
restraint as much as his valour ; and declared that the victory
should give him a harvest not of gold but glory.
1 Hyldetand] Both of Saxo'a explanations rest on the Old-Norse
hylja, Dan. hylle, "cover", and tcmn, Dan. tand, "tooth". The real
meaning is "war-tooth". See Corp. Poet. Bor. i. 231, Hyndlo-Liod, where
a different genealogy again is given. See p. 277 above.
2 Hadersleb.— M.
SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
Meantime Alver, the King of the Swedes, died, leaving
sons Olaf, Ing, and Ingild. One of these, Ing, dissatisfied
with the honours his father bequeathed him, declared war with
the Danes in order to extend his empire. And when Harald
wished to inquire of oracles how this war would end, an old
man of great height, but lacking one eye, and clad also in a hairy-
mantle, appeared before him, and declared that he was called
Odin, and was versed in the practice of warfare ; and he gave
him the most useful instruction how to divide up his army^ in
^ Instruction how to divide up his array . . . .] There are several
interpretations of Saxo's obscure description, but that given by M. is by
far the raost plausible. The following diagram (adapted from M. not.
uber. ii. 214) will explain it : —
e
H
«
«
YOUHGHEK
VLTERAN3
SUNBERS
MISeELLANCDU, '
If EAR
LI HE VAN
Thus, in each side-wing there are twenty rows, of which eleven are
formed in square, the remaining nine [triangle det] in wedge, the
point of the wedge consisting of two men, and each row behind increasing
by one in arithmetical progression. But the centre is "to extend further
than the rest by the number of twenty men", that is, twenty men in
wedge, arranged on the same principle. These are contained in triangle
ABC. By the time the wedge-line of the centre reaches kl, the line
amounts to sixteen, and then the square formation begins, being eleven
deep from k to m. Behind these come the spearmen, etc. In the rear
of all, facing the other way, is a repetition of the formation of the van :
whether exactly like, Saxo does not say.
the field. Now he told him, whenever he was going to make
war with his land-forces, to divide his whole army into three
squadrons, each of which he was to pack into twenty ranks ;
the centre squadron, however, he was to extend further
than the rest by the number of twenty men. This squadron
he was also to arrange in the form of the point of a cone or
pyramid, and to make the wings on either side slant oflF
obliquely from it. He was to compose the successive ranks
of each squadron in the following way : the front should
begin with two men, and the number in each succeeding
rank should only increase by one ; he was, in fact, to post
a rank of three in the second line, four in the third, and
so on behind. And thus, when the men mustered, all the
succeeding ranks were to be manned at the same rate of pro-
portion, until the end of [the edge that made] the junction of
men came down to the wings^ ; each wing was to be drawn up
in ten lines^ from that point. Likewise after these squadrons
he was to put the young men, equipped with lances, and behind
these to set the company of aged men, who would support
their comrades with what one might call a veteran valour
if they faltered; next, a skilful reckoner should attach
wings^ of slingers, to stand behind the ranks of their fellows [249]
and attack the enemy from a distance with missiles. After
these he was to enrol men of any age or rank indiscrimi-
nately, without heed of their estate. Moreover, he was
to draw up the rear like the vanguard, in three separated
divisions, and arranged in. ranks similarly proportioned. The
* Until the end of the edge that made the junction of men come down
to the wings] donee coniu7iccionis extremitas alas equaret. M. interprets
equaret to mean "became equal in numbers", but this involves con-
siderable difficulties and a straining of language. We interpret the
extremitas as the outside lines d f, a k, of the wedges, and the sense to be
that, when these converging lines met towards f and k, the wedge
formation (both in wings and centre) ceases, and the square begins.
^ In ten lines] not elevev, because e f and k l are counted as belonging
to the wedge and not to the square. The "point" is b, f, k, or l.
^ Wings] aias. The word suggests that these may have been out at the
side, and not behind, as the diagram has it.
300 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
back of this, joining on to the body in front, would protect
it by facing in the opposite direction. But if a sea-battle
happened to occur, he should withdraw a portion of his fleet,
which, when he began the intended engagement, was to cruise
round that of the enemy, wheeling to and fro continually.
Equipped with this system of warfare, he forestalled matters
in Sweden, and killed Ing and Olaf as they were making
ready to fight. Their brother Ingild sent messengers to beg
a truce, on pretence of his ill-health. Harald granted his
request, that his own valour, which had learnt to spare distress,
might not triumph over a man in the hour of lowliness and
dejection. When Ingild afterwards provoked Harald by
wrongfully ravishing his sister, Harald vexed him with
long and indecisive war, but then took him into his
friendship, thinking it better to have him for ally than for
enemy.
After this he heard that Olaf, King of the Thronds, had
to fight with the maidens Stikla and Rusila for the kingdom.
Much angered at this arrogance on the part of women, he
went to Olaf unobserved, put on dress which concealed the
length of his teeth, and attacked the maidens. He overthrew
them both, leaving to two harbours a name akin to theirs.^
It was then that he gave a notable exhibition of valour ; for,
defended only by a shirt under his shoulders, he fronted the
spears with unarmed breast. When Olaf offered him the
prize of victory, he rejected the gift, thus leaving it a question
whether he had shown a greater example of bravery or self-
control. Then he attacked a champion of the Frisian nation,
named Ubbe, who was ravaging the borders of Jutland and
destroying numbers of the common people ; and, when he could
not subdue him to his arms, he charged his soldiers to grip him
with their hands, threw him on the ground, and had him
bound while thus overpowered. Thus he only overcame the
man and mastered him by a shameful kind of attack, though
a little before he thought he would inflict a heavy defeat on
him. But Harald gave him his sister in marriage, and thus
A name akin to theirs] Stiklestad still exists, but is not a harbour.
gained him for his soldier. Then he made tributaries of the
nations that lay along the Rhine, levying troops from the bravest
of that race. With these forces he conquered Selavonia in
war, and caused its generals, Duk and Dal, because of their [250]
bravery, to be captured, and not killed. These men he took
to serve with him, and, after overcoming Aquitania,^ soon
went to Britain, where he overthrew the King of the Hum-
brians, and enrolled the smartest of the warriors he had
conquered, the chief of whom was esteemed to be Orm, sur-
named the Briton. The fame of these deeds brought cham-
pions from divers parts of the world, whom he formed into
a band of mercenaries. Strengthened by their numbers, he
kept down insurrections in all kingdoms by the terror of his
name, so that he took out of their rulers all courage to fight
with one another. Moreover, no man durst assume any
sovereignty on the sea without his consent; for of old the
state of the Danes had the joint lordship of land and sea.
Meantime Ingild died in Sweden, leaving only a very little
son. Ring, whom he had by the sister of Harald. Harald
gave the boj' guardians, and put him over his father's king-
dom. Thus, when he had overcome princes and provinces, he
passed fifty years in peace. To save the minds of his soldiers
from being melted into sloth by this inaction, he decreed that
they should assiduously learn from the champions the way
of parrying and dealing blows. Some of these were skilled
in a remarkable maimer of fighting, and used to smite the
eyebrow on the enemy's forehead with an infallible stroke ;
but if any man, on receiving the blow, blinked for fear,
twitching his eyebrow, he was at once expelled the court and
dismissed the service.
At this time Ole, the son of Siward and of Harald's
sister, came to Denmark from the land of Norway in the
desire to see his uncle. Since it is known that he had the
first place among the followers of Harald, and that after the
1 Aquitania] Aquitaine was attacked first in 799, then in the ninth
century, when Bordeaux was betrayed by the Jews : Harold Blue-tooth
came to Normandy in the tenth centurr.
302 SAXO GKAMMATICUS.
Swedish war he came to the throne of Denmark, it bears
somewhat on the subject to relate the traditions of his deeds.
Ole, then, when he had passed his tenth to his fifteenth year
with his father, showed incredible proofs of his brilliant gifts
both of mind and body. Moreover, he was so savage of counten-
ance, that his eyes were like the arms of other men against the
enemy, and he terrified the bravest with his stern and flashing
glance. He heard the tidings that Gunn, ruler of Tellemark,
with his son Grim, was haunting as a robber the forest of
Etha-scog,^ which was thick with underbrush and full of
gloomy glens. The offence moved his anger; then he asked his
father for a horse, a dog, and such armour as could be got,
and cursed his youth, which was sufi'ering the right season for
[251] valour to slip sluggishly away. He got what he asked, and
explored the aforesaid wood very narrowly. He saw the
footsteps of a man printed deep on the snow ; for the rime
was blemished by the steps, and betrayed the robber's progress.
Thus guided, he went over a hill, and came on a very
great river. This effaced the human tracks he had seen
before, and he determined that he must cross. But the mere
mass of water, whose waves ran down in a headlong torrent,
seemed to forbid all crossing; for it was full of hidden
reefs, and the whole length of its channel was turbid with
a kind of whirl of foam. Yet all fear of danger was banished
from Ole's mind b}' his impatience to make haste. So valour
conquered fear, and rashness scorned peril ; thinking nothing
hard to do if it were only to his mind, he crossed the
hissing eddies on horseback. When he had passed these, he
came upon defiles surrounded on all sides with swamps, the
interior of which was barred from easy approach by the
obstacle of a bank in front. He took his horse over this, and
saw an enclosure with a number of stalls. Out of this he
turned many horses, and was minded to put in his own,
when a certain Tok, a servant of Gunn, angry that a stranger
1 Ethasoog] "Eyda-skog, a wood in Norway, between the Soleyar
and Raumarik, near the borders of Sweden." — M. Cf. Landn^mabdc'a
atory of lokul.
should wax so insolent, attacked him fiercely ; but Ole foiled
his assailant by simply opposing his shield. Thinking it
a shame to slay the fellow with the sword, he seized him,
shattered him limb by limb, and flung him across into the
house whence he had issued in his haste. This insult quickly
aroused Gunn and Grim : they ran out by different side-doors,
and charged Ole both at once, despising his age and strength.
He wounded them fatally ; and, when their bodily powers
were quite spent. Grim, who could scarce muster a final gasp,
and whose force was almost utterly gone, with his last pants
composed this song :
" Though we be weak in frame, and the loss of blood has
drained our strength ; since the life-breath, now drawn out
by my wound, scarce quivers softly in my pierced breast :
" I counsel that we should make the battle of our last hour
glorious with dauntless deeds, that none may say that a combat
has anywhere been bravelier waged or harder fought ;
" And that our wild strife while we bore arms may, -when
our weary flesh has found rest in the tomb, win us the wage [252]
of immortal fame.
" Let our first stroke crush the shoulder-blades of the foe,
let our steel cut ofi" both his hands ; so that, when Stygian
Pluto has taken us, a like doom may fall on Ole also, and
a common death tremble over three, and one urn cover the
ashes of three."
Here Grim ended. But his father, rivalling his indomitable
spirit, and washing to give some exhortation in answer to his
son's valiant speech, thus began :
"What though our veins be wholly bloodless, and in our
frail body the life be brief, yet let our last fight be so strong
and strenuous that it sufler not the praise of us to be brief
also.
" Therefore aim the javelin first at the shoulders and arms
of the foe, so that the work of his hands may be weakened ;
and thus when we are gone three shall receive a common sepul-
chre, and one urn alike for three shall cover our itnited dust."
When he had said this, both of them, resting on their
304 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
knees (for the approach of death had drained their strength),
made a desperate eifort to fight Ole hand to hand, in order
that, before they perished, they might slay their enemy also ;
counting death as nothing if only they might envelope their
slayer in a common fall. Ole slew one of them with his sword,
the other with his hound. But even he gained no bloodless
victory ; for, thjough he had been hitherto unscathed, now at
last he received a wound in front. His dog diligently licked
him over, and he regained his bodily strength : and soon, to
publish sure news of his victory, he hung the bodies of the
robbers upon gibbets in wide view. Moreover, he took the
stronghold, and put in secret keeping all the booty he found
there, in reserve for future use.
At this time the arrogant wantonness of the brothers Skate
and Hiale waxed so high that they would take virgins of
notable beauty from their parents and ravish them. Hence it
came about that they formed the purpose of seizing Esa, the
daughter of Olaf, prince of the Werms ; and bade her father,
if he would not have her serve the passion of a stranger, fight
either in person, or by some deputy, in defence of his child.
[253] When Ole had news of this, he rejoiced in the chance of a
battle, and borrowing the attire of a peasant, went to the
dwelling of Olaf. He received one of the lowest places at
table ; and when he saw the household of the king in sorrow,
he called the king's son closer to him, and asked why they all
wore so lamentable a face. The other answered, that unless
someone quickly interposed to protect them, his sister's
chastity would soon be outraged by some ferocious cham-
pions. Ole next asked him what reward would be received
by the man who devoted his life for the maiden. Olaf, on his
son asking him about this matter, said that his daughter
should go to the man who fought for her : and these words,
more than anything, made Ole long to encounter the danger.
Now the maiden was wont to go close up to the guests and
scan their faces narrowly, holding out a light that she might
have a surer view of the dress and character of those who
were entertained. It is also believed that she divined their
lineage from the lines and features of the face, and could
discern any man's birth by sheer shrewdness of vision.
When she stood and fixed the scrutiny of her gaze upon
Olaf, she was stricken with the strange awfulness of his
eyes, and fell almost lifeless. But when her strength came
slowly back, and her breath went and came more freely,
she again tried to look at the young man, but suddenly
slipped and fell forward, as though distraught. A third
time also she strove to lift her closed and downcast gaze,
but suddenly tottered and fell, unable not only to move her
eyes, but even to control her feet; so much can strength be
palsied by amazement. When Olaf saw it, he asked her why
she had fallen so often. She averred that she was stricken by
the savage gaze of the guest ; that he was born of kings ; and
she declared that if he could baulk the will of the ravishers,
he was well worthy of her arms. Then all of them asked
Ole, who was keeping his face mufiled in a hat, to fling off"
his covering, and let them see something by which to learn
his features. Then, bidding them all lay aside their grief, and
keep their heart far from sorrow, he uncovered his brow ; and
he drew the eyes of all upon him in marvel at his great
beauty. For his locks were golden and the hair of his head
was radiant ; but he kept the lids close over his pupils, that
they might not terrify the beholders. All were heartened
with a hope of better things ; the guests seemed to dance and
the courtiers to leap for joy ; the deepest melancholy seemed
to be scattered by an outburst of cheerfulness. Thus hope
relieved their fears ; the banquet wore a new face, and nothing [254]
was the same, or like what it had been before. So the
kindly promise of a single guest dispelled the universal terror.
Meanwhile Hiale and Skate came up with ten servants, mean-
ing to carry off" the maiden then and there, and disturbed all
the place with their noisy shouts. They called on the king
to give battle, unless he produced his daughter instantly.
Ole at once met their frenzy with a promise to fight, adding
the condition that no one should stealthily attack an oppo-
nent in the rear, but should only combat in the battle face
306 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
to face. Then, with his sword called Logthi, he felled them
all, single-handed — an achievement beyond his years. The
ground for the battle was found on an isle in the middle
of a swamp, not far from which is a stead^ that serves to
memorise this slaughter, bearing the names of the brothers
Hiale and Skate together.
So the girl was given him as prize of the combat, and bore
him a son Omund. Then he gained his father-in-law's leave
to revisit his father. But when he heard that his countiy
was being attacked by Thore, with the help of Toste
Sacrificer,^ and Leotar, surnamed . . . .* he went to fight them,
content with a single servant, who was dressed as a woman.
When he was near the house of Thore, he concealed his own
and his attendant's swords in hollowed staves. And when
he entered the palace, he disguised his true countenance,
and feigned to be a man broken with age. He said that with
Siward he had been king of the beggars, but that he was now
in exile, having been stubbornly driven forth by the hatred of
the king's son Ole. Presently many of the courtiers greeted
him with the name of king, and began to kneel and offer him
their hands in mockery. He told them to bear out in deeds
what they had done in jest; and, plucking out the swords
which he and his man kept shut in their staves, attacked the
king. So some aided Ole, taking it more as jest than earnest,
and would not be false to the loyalty which they mockingly
yielded him ; but most of them, breaking their idle vow, took
the side of Thore. Thus arose an internecine and undecided
fray. At last Thore was overwhelmed and slain by the arms
of his own folk, as much as by those of his guests ; and
1 A stead] This was called Glaumstein, and was in Halland. For the
old cairn-song, given in the Appendix to LcmdnAmahdc, see Corp. Poet.
Bor. ii. 328. The second hero is there called Snicdl, not Skate.
2 Toste Sacrificer] TostoMm Viatimarium, probably Blot-Toste in ori-
ginal.
2 Leotar, surnamed . . . .] Leotarum .... cognomine praedil/wm. A
surname has dropped out, though St. inserts the word Moiister, which he
says was a gloss on the margin of an old MS.
Leotar, wounded to the death, and judging that his conqueror,
Ole, was as keen in mind as he was valorous in deeds, gave
him the name of the Vigorous, and prophesied that he should
perish by the same kind of trick as he had used with Thore ;
for, without question he should fall by the treachery of his
own house. And, as he spoke, he suddenly passed away.
Thus we can see that the last speech of the dying man [255]
expressed by its shrewd divination the end that should come
upon his conqueror.
After these deeds Ole did not go back to his father till he
had restored peace to his house. His father gave him the
command of the sea, and he destroyed seventy sea-kings in
a naval battle. The most distinguished among these wei'e
Birwil and Hwirwil, Thorwil, Nef and Onef, Redward [?], Rand
and Erand [1]} By the honour and glory of this exploit he
excited many champions, whose whole heart's desire was for
bravery, to join in alliance with him. He also enrolled into a
bodyguard the wild young warriors who were kindled with a
passion for glory. Among these he received Starkad with the
greatest honour, and cherished him with more friendship than
profit. Thus fortified, he checked, by the greatness of his
name, the wantonness of the neighbouring kings, in that he
took from them all their forces and all liking and heart for
mutual warfare.
After this he went to Harald, who made him commander of
the sea ; and at last he was transferred to the service of Ring.
At this time one Brun was the sole partner and confidant of
all Harald's councils. To this man both Harald and Ring,
whenever they needed a secret messenger, used to entrust their
commissions. This degree of intimacy he obtained because he
had been reared and fostered with them. But Brun, amid
the toils of his constant journeys to and fro, was drowned in
a certain river ; and Odin,^ disguised under his name and looks,
shook the close union of the kings by his treacherous embas-
sage ; and he sowed strife so guilefully that he engendered in
1 See list of Sea-kings in Thulor, G. P. B. ii. 423.
2 "Woden sets kings warring", says the old heathen saw.
x2
308 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
men, who were bound by friendship and blood, a bitter mutual
hate, which seemed unappeasable except by war. Their dissen-
sions first grew up silently; at last both sides betrayed their
leanings, and their secret malice burst into the light of day.
So they declared their feuds, and seven years passed in collect-
ing the materials of war. Some say that Harald secretly
sought occasions to destroy himself, not being moved by
malice or jealousy for the crown, but by a deliberate and
voluntary effort. His old age and his cruelty made him a
burden to his subjects ; he preferred the sword to the pangs of
disease, and liked better to lay down his life in the battle-field
than in his bed, that he might have an end in harmony with
the deeds of his past life. Thus, to make his death more illus-
trious, and go to the nether world in a larger company, he
longed to summon many men to share his end ; and he there-
[256] fore of his own will prepared for war, in order to make food for
future slaughter. For these reasons, being seized with as great
a thirst to die himself as to kill others, and wishing the
massacre on both sides to be equal, he furnished both sides
with equal resources ; but let Ring have a somewhat stronger
force, preferring he should conquer and survive him.
KXD OF BOOK SEVEN.
Book 8
Starkad was the first to set in order in Danish speech the [257]
history of the Swedish war,i a conflict whereof he was himself
a mighty pillar; the said history being rather an oral than
a written tradition. He set forth and arranged the course of
this war in the mother tongue according to the fashion of our ,
country ; but I purpose to put it into Latin, and will first
recount the most illustrious princes on either side. For
I have felt no desire to include the multitude, which are even
past exact numbering. And my pen shall relate first those
on the side of Harald, and presently those who served under
Eing.
Now the most famous of the captains that mustered to Harald
are acknowledged to have been Sweyn and Sambar [Sam ?],
Ambar and Elli ; Rati of Funen, Salgard and Roe [Hrothgar],
whom his long beard distinguished by a nickname.^ Be-
sides these, Skalk the Scanian and Alf the son of Agg; to
whom are joined Olwir the Broad and Gnepie the Old. Besides
^ Swedish war] For other lists of the combatants at Bravalla, see Cm-p.
Poet. Bor. i. 353-5, which gives the list from Skioldunga, and various
fragments of verse from mythical sagas. None of these is the original
list, which is lost, but they enable us to give equivalents ; often conjectural,
for some of Saxo's strange names (e.g., Humnehy, Brand) bear, as they
stand, no likeness to Scandinavian words. Owing to this difficulty we
have several times, in order to keep nearer the original, not held to our
ordinary rules of transliterating (such, for instance, as turning final -i
into -e). The words in brackets are the more or less conjectural inter-
pretations drawn from Skioldunga and the verses. This list falls roughly
into a series of alliterative lines of a common kind, each containing four
names or epithets. See M. (not. ub. , ii. 219 sgq. ), who reconstructs from
it a hypothetical poem in Old Norse.
2 Nickname] Probably O. Norse ^d-skeggr.
310 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
these there were Gardh, founder^ of the town Stang. To
these are added the kinsfolk or bound followers of Harald^ :
Blend [Blaeng ?], the dweller in furthest Thule,* and Brand,
whose surname was Crumb [Bitling ?]. Allied with these were
Thorgny, with Thox'wing, Tatar [Teit], and Hialte. These men
voyaged to Leire with bodies armed for war ; but they were
also mighty in excellence of wit, and their trained courage
matched their great stature ; for they had skill in discharging
arrows both from bow and catapult, and at fighting their foe,
as they commonly did, man to man ; and also at readily
stringing together verse in the speech of their country : \so
[258] zealously had they trained mind and body alike. Now out
of Leire came Hortar [Hjort] and Borrhy [Borgar or Borgny],
and also Belgi and Beigad, to whom were added Bari and
Toll. Now out of the town of Sle,* under the captains Hetha
[Heid] and Wisna, with Hakon Cut-cheek came Tummi the Sail-
maker. .On these captains, who had the bodies of women,
nature bestowed the souls of men. Webiorg was also inspired
with the same spirit, and was attended by Bo [Bui] Bramason
and Brat the Jute, thirsting for war. In the same throng came
Orm of England, Ubbe the Frisian, Ari the One-eyed, and Alf^
Goter. Next in the count came Dal" the Fat and Duk the
Sclav. Wisna, a woman, filled with sternness, and a skilled
warrior, was guarded by a band of Sclavs : her chief followers
were Barri and Gnizli. But the rest of the same company
had their bodies covered by little shields, and used very
long swords and targets of skiey hue, which, in time of war,
they either cast behind their backs or gave over to the
baggage-bearers ; while they cast away all protection to their
breasts, and exposed their bodies to every peril, ofiering battle
1 Gardh, founder of the town Stang] So Holder rightly, as shown by
use of Gardas on p. 316. Older edd. read Oardhstang oppidimltor.
2 Harald] necessarii, lit. "kinsmen", but including (M.) all those
bounden (skyldi/r) to his service.
■^ Furthest Thule] The names of Icelanders have thus crept into the
account of a battle fought before the discovery of Iceland.
* Sle] Schleswig. ^ AK Goter] ed. pr. has Alf et Goter.
" Dal] Skiold reads Dag.
with drawn swords. The most illustrious o£ these were Tolkar
and Ymi. After these, Toki of the province of Wollin^ was
conspicuous together with Otrit surnamed the Young. Hetha,
guarded by a retinue of very active men, brought an armed
company to the war, the chiefs of whom were Grim and
Grenzli ; next to whom are named Geir the Livonian, Hame
also and Hunger, Humbli and Biari, bravest of the princes.
These men often fought duels successfully, and won famous
victories far and wide. So the maidens T have named, in
fighting as well as courteous array, led their land-forces to
the battle-field. Thus the Danish army mustered company
by company. There were seven kings, equal in spirit but
diifering in allegiance, some defending Harald, and some Ring.
Moreover, the following went to the side of Harald: Homi
and HosathuP [Eysothul?], Him , Hastin and Hythin
[Hedin] the Slight, also Dahar [Dag], named Grenski,^ and
Harald Olafssbn also. From the province of Aland* came
Har and Herlewar [Herleif], with Hothbrodd surnamed the
Furious ; these fought in the Danish camp. But from Imis-
land^ arrived Humnehy [?] and Harald. They were joined by
Haki and by Sigmund and Serker the sons of Bemon, all
coming from the North. All these were retainers of the king,
who befriended them most generously ; for they were held in
the highest distinction by him, receiving swords adorned with
gold, and the choicest spoils of war. There came also [2 59]
the sons of Gandal* the old, who were in the intimate favour of
Harald by reason of ancient allegiance. Thus the sea was
studded with the Danish fleet, and seemed to interpose a
bridge, uniting Zealand to Skaane. To those that wished to
pass between those provinces, the sea ofiered a short road
on foot over the dense mass of ships. But Harald would
' Wollin] An island named elsewhere in Saxo. hdinensi is correction
of modern edd. for Jiimetm of ed. pr.
2 Hosathul] Correction of edd. for Hipsa ThAilUm of ed. pr.
^ Grenski] Of Gronland in Norway.
* Aland] Halica; ed. pr., Hatica.
^ From Imisland] ex Imica regione. Query, Hwnnica ?
° Gandal] Lacuna, probably, omitting names of the sonsi
312 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
not have the Swedes unprepared in their arrangements for war,
and sent men to King to carry his public declaration of
hostilities, and notify the rupture of the mediating peace.
The same men were directed to prescribe the place of combat.
These then whom I have named were the fighters for
Harald.
Now, on the side of Ring were numbered Ulf, Aggi [Aki ?],
Windar [Eywind ?], Egil the One-eyed ; Gotar, Hildi, Guti
Alfsson ; Styr the Stout, and [Tolo-] Stein, who lived by the
Wienie Mere.^ To these were joined Gerd the Glad and
Gromer [Glum ?] from Wermland. After these are reckoned
the dwellers north on the Elbe, Saxo the Splitter,^ Sali the
Goth ; Thord the Stumbler, Throndar Big-nose ; Grundi, Oddi,
Grindir, Tovi ; Koll, Biarki, Hogni the Clever, Rokar the
Swart. Now these scorned fellowship with the common
soldiers, and had formed themselves into a separate rank
apart from the rest of the company. Besides these are
numbered Hrani Hildisson and Lyuth Guthi [Hljot Godi],
Svein the Top-shorn, [Soknarsoti^ ?], Rethyr [Hreidar ?] Hawk,
and Rolf the Uxorious [Woman-lover]. Massed with these were
Ring Adilsson and Harald who came from Thotn district.
Joined to these were Walstein of Wick, Thorolf the Thick,
Thengel the Tall, Hun, Solwe, Birwil the Pale, Borgar and
Skumbar [Skum]. But from Tellemark came the bravest of
all, who had most courage but least arrogance — -Thorleif the
Stubborn, Thorkill the Gute [Gothlander], Grettir the Wicked
and the Lover of Invasions. Next to these came Hadd the
Hard and Rolder [Hroald] Toe-joint.
From Norway we have the names of Thrand of Throndhjem,
Thoke [Thore] of More, Hrafn the White, Haf[war], Biarni,
Blihar [Blig ?] surnamed Snub-nosed ; Biorn from the district
of Sogni ; Findar [Finn] born in the Firth ; Bersi born in the
1 Wienie Mere] Wiemcae Palndis, Venerso (Schouab.).
^ Saxo the Splitter] Saxa, Fletir in ed. pr. The last word is an
appellative of the first.
3 Soknarsoti] Inserted by M. out of the list in Skioldunga in order to
make up the metre.
town F[i]alui ; Siward Boarhead, Erik the Story-teller^
Holmstein^ the White, Hrut Rawi [or Vafi, the Doubter], Erling
surnamed Snake. Now from the province of Jather came Odd
the Englishman, Alf the Far-wanderer, Enar the Paunched,*
and Ywar surnamed Thriug. Now from Thule [Iceland] came
Mar the Red, born and bred in the district called Midfirth ;
Grombar the Aged, Gram Brundeluk [Bryndalk ?] Grim from [260]
the town of Skier[um]^ born in Skagafiord. Next came Berg
the Seer, accompanied by Bragi and Rafnkel.
Now the bravest of the Swedes were these : Arwakki,^
Keklu-Karl [Kelke-Karl], Krok the Peasant^ [from Akr],
Gudfast and Gummi from Gislamark. These were kindred of
the god Frey, and most faithful witnesses to the gods. Ingi
[Yngwe] also, and Oly, Alver, Folki, all sons of Elrik [Alrek],
embraced the service of Ring ; they were men ready of hand,
quick in counsel, and very close friends of Ring. They likewise
held the god Frey to be the founder of their race. Amongst
these from the town of Sigtun also came Sigmund, a champion
advocate, versed in making contracts of sale and purchase ;
besides him Frosti surnamed Bowl : allied with him was
Alf the Lofty [Proud ?] from the district of TJpsala ; this
man was a swift spear-thrower, and used to go in the front of
the battle. Ole had a body-guard of seven kings, very ready
of hand and of counsel ; namely, Holti, Hendil, Holinar,
Lewy [Leif], and Hame ; with these was enrolled Regnald the
Russian, the grandson of Radbard^ ; and Siwald also furrowed
the sea with eleven light ships. Lesy [Laesi], the conqueror
' Falu] Fjalir or Fjalafylke is a district in Norway.
^ Story-teller] fahulator, SSgo-Mirekr ; corrected from Hhidator of ed.
pr.
^ Holmstein] ed. pr., Alsten.
* Paunohed] Protuberans. Skiold. has Einarr thriiig, loarr srage.
^ Skier] Skerry in Iceland.
° Arwakki] Arvaki (M.) for Ar Backi of ed. pr.
'' Peasant] agrestis, Krdharr af Akri (Skiold.). Saxo has made the
place into an epithet.
* Radbard] Saxo has perhaps misread Radhardr hnefi into Badbarthi
nepos,
314 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
of the Pannonians [Huns], fitted with a sail his swift galley-
ringed with gold. Thririkai' [Erik Helsing] sailed in a
ship whose prows were twisted like a dragon. Also Thrygir
[Tryggve] and Torwil sailed and brought twelve ships
jointly. In the entire fleet of Ring there were 2,500 ships.
Now the fleet of Gotland was waiting for the Swedish fleet
in the harbour named Gamum.^ So Ring led the land-force,
while Ole was instructed to command the fleet. Now the
Goths were appointed a time and a place between Wik^ and
Werund^ for the conflict with the Swedes. Then was the sea
to be seen furrowed up with prows, and the canvas unfurled
upon the masts cut off" the view over the ocean. The Danes
had so far been distressed with bad weather ; but the Swedish
fleet had a fair voyage, and had reached the scene of battle
earlier. Here Ring disembarked his forces from his fleet, and
then massed and prepared to draw up in line both these and the
army he had himself conducted overland. When these forces
were at first loosely drawn up over the open country, it was
found that one wing reached all the way to Werund. The
multitude was confused in its places and ranks ; but the king
rode round it, and posted in the van all the smartest and
most excellently-armed men, led by Ole, Regnald, and Wivil
then he massed the rest of the army on the two wings in
[261] a kind of curve. Ung, with the sons of Alrek, and Trig, he
ordered to protect the right wing, while the left was put
under the command of Laesi. Moreover, the wings and the
masses were composed mainly of a close squadron of Kur-
landers and of Esthonians. Last stood the line of slingers.
Meantime the Danish fleet, favoured by kindly winds,
sailed, without stopping, for twelve days, and came to the
town [stead] of Kalmar. The wind-blown sails covering the
waters were a marvel ; and the canvas, stretched upon the
yards, blotted out the sight of the heavens. For the fleet was
augmented by the Sclavs and the Livonians and 7,000 Saxons.
1 Garnum] Garnshamn in the isle of Gotland.
" Wik] in S. Gothland.
3 Werund] Vaarnsland in Smaaland, named in Saxo's Pref., p. 9.
But the Skanians, knowing the country, were appointed as
guides and scouts to those who were going over the dry-
land. So when the Danish army came upon the Swedes,
who stood awaiting them. Ring told his men to stand
quietly until Harald had drawn up his line of battle :
bidding them not to sound the signal before they saw the
king settled in his chariot beside the standards ; for he said
he should hope that an army would soon come to grief which
trusted in the leading of a blind man. Harald, moreover, he
said, had been seized in extreme age with the desire of foreign
empire, and was as witless as he was' sightless ; wealth could
not satisfy a man who, if he looked to his years, ought to be
well-nigh contented with a grave. The Swedes therefore were
bound to fight for their freedom, their country, and their
children, while the enemy had undertaken the war in rashness
and arrogance. Moreover, on the other side, there were
very few Danes, but a mass of Saxons and other unmanly
peoples stood arrayed. Swedes and Norwegians should there-
fore consider how far the multitude of the North had always
surpassed the Germans and the Sclavs. They should therefore
despise an army which seemed to be composed more of a mass
of fickle offscourings than of a firm and stout soldiery. By
this harangue he kindled high the hearts of the soldiers.
Now Brun, being instructed to form the line on Harald's
behalf, made the front in a wedge, posting Hetha on the right
flank, putting Hakon in command of the left, and making
Wisna standard-bearer. Harald stood up in his chariot and
complained, in as loud a voice as he could, that Ring was
requiting his benefits with wrongs ; that the man who had
got his kingdom by Harald's own gift was now attacking
him ; so that Ring neither pitied an old man nor spared an
uncle, but set his own ambitions before any regard for Harald's
kinship or kindness. So he bade the Danes remember how [262]
they had always won glory by foreign conquest, and how they
were more wont to command their neighbours than to
obey them. He adjured them not to let such glory as theirs
to be shaken by the insolence of a conquered nation, nor to
316 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
suffer the empire, which he had won in the flower of his
youth, to be taken from him in his outworn age.
Then the trumpets sounded, and both sides engaged in battle
with all their strength. The sky seemed to fall suddenly on the
earth, fields and woods to sink into the ground ; all things
were confounded, and old Chaos come again ; heaven and
earth mingling in one tempestuous turmoil, and the world
rushing to universal ruin.^ For, when the spear-throwing began,
the intolerable clash of arms filled the air with an incredible
thunder. The steam of the wounds suddenly hung a mist over
the sky, the daylight was hidden under the hail of spears.
The help of the slingers was of great use in the battle. But
when the missiles had all been flung from hand or engines,
they fought with swords or iron-shod maces ; and it was now
at close quarters that most blood was spilt. Then the sweat
streamed down their weary bodies, and the clash of the
swords could be heard afar. Here Starkad, who was the
first to set forth the history of this war in the speech of his
country, fought foremost in the fray, and relates that he over-
threw the nobles of Harald, Hun and EIH, Hort and Burgha,^
and cut off the right hand of Wisna. He also relates that one
Roa, with two others, Gnepie and Gardar, fell wounded by him
in the field. To these he adds the father of Skalk, whose
name is not given. He also declares that he cast Hakon, the
bravest of the Danes, to the earth, but received from him such
a wound in return that he had to leave the war with his
lung protruding from his chest, his neck cleft to the centre, and
his hand deprived of one finger ; so that he long had a gaping
wound, which seemed as if it would never either scar over or
be curable. The same man witnesses that the maiden Wegh-
biorg [Webiorg] fought against the enemy and felled Soth the
champion. While she was threatening to slay more champions,
she was pierced through by an arrow from the bowstring of
Thorkill, a native of Tellemark. For the skilled archers of the
Gotlanders strung their bows so hard that the shafts pierced
' Of. Wolospa and Hdconarmal.
* Called Hortar and Borrhy on p. 310, above.
through even the shields ; nothing proved more murderous ;
for the arrow-points made their way through hauberk and
helmet as if they were men's defenceless bodies. Meantime
Ubbe the Frisian, the readiest of Harald's soldiers, and of
notable bodily stature, slew twenty-five picked champions,
besides eleven whom he had wounded in the field. All these
were of Swedish or Gothic blood. Then he attacked the van-
guard and burst into the thickest of the enemy, driving the [263]
Swedes straggling in panic every way with spear and sword.
It had all but come to a flight, when Hagder [Hadd], Bolder
[Hroald], and Grettir attacked the champion, emulating his
valour, and resolving at their own risk to retrieve the general
ruin. But, fearing to assault him at close quarters, they
accomplished their end with arrows from afar ; and thus Ubbe
was riddled by a shower of arrows, no one daring to fight him
hand to hand. A hundred and forty-four arrows had pierced
the breast of the warrior before his bodily strength failed and he
bent his knee to the earth. Then at last the Danes sufi'ered
a great defeat, owing to the Thronds and the dwellers in the
province of Dala. For the battle began afresh by reason of the
vast mass of the archers, and nothing damaged our men more.
But when Harald, being now blind with age, heard the
lamentable murmur of his men, he perceived that fortune had
smiled on his enemies. So, as he was riding in a chariot armed
with scythes, he told Brun, who was treacherously acting as
charioteer, to find out in what manner Ring had his line
drawn up. Brun's face relaxed into something of a smile, and
he answered that he was fighting with a line in the form
of a wedge. When the king heard this he began to be
alarmed, and to ask in great astonishment from whom Ring
could have learnt this method of disposing his line, especially
as Odin was the discoverer and imparter of this teaching, and
none but himself had ever learnt from him this new pattern
of warfare. At this Brun was silent, and it came into the
king's mind that here was Odin, and that the god whom he
had once known so well was now disguised in a changeful
shape, in order either to give help or withhold it. Present!}*
318 SAXO GKAMMATICUS.
he began to beseech him earnestly to grant the final victory to
the Danes, since he had helped them so graciously before, and
to fill up his last kindness to the measure of the first ; pro-
mising to dedicate to him as a gift the spirits of all who fell.
But Brun, utterly unmoved by his entreaties, suddenly jerked
the king out of the chariot, battered him to the earth, plucked
the club from him as he fell, whirled it upon his head, and
slew him with his own weapon. Countless corpses lay round
the king's chariot, and the horrid heap overtopped the wheels ;
the pile of carcasses rose as high as the pole. For about 12,000
of the nobles of Ring fell upon the field. But on the side of
Harald about 30,000 nobles fell, not to name the slaughter of
the commons.
[264] When Ring heard that Harald was dead, he gave the signal
to his men to break up their line and cease fighting. Then
under cover of truce he made treaty with the enemy, telling
them that it was vain to prolong the fray without their captain.
Next he told the Swedes to look everywhere among the con-
fused piles of carcasses for the body of Harald, that the corpse
of the king might not wrongfully lack its due rights. So the
populace set eagerly to the task of turning over the bodies of
the slain, and over this work half the day was spent. At last
the body was found with the club, and he thought that propitia-
tion should be made to the shade of Harald. So he harnessed
the horse on which he rode to the chariot of the king, decked it
honourably with a golden saddle, and hallowed it in his honour.
Then he proclaimed his vows, and added his prayer that
Harald would ride on this and outstrip those who shared his
death in their journey to Tartarus ; and that he would pray
Pluto, the lord of Orcus, to grant a calm abode there for friend
and foe. Then he raised a pyre, and bade the I)anes fling on
the gilded chariot of their king as fuel to the fire. And
while the flames were burning the body cast upon them, he
went round the mourning nobles and earnestly charged them
that they should freely give arms, gold, and every precious
thing to feed the pyre in honour of so great a king, who had
deserved so nobly of them all. He also ordered that the ashes
of his body, when it was quite burnt, should be transferred to
an urn, taken to Leire, and there, together with the horse and
armour, receive a royal funeral. By paying these due rites of
honour to his uncle's shade, he won the favour of the Danes,
and turned the hate of his enemies into goodwill. Then the
Danes besought him to appoint Hetha over the remainder of
the realm ; but, that the fallen strength of the enemy might not
suddenly rally, he severed Skaane from the mass of Denmark,
and put it separately under the governorship of Ole, ordering
that only Zealand and the other lands of the realm should be
subject to Hetha. Thus the changes of fortune brought the
empire of Denmark under the Swedish rule. So ended the
Bravic war.
But the Zealanders, who had had Harald for their captain,
and still had the picture of their former fortune hovering
before their minds, thought it shameful to obey the rule of a
woman, and appealed to Ole not to suffer men that had been
used to serve under a famous king to be kept under a woman's
yoke. They also promised to revolt to him if he would take
up arms to remove their ignominious lot. Ole, tempted as
much by the memory of his ancestral glory as by the
homage of the soldiers, was not slow to answer their en-
treaties. So he summoned Hetha, and forced her by threats [265]
rather than by arms to quit every region under her control
except Jutland ; and even Jutland he made a tributary state,
so as not to allow a woman the free control of a kingdom. He
also begot a son whom he named Omund. But he was given
to cruelty, and showed himself such an unrighteous king, that
all who had found it a shameful thing to be ruled by a
queen now repented of their former scorn. Twelve generals,
whether moved by the disasters of their country, or hating
Ole for some other reason, began to plot against his life.
Among these were Hlenni, Atyl, Thott, and Withne, the last
of whom was a Dane by birth, though he held a govern-
ment among the Sclavs. Moreover, not trusting in their
strength and their cunning to accomplish their deed, they
bribed Starkad to join them. He was prevailed to do the
320 SAXO GEAMMATlCtrS.
deed with the sword ; he undertook the bloody work, and
resolved to attack the king while at the bath. In he went
while the king was washing, but was straightway stricken by
the keenness of his gaze and by the restless and quivering
glare of his eyes. His limbs were palsied with sadden dread ;
he paused, stepped back, and stayed his hand and his purpose.
Thus he who had shattered the arms of so many captains and
champions could not bear the gaze of a single unarmed man.
But Ole, who well knew about his own countenance, covered
his face, and asked him to come closer and tell him what his
message was; for old fellowship and long-tried friendship
made him the last to suspect treachery. But Starkad drew his
sword, leapt forward, thrust the king through, and struck him
in the throat as he tried to rise. One hundred and twenty
marks of gold were kept for his reward. Soon afterwards he
was smitten with remorse and shame, and lamented his crime so
bitterly, that he could not refrain from tears if it happened
to be named. Thus his soul, when he came to his senses,
blushed for his abominable sin. Moreover, to atone for the
crime he had committed, he slew some of those who had
inspired him to it, thus avenging the act to which he had
lent his hand.
Now the Danes made Omund, the son of Ole, king, thinking
that more heed should be paid to his father's birth than to his
deserts. Omund, when he had grown up, fell in no wise
behind the exploits of his father; for he made it his aim
to equal or surpass the deeds of Ole. At this time a consider-
able tribe of the Northmen [Norwegians] was governed by
[266] Ring, and his daughter Esa's great fame commended her to
Omund, who was looking out for a wife.
But his hopes of wooing her were lessened by the peculiar
inclination of King, who desired no son-in-law but one of
tried valour ; for he found as much honour in arms as others
think lies in wealth. Omund therefore, wishing to become
famous in that fashion, and to win the praise of valour,
endeavoured to gain his desire by force, and sailed to Norway
with a fleet, to make an attempt on the throne of Rino- under
fiOOK EIGHT. 321
plea of hereditary right.'- Odd, the chief of Jather, who
declared that Ring had assuredly seized his inheritance, and
lamented that he harried him with continual wrongs, received
Omund kindly. Ring, in the meantime, was on a roving raid
in Ireland, so that Omund attacked a province without a
defender. Sparing the goods of the common people, he gave
the private property of Ring over to be plundered, and slew his
kinsfolk ; Odd also having joined his forces to Omund. Now,
among all his divers and manifold deeds, he could never bring
himself to attack an inferior force, remembering that he was the
son of a most valiant father, and that he was bound to fight
armed with courage, and not with numbers. Meanwhile it befell
that Ring was on his return from roving ; and when Omund
heard he was back, he set to and built a vast ship, whence, as
from a fortress, he could rain his missiles on the enemy. To
manage this ship he enlisted Homod and Thole the rowers, the
sons of Atyl the Skanian, one of whom was instructed to act as
steersman, while the other was to command at the prow. Ring
lacked neither skill nor dexterity to encounter them. For he
showed only a small part of his forces, and caused the enemy
to be attacked on the rear. Omund, when told of his strategy
by Odd, sent men to overpower those posted in ambush,
telling Atyl the Skanian to encounter Ring. The order was
executed with more rashness than success ; and Atyl, with his
power defeated and shattered, fled beaten to Skaane. Then
Omund recruited his forces with the help of Odd, and drew up
his fleet to fight on the open sea. Atyl at this time had
true visions of the Norwegian war in his dreams, and started
on his voyage in order to make up for his flight as quickly as
possible, and delighted Omund by joining him on the eve of
battle. Trusting in his help, Omund began to fight with
equal confidence and success. For, by fighting himself, he
retrieved the victory which he had lost when his servants
were engaged. Ring, wounded to the death, gazed at him
with faint eyes, and, beckoning to him with his hand, as [257]
^ Hereditary right] Omund being, according to Saxo, grandson of
Siward, King of Norway. See p. 301.
Y
•Sii SAiO GRAMMATlClJS.
well as he could — for his voice failed him — he besought him
to be his son-in-law, saying that he would gladly meet his
end if he left his daughter to such a husband. Before he
could receive an answer, he died. Omund wept for his
death, and gave Homod, whose trusty help he had received
in the war, in marriage to one of the daughters of Ring,
taking the other himself.
At the same time the amazon Rusla, whose prowess in war-
fare exceeded the spirit of a woman, had many fights in
Norway with her brother Thrond for the sovereignty. She
could not endure that Omund should rule over the Norwegians,
and she had declared war against all the subjects of the Danes.
Omund, when he heard of this, commissioned his most active
men to suppress the rising. Rusla conquered them, and,
waxing haughty on her triumph, was seized with overweening
hopes, and bent her mind upon actually 'acquiring the sove-
reignty of Denmark. She began her attack on the region of
Halland, but was met by Homod and Thole, whom the king
had sent over. Beaten, she retreated to her fleet, of which
only thirty ships managed to escape, the rest being taken by
the enemy. Thrond encountered his sister as she was eluding
the Danes, but was conquered by her and stripped of his
entire army; he fled over the Dovrefjeld without a single
companion. Thus she, who had first yielded before the Danes,
soon overcame her brother, and turned her flight into a victory.
When Omund heard of this, he went back to Norway with a
great fleet, first sending Homod and Thole by a short and
secret way to rouse the people of Tellemark against the rule
of Rusla. The end was that she was driven out of her
kingdom by the commons, fled to the isles for safety, and
turned her back, without a blow, upon the Danes as they came
up. The king pursued her hotly, caught up her fleet on the
sea, and utterly destroyed it : the enemy suffered mightily,
and he won a bloodless victory and splendid spoils. But
Rusla escaped with a very few ships, and rowed ploughing
the waves furiously ; but, while she was avoiding the Danes, she
met her brother and was killed. So much more effectual for
book EIGHT. 82S
harm are dangers unsurmised ; and chance sometimes makes
the less alarming evil worse than that which threatens. The
king gave Thrond a governorship for slaying his sister, put
the rest under tribute, and returned home.
At this time Thorias [?] and Ber [Biorn], the most active of
the soldiers of Rusla, were roving in Ireland ; but when they [268]
heard of the death of their mistress, whom they had long ago
sworn to avenge, they hotly attacked Omund, and challenged
him to a duel, which it used to be accounted shameful for
a king to refuse ; for the fame of princes of old was reckoned
more by arms than by riches. So Homod and Thole came
forward, offering to meet in battle the men who had chal-
lenged the king. Omund praised them warmlj^, but at first
declined for very shame to allow their help. At last, hard
besought by his people, he brought himself to try his fortune
by the hand of another. We are told that Ber fell in this
combat, while Thorias left the battle severely wounded. The
king, having first cured him of his wounds, took him into his
service, and made him prince [earl] over Norway. Then
he sent ambassadors to exact the usual tribute from the
Sclavs ; these were killed, and he was even attacked in
Jutland by a Sclavish force ; but he overcame seven kings in
a single combat, and ratified by conquest his accustomed right
to tribute.
Meantime Starkad, who was now worn out with extreme age,
and who seemed to be past military service and the calling of
a champion, was loth to lose his ancient glory through the
fault of eld, and thought it would be a noble thing if he could
make a voluntary end, and hasten his death by his own free-
will. Having so often fought nobly, he thought it would be
mean to die a bloodless death ; and, wishing to enhance the
glory of his past life by the lustre of his end, he preferred to
be slain by some man of gallant birth rather than await the
tardy shaft of nature. So shameful was it thought that men
devoted to war should die by disease. His body was weak,
and his eyes could not see clearly, so that he hated to linger
any more in life. In order to buy himself an executioner, he
y2
324 SAXO GRAMMATlCUS.
wore hanging on his neck the gold which he had earned for
the murder of Ole ; thinking there was no fitter way of atoning
for the treason he had done than to make the price of Ole's
death that of his own also, and to spend on the loss of his
own life what he had earned hy the slaying of another.
This, he thought, would be the noblest use he could make of
that shameful price. So he girded him with two swords, and
guided his powerless steps leaning on two staves. One of the
common people, when he saw him, thinking two swords
superfluous for the use of an old man, mockingly asked him
[269] to make him a present of one of them. Starkad, holding
out hopes of consent, bade him come nearer, drew the
sword from his side, and ran him through. This was seen
by a certain Hather, whose father Hlenne Starkad had once
killed in repentance for his own impious crime.^ Hather
was hunting game with his dogs, but now gave over the
chase, and bade two of his companions spur their horses hard
and charge at the old man to frighten him. They galloped
forward, and tried to make off, but were stopped bj^ the
staves of Starkad, and paid for it with their lives. Hather,
terrified by the sight, galloped up closer, and saw who the
old man was, but without being recognised by him in turn ;
and asked him if he would like to exchange his sword
for a carriage. Starkad replied that he used in old days to
chastise jeerers, and that the insolent had never insulted him
unpunished. But his sightless eyes could not recognise the
features of the youth ; so he composed a song, wherein he
should declare the greatness of his anger, as follows :
" As the unreturning waters sweep down the channel ; so, as
the years run by, the life of man flows on never to come back ;
fast gallops the cycle of doom, child of old age who shall make
an end of all. Old age smites alike the eyes and the steps
of men, robs the warrior of his speech and soul, tarnishes
his fame by slow degrees, and wipes out his deeds of honour.
1 Own impious crime] parricidii, namely, the murder of his king, Ole.
Hlenni was one of the conspirators that suborned Starkad, who took this
way of showing "repentance".
It seizes his failing limbs, chokes his panting utterance, and
numbs his nimble wit. When a cough is taken, when the skin
itches with the scab, and the teeth are numb and hollow, and the
stomach turns squeamish, — then old age banishes the grace of
youth, covers the complexion with decay, and sows many a
wrinkle in the dusky skin. Old age crushes noble arts, brings
down the memorials of men of old, and scorches ancient
glories up ; shatters wealth, hungrily gnaws away the worth
and good of virtue, turns athwart and disorders all things.
"I myself have felt the hurtful power of injurious age, I,
dim-sighted, and hoarse in my tones and in my chest ; and
all helpful things have turned to my hurt. Now my body is
less nimble, and I prop it up, leaning my faint limbs on the
support of staves. Sightless I guide my steps with two [270]
sticks, and follow the short path which the rod shows me,
trusting more in the leading of a stock than in my eyes.
None takes any charge of me, and no man in the ranks brings
comfort to the veteran, unless, perchance, Hather is here, and
succours his shattered friend. Whomsoever Hather once thinks
worthy of his duteous love, that man he attends continually
with even zeal, constant to his purpose, and fearing to break his
early ties. He also often pays fit rewards to those that have
deserved well in war, and fosters their courage ; he bestows
dignities on the brave, and honours his famous friends with
gifts. Free with his wealth, he is fain to increase with
bounty the brightness of his name, and to surpass many of
the mighty. Nor is he less in war : his strength is equal to
his goodness ; he is swift in the fray, slow to waver, ready to
give battle ; and he cannot turn his back when the foe
bears him hard. But for me, if I remember right, fate ap-
pointed at my birth that wars I should follow and in war I
should die, that I should mix in broils, watch in arms, and
pass a life of bloodshed. I was a man of camps, and rested
not ; hating peace, I grew old under thy standard, 0 War-god,
in utmost peril ; conquering fear, I thought it comely to
fight, shameful to loiter, and noble to kill and kill again, to ^
be for ever slaughtering ! Oft have I seen the stern kings meet
326 SAXO gbAmmaticus.
in war, seen shield and helmet bruised, and the fields redden
with blood, and the cuirass broken by the spear-point, and the
corslets all around giving at the thrust of the steel, and the wild
beasts battening on the unburied soldier. Here, as it chanced,
one that attempted a mighty thing, a strong-handed warrior,
fighting against the press of the foe, smote through the mail
that covered my head, pierced my helmet, and plunged his
blade into my crest. This sword also hath often been driven
by my right hand in war, and, once unsheathed, hath cleft the
skin and bitten into the skull."
Hather, in answer, sang as follows :
" Whence comest thou, who art used to write the poems
of thy land, leaning thy wavering steps on a frail stafi"? Or
whither dost thou speed, who art the readiest bard of the
[271] Danish muse? All the glory of thy great strength is faded
and lost ; the hue is banished from thy face, the joy is gone
out of thy soul ; the voice has left thy throat, and is hoarse
and dull ; thy body has lost its former stature ; the decay of
death begins, and has wasted thy features and thy force. As
a ship wearies, buffeted by continual billows, even so old
age, gendered by a long course of years, brings forth bitter
death ; and the life falls when its strength is done, and suffers
the loss of its ancient lot. Famous old man, who has told
thee that thou mayst not duly follow the sports of youth, or
fling balls, or bite and eat the nut ? I think it were better
for thee now to sell thy sword, and buy a carriage wherein to
ride often, or a horse easy on the bit, or at the same cost to
purchase a light car. It will be more fitting for beasts of
burden to carry weak old men, when their steps fail them ;
the wheel, driving round and round, serves for him whose foot
totters feebly. But if perchance thou art loth to sell the
useless steel, thy sword, if it be not for sale, shall be taken
from thee and shall slay thee."
Starkad answered: "Wretch, thy glib lips scatter idle
words, unfit for the ears of the good. Why seek the gifts to
reward that guidance, which thou shouldst have offered for
naught ? Surely I will walk afoot, and will not basely give
up my sword and buy the help of a stranger ; nature has given
me the right of passage, and hath bidden me trust in my own
feet. Why mock and jeer with insolent speech at him whom
thou shouldst have offered to guide upon his way ? Why give
to dishonour my deeds of old, which deserve the memorial of
fame ? Why requite my service with reproach ? Why pur-
sue with jeers the old man mighty in battle, and put to shame
my unsurpassed honours and illustrious deeds, belittling my
glories and girding at my prowess ? For what valour of thine
dost thou demand my sword, which thy strength does not
deserve ? It befits not the right hand or the unwarlike side
of a herdsman, who is wont to make his peasant-music on the
pipe, to see to the flock, to keep the herds in the fields.
Surely among the henchmen, close to the greasy pot, thou
dippest thy crust in the bubbles of the foaming pan, drenching [272]
a meagre slice in the rich, oily fat, and stealthily, with thirsty
finger, licking the warm juice ; more skilled to spread thy
accustomed cloak^ on the ashes, to sleep on the hearth, and
slumber all day long, and go busily about the work of the
reeking kitchen, than to make the brave blood flow with thy
shafts in war. Men think thee a hater of the light and a lover
of a filthy hole, a wretched slave of thy belly, like a whelp
who licks the coarse grain, husk and all.
"By heaven, thou didst not try to rob me of my sword
when thrice at great periP I fought [for?] the son of Ole.
For truly, in that array, my hand either broke the sword or
shattered the obstacle, so heavy was the blow of the smiter.
What of the day when I first taught them to run
with wood-shod feet over the shore of the Kurlanders,^ and
1 Cloak] pallam, the emendation of St. for the gallam of ed. pr.
^ When thrice at great peril . . . .] guando ter Ulonis summo 'discrimine
nati Expugnator eram. Nothing has been said about Starkad fighting
Omund, and the passage gives no satisfactory meaning. If iiati is to be
ptcp. agreeing with Olonis, summo discrimine must qualify it as adverb,
which gives no sense. M. thinks Expugnator Olonis could mean qui sub
OAispiciis Olonis alios expugnat, which is hard.
^ Kurlanders] See Bk. vi for these and most of the following deeds
of Starkad.
328 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
the path bestrewn with countless points ? For when I was
going to the fields studded with calthrops, I guarded their
wounded feet with clogs below them. After this I slew
Hame, who fought me mightily ; and soon, with the captain
Rin the son of Flebak, I crushed the Kurlanders, yea, or all
the tribes Esthonia breeds, and thy peoples, 0 Semgala! Then
I attacked the men of Tellemark, and took thence my head
bloody with bruises, shattered with mallets, and smitten with
the welded weapons. Here first I learnt how strong was the
iron wrought on the anvil, or what valour the common people^
had. Also it was my doing that the Teutons were punished,
when, in avenging my lord, I laid low over their cups thy sons,
0 Swerting, who were guilty of the wicked slaughter of Frode.
"Not less was the deed when, for the sake of a beloved
maiden, I slew seven brethren in one fray ; — witness the spot,
which was consumed by the bowels that left me, and brings not
forth the grain anew on its scorched sod. And soon, when
Ker the captain made ready a war by sea, with a noble army
we beat his serried ships. Then I put Waske to death,
and punished the insolent smith by slashing his hinder parts;
and with the sword I slew Wisin, who from the sno-^vy rocks
blunted the spears. Then I slew the four sons of Ler, and the
[273] champions of Permland ; and then having taken the chief
of the Irish race, I rifled the wealth of Dublin; and our
courage shall ever remain manifest by the trophies of Bravalla.
Why do I linger ? Countless are the deeds of my bravery, and
when 1 review the works of my hands I fail to number them
to the full. The whole is greater than I can tell. My work
is too great for fame, and speech serves not for my doings."
So sang Starkad. At last, when he found by their talk that
Hather was the son of Hlenne, and saw that the youth was of
illustrious birth, he offered him his throat to smite, bidding him
not to shrink from punishing the slayer of his father. He
1 Common people] popuLarihm, "namely, plehs nistica" (M.). See the
episode of the low-born smith, p. 237 above: "I remember how
smiths differ, for they once smote me." Starkad, besides being a poet,
a Spartan, and a hero, is always an aristocrat.
promised him that if he did so he should possess the gold
which he had himself received from Hlenne. And to enrage
his heart more vehemently against him, he is said to have
harangued him as follows :
" Moreover, Hather, I robbed thee of thy father Hlenne ; re-
quite me this, I pray, and strike down the old man who longs
to die ; aim at my throat with the avenging steel. For my
soul chooses the service of a noble smiter, and shrinks to ask
its doom at a coward's hand. Righteously may a man choose
to forestall the ordinance of doom. What cannot be escaped
it will be lawful also to anticipate. The fresh tree must be
fostered, the old one hewn down. He is nature's instrument
who destroys what is near its doom and strikes down what
cannot stand. Death is best when it is sought : and when the
end is loved, life is wearisome. Let not the troubles of age
prolong a miserable lot."
So saying, he took money from his pouch and gave it him.
But Hather, desiring as much to enjoy the gold as to accomplish
vengeance for his father, promised that he would comply with
his prayer, and would not refuse the reward. Starkad eagerly
handed him the sword, and at once stooped his neck beneath
it, counselling him not to do the smiter's work timidly, or
use the sword like a woman ; and telling him that if, when
he had killed him, he could spring between the head and
the trunk before the corpse fell, he would be rendered proof
against arms. It is not known whether he said this in order [274J
to instruct his executioner or to punish him, for perhaps, as he
leapt, the bulk of the huge body would have crushed him.
So Hather smote sharply with the sword and hacked off the
head of the old man. When the severed head struck the
ground, it is said to have bitten the earth ; thus the fury of
the dying lips declared the fierceness of the soul. But the
smiter, thinking that the promise hid some treachery, warily
refrained from leaping. Had he done so rashly, perhaps he
would have been crushed by the corpse as it fell, and have
paid with his own life for the old man's murder. But he
would not allow so great a champion to lie unsepulchred, and
330 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
had his body buried in the field that is commonly called
Rolung.^
Now Omund, as I have heard, died most tranquilly, while
peace was unbroken, leaving two sons and two daughters.
The eldest of these, Siwaed, came to the throne by right of
birth, while his brother Budle was still of tender years. At
this time Gotar, King of the Swedes, conceived boundless love
for one of the daughters of Omund, because of the report of
her extraordinary beauty, and entrusted one Ebb, the son of
Sibb, with the commission of asking for the maiden. Ebb
did his work skilfully, and brought back the good news that
the girl had consented. Nothing was now lacking to Gotar's
wishes but the wedding ; but, as he feared to hold this among
strangers, he demanded that his betrothed should be sent to
him in charge of Ebb, whom he had before used as envoy.
Ebb was crossing Halland with a very small escort, and went
for a night's lodging to a country farm, where the dwellings
of two brothers faced one another on the two sides of a
river. Now these men used to receive folk hospitably and
then murder them, but were skilful to hide their brigandage
under a show of generosity. For they had hung on certain
hidden chains, in a lofty part of the house, an oblong beam
like a press, and furnished with a steel point; they used to
lower this in the night by letting down the fastenings, and
cut off the heads of those that lay below. Many had they be-
headed in this way with the hanging mass. So when Ebb and
his men had been feasted abundantly, the servants laid them
out a bed near the hearth, so that by the swing of the treacher-
ous beam they might mow oft' their heads, which faced the
fire. When they departed. Ebb, suspecting the contrivance
slung overhead, told his men to feign slumber and shift their
bodies, saying that it would be very wholesome for them to
change their place. Now among these were some not of the
[275] following of Ebb, who despised the orders which the others
obeyed, and lay unmoved, each in the spot where he had
chanced to lie down. Then towards the mirk of night the
1 Rolung] See p. 240.
heavy hanging machine was set in motion by the doers of
the treachery. Loosened from the knots of its fastening, it
fell violently on the ground, and slew those beneath it.
Thereupon those who, had the charge of committing the crime
brought in a light, that they might learn clearly what had
happened, and saw that Ebb, on whose especial account they
had undertaken the affair, had wisely been equal to the danger.
He straightway set on them and punished them with death ;
and also, after losing his men in the mutual slaughter, he
happened to find a vessel, crossed a river full of blocks of ice,
and announced to Gotar the result, not so much of his mission
as of his mishap.
Gotar judged that this affair had been inspired by Siward,
and prepared to avenge his wrongs by arms. Siward, defeated
by him in Halland, retreated into Jutland, the enemy having
taken his sister. Here he conquered the common people of
the Sclavs, who ventured to fight without a leader ; and he
won as much honour from this victory as he had got disgrace
by his flight. But a little afterwards, the men whom he had
subdued when they were ungeneralled, found a general and
defeated Siward in Funen. Several times he fought them in
Jutland, but with ill-success. The result was that he lost
both Skaane and Jutland, and only retained the middle of his
realm without the head, like the fragments of some body that
had been consumed away. His son Jarmerik [Eormunrec], with
his child-sisters, fell into the hands of the enemy ; one of these
was sold to the Germans, the other to the Norwegians ; for
in old time marriages were matters of purchase. Thus the
kingdom of the Danes, w^hich had been enlarged with such
valour, made famous by such ancestral honours, and enriched
by so many conquests, fell, all by the sloth of one man, from the
most illustrious fortune and prosperity into such disgrace that
it paid the tribute which it used to exact. But Siward, too
often defeated and guilty of shameful flights, could not endure,
after that glorious past, to hold the troubled helm of state any
longer in this shameful condition of his land ; and, fearing
that living longer might strip him of his last shred of
332 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
glory, he hastened to win an honourable death in battle. For
[276] his soul could not forget his calamity, it was fain to cast
off its sickness, and was racked with weariness of life. So
much did he abhor the light of life in his longing to wipe out
his shame. So he mustered his army for battle, and openly
declared war with one Simon, who was governor of Skaane
under Gotar. This war he pursued with stubborn rashness ; he
slew Simon, and ended his own life amid a great slaughter of
his foes. Yet his country could not be freed from the burden
of the tribute.
Jarmerik, meantime, with his foster-brother of the same
age as himself, Gunn, was living in prison, in charge of Ismar,
the King of the Sclavs. At last he was taken out and put to
agriculture, doing the work of a peasant. So actively did he
manage this matter that he was transferred and made master
of the royal slaves. As he likewise did this business most
uprightly, he was enrolled in the band of the king's retainers.
Here he bore himself most pleasantly as courtiers use, and was
soon taken into the number of the king's friends and obtained
the first place in his intimacy; thus, on the strength of a
series of great services, he passed from the lowest estate to
the most distinguished height of honour. Also, loth to live
a slack and enfeebled youth, he trained himself to the pursuits
of war, enriching his natural gifts by diligence. All men
loved Jarmerik, and only the queen mistrusted the young
man's temper. A sudden report told them that the king's
brother had died. Ismar, wishing to give his body a splendid
funeral, prepared a banquet of royal bounty to increase the
splendour of the obsequies. But Jarmerik, who used a!/
other times to look after the household affairs together with
the queen, began to cast about for means of escape ; for a
chance seemed to be offered by the absence of the king. For
he saw that even in the lap of riches he would be the wretched
thrall of a king, and that he would draw, as it were, his very
breath on sufferance and at the gift of another. Moreover,
though he held the highest offices with the king, he thought that
freedom was better than delights, and burned with a mighty
desire to visit his country and learn his lineage. But, knowing
that the queen had provided sufficient guards to see that no
prisoner escaped, he saw that he must approach by craft where
he could not arrive by force. So he plaited one of those baskets
of rushes and withies, shaped like a man, with which country-
men used to scare the birds from the corn, and put a live dog-
in it ; then he took oft' his own clothes, and dressed it in them,
to give a more plausible likeness to a human being. Then he
broke into the private treasury of the king, took out the money,
and hid himself in places of which he alone knew. Mean- [277]
time Gunn, whom he had told to conceal the absence of his
friend,^ took the basket into the palace and stirred up the dog
to bark ; and when the queen asked what this was, he answered
that Jarmerik was out of his mind and howling. She, behold-
ing the effigy, was deceived by the likeness, and ordered that
the madman should be cast out of the house. Then Gunn
took the effigy out and put it to bed, as though it were his
distraught friend. But towards night he plied the watch
bountifully with wine and festal mirth, cut off" their heads as
they slept, and set them at their groins, in order to make their
slaying more shameful. The queen, roused by the din, and
wishing to learn the reason of it, hastily rushed to the doors.
But while she unwarily put forth her head, the sword of Gunn
suddenly pierced her through. Feeling a mortal wound, she
sank, turned her eyes on her murderer, and said, " Had it been
granted me to live unscathed, no screen of treachery should
have let thee leave this land unpunished." A flood of such
threats against her slayer poured from her dying lips. Then
Jarmerik, together with Gunn, the partner of his noble deed,
secretly set fire to the tent wherein the king was celebrating
with a banquet the obsequies of his brother ; all the company
were overcome with liquor. The fire filled the tent and spread
all about ; and some of them, shaking off" the torpor of drink,
took horse and pursued those who had endangered them.
But the young men fled at first on the beasts they had taken ;
and at last, when these were exhausted with their long gallop,
took to flight on foot. They were all but caught, when a
1 Friend] absentiam soeii simulate. Mr. Fiddes suggests reading dis-
simiilare, unless sirmdare be loosely used.
334 SAXO GKAMMATICUS.
river saved them. For they crossed a bridge, of which, in
order to delay the pursuer, they first cut the timbers down to
the middle, thus making it not only unequal to a burden, but
ready to come down ; then they retreated into a dense
morass. The Sclavs pressed on them, and, not foreseeing
the danger, unwarily put the weight of their horses on the
bridge ; the flooring sank, and they were shaken off and flung
into the river. But, as they swam up to the bank, they were
met by Gunn and Jarmerik, and either drowned or slain.
Thus the young men showed great cunning, and did a deed
beyond their years, being more like sagacious old men than
runaway slaves, and successfully achieving their shrewd design.
When they reached the strand they seized a vessel chance
threw in their way, and made for the deep. The barbarians
who pursued them, tried, when they saw them sailing off,
to bring them back by shouting promises after them that they
should be kings if they returned ; " for, by the public statute
of the ancients, the succession was appointed to the slayers of
[278] the kings." As they retreated, their ears were long deafened
by the Sclavs obstinately shouting their treacherous promises.^
At this time BuDLB, the brother of Siward, was Regent
over the Danes, who forced him to make over the kingdom to
Jaemeeik when he came ; so that Budle fell from a king into
a common man. At the same time Gotar charged Sibb with
debauching his sister, and slew him. Sibb's kindred, much
angered by his death, came wailing to Jarmerik, and promised
to attack Gotar with him, in order to avenge their kinsman.
They kept their promise well, for Jarmerik, having over-
thrown Gotar by their help, gained Sweden. Thus, holding
the sovereignty of both nations, he was encouraged by his
increased power to attack the Sclavs, forty of whom he took
- and hung with a wolf tied to each of them. This kind of
punishment was assigned of old to those who slew their own
kindred; but he chose to inflict it upon enemies, that all
might see plainly, just from their fellowship with ruthless
beasts, how grasping they had shown themselves towards the
'- A good case of "thigh-forking", with false reasons, and of Mr. Frazer's
Nomi-rites.
iSOOli EIGHT. 38o
Danes. Also, when he had conquered the country, he posted
garrisons in fitting places. Departing thence, he made a
slaughter of the Sembs and the Kurlanders, and many nations
of the East. The Sclavs, thinking that this employment of
the king gave them a chance of revolting, killed the governors
whom he had appointed, and ravaged Denmark. Jarmerik,
on his way back from roving, chanced to intercept their
fleet, and destroyed it, a deed which added honour to his
roll of conquests. He also put their nobles to death in a way
that one would weep to see ; namely, by first passing thongs
through their legs, and then tying them to the hoofs of savage
bulls ; then hounds set on them and dragged them into miry
swamps. This deed took the edge off the valour of the Sclavs,
and they obeyed the authority of the king in fear and
trembling. Jarmerik, being thus enriched with the spoils of
many nations, wished to provide a safe storehouse for his
booty, and built on a lofty hill a treasure-house of marvellous
handiwork. Gathering sods, he raised a mound, laying a mass
of rocks for the foundation, and girt the lower part with a
rampart, the centre with rooms, and the top with battlements.
All round he posted a line of sentries without a break. Four
huge gates gave free access on the four sides ; and into this
lordly mansion he heaped all his splendid riches. Having
thus settled his aifairs at home, he again turned his ambition
abroad. He began to voyage, and speedily fought a naval
battle with four brothers whom he met on the high seas,
Hellespontines^ by race, and veteran rovers. After this battle [279]
had lasted three days, he ceased fighting, having bargained
for their sister and half the tribute which they had imposed
on those they had conquered.
After this, Bikk, the son of the King of the Livonians,
escaped from the captivity in which he lay under these said
brothers, and went to Jarmerik. But he did not forget his
wrongs, Jarmerik having long before deprived him of his own
brothers. He was received kindly by the king, in all whose
secret counsels he soon came to have a notable voice ; and, as
^ Hellespontines] See notes on pp. 15, 30.
336 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
soon as he found the king pliable to his advice in all things,
he led him, when his counsel was asked, into the most
abominable acts, and drove him to commit crimes and infamies.
Thus he sought some device to injure the king by a feint of
loyalty, and tried above all to steel him against his nearest of
blood ; attempting to accomplish the revenge of his brother
by guile, since he could not by force. So it came to pass that
the king embraced filthy vices instead of virtues, and made
himself generally hated by the cruel deeds which he committed
at the instance of his treacherous adviser. Even the Sclavs
began to rise against him ; and, as a means of quelling them, he
captured their leaders, passed a rope through their shanks,
and delivered them to be torn asunder by horses pulling
' different ways. So perished their chief men, punished for
their stubbornness of spirit by having their bodies rent apart.
This kept the Sclavs duly obedient in unbi-oken and steady
subjugation.
Meantime, the sons of Jarmerik's sister, who had all been
born and bred in Germany, took up arms, on the strength of
their grandsire's title, against their uncle, contending that they
had as good a right to the throne as he. The king demolished
their strongholds in Germany with engines, blockaded or took
several towns, and returned home with a bloodless victory. The
Hellespontines came to meet him, proffering their sister for
the promised marriage. After this had been celebrated, at
Bikk's prompting he again went to Germany, took his nephews
in war, and incontinently hanged them. He also got together
the chief men under the pretence of a banquet and had them
put to death in the same fashion.
Meantime, the king appointed Broder, his son by another
marriage, to have charge over his stepmother, a duty which
he fulfilled with full vigilance and integrity. But Bikk
accused this man to his father of incest ; and, to conceal the
falsehood of the charge, suborned witnesses against him. When
[280] the plea of the accusation had been fully declared, Broder
could not bring any support for his defence, and his father
bade his friends pass sentence upon the convicted man, think-
ing it less impious to commit the punishment proper for
his son to the judgment of others. All thought that he
deserved outlawry except Bikk, who did not shrink from
giving a more terrible vote against his life, and declaring
that the perpetrator of an infamous seduction ought to be
punished with hanging. But lest any should think that
this punishment was due to the cruelty of his father, Bikk
judged that, when he had been put in the noose, the servants
should hold him up on a beam put beneath him, so that, when
weariness made them take their hands from the burden,
they might be as good as guilty of the young man's death,
and by their own fault exonerate the king from an unnatural
murder. He also pretended that, unless the accused were
punished, he would plot against his father's life. The
adulteress Swanhild, he said, ought to suffer a shameful end,
trampled under the hoofs of beasts. The king yielded to
Bikk ; and, when his son was taken to be hanged, he made
the bystanders hold him up by means of a plank, that he
might not be choked. Thus his throat was only a little
squeezed, the knot was harmless, and it was but a punishment
in show. But the king had the queen tied very tight on
the ground, and delivered her to be crushed under the hoofs
of horses. The story goes that she was so beautiful, that even
the beasts shrank from mangling limbs so lovely with their
filthy feet. The king, divining that this proclaimed the
innocence of his wife, began to repent of his error, and hastened
to release the slandered lady. But meantime Bikk rushed up,
declaring that when she was on her back she held off the
beasts by awful charms, and could only be crushed if she lay
on her face ; for he knew that her beauty saved her.^ When
the body of the queen was placed in this manner, the herd of
beasts was driven upon it, and trod it down deep with their
multitude of feet. Such was the end of Swanhild. Meantime
the favourite dog of Broder came to the king making a sort
of moan, and seemed to bewail its master's punishment ; and
his hawk, when it was brought in, began to pluck out its
1 Of. Old Hamtheuw Lay, 0. P. B. i. 52.
S'^S SSAXO GRiMMATICUS.
breast-feathers with its beak. The king took its nakedness as
an omen of his bereavement, to frustrate which he quickly
sent men to take his son down from the noose : for he divined
by the featherless bird that he would be chiidless unless he
took good heed. Thus Broder was freed from death, and
Bikk, fearing he would pay the penalty of an informer, went
and told the men of the Hellespont that Swanhild had been
abominably slain by her husband. When they set sail to
[281] avenge their sister, he came back to Jarmerik, and told him
that the Hellespontines were preparing war. The king
thought that it would be safer to fight with walls than in the
field, and retreated into the stronghold which he had built.
To stand the siege, he filled its inner parts with stores, and its
battlements with men-at-arms. Targets and shields flashing
with gold were hung round and adorned the topmost circle of
the building. Now it happened that the Hellespontines,
before sharing their booty, accused a great band of their men
of embezzling, and put them to death. Having now de-
stroyed so large a part of their forces by internecine slaughter,
they thought that their strength was not equal to storming the
palace, and consulted a sorceress named Gudrun. She brought
it to pass that the defenders of the king's side were suddenly
blinded and turned their arms against one another. When the
Hellespontines saw this, they brought up a shield-mantlet, and
seized the approaches of the gates. Then they tore up the
posts, burst into the building, and hewed down the blinded
ranks of the enemy. In this uproar Odin appeared, and,
making for the thick of the ranks of the fighters, restored
by his divine power to the Danes that vision which they had
lost by sleights ; for he ever cherished them with fatherly love.
He instructed them to shower stones to batter the Hellespon-
tines, who used spells to harden their bodies against weapons.
Thus both companies slew one another and perished. Jarmerik
lost both feet and both hands, and his trunk was rolled among
the dead.i Beoder, little fit for it, followed hira as king.
1 See Jordanis -De Rebus Geticis, c. 22-24 ; founded on Ablavius
Priacus and Orosius.
Book eight. 839
The next king was Siwald. His son Snio took vigorously
to roving in his father's old age, and not only preserved the
fortunes of his country, but even restored them, lessened as
they were, to their former estate. Likewise, when he came to
the sovereignty, he crushed the insolence of the champions
Eskil and Alkil, and by this conquest reunited to his country
Skaane, which had been severed from the general juris-
diction of Denmark. At last he conceived a passion for the
daughter of the King of the Goths ; it was returned, and he
sent .secret messengers to seek a chance of meeting her.
These men were intercepted by the father of the damsel and
hanged : thus paying dearly for their rash mission. Snio, wish-
ing to avenge their death, invaded Gothland. Its king met
him with his forces, and the aforesaid champions challenged
him to send strong men to fight. Snio laid down as condition
of the duel, that each of the two kings should either lose his
own empire or gain that of the other, according to the fortune
of the champions, and that the kingdom of the conquered
should be staked as the prize of the victory. The result was [282]
that the King of the Goths was beaten by reason of the ill-
success of his defenders, and had to quit his kingdom for the
Danes. Snio, learning that this king's daughter had been
taken away at the instance of her father to wed the King of
the Swedes, sent a man clad in ragged attire, who used to ask
alms on the public roads, to try her mind. And while he lay,
as beggars do, by the threshold, he chanced to see the queen,
and whined in a weak voice, " Snio loves thee." She feigned
not to have heard the sound that stole on her ears, and neither
looked nor stepped back, but went on to the palace, then re-
turned straightway, and said in a low whisper, which scarcely
reached his ears, " I love him who loves me" ; and having said
this she walked away. The beggar rejoiced that she had
returned a word of love, and, as he sat on the next day at the
gate, when the queen came up, he said, briefly as ever, "Wishes
should have a tryst." Again she shrewdly caught his cunning
speech, and passed on, dissembling wholly. A little later she
passed by her questioner, and said that she would shortly go
to Bocheror; for this was the spot to which she meant to flee.
z2
340 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
And when the beggar heard this, he insisted, with his wonted
shrewd questions, upon being told a fitting time for the tryst.
The woman was as cunning as he, and as little clear of speech,
and named as quickly as she could the beginning of the winter.
Now her train, who had caught a flying word of this love-
message, took her great cleverness for the raving of utter folly.
And when Snio had been told all this by the beggar, he con-
trived to carry the queen ofi" in a vessel ; for she got away
under pretence of bathing, and took her husband's treasures.
After this there were constant wars between Snio and the
King of Sweden, whereof the issue was doubtful and the
victory changeful ; the one king seeking to regain his lawful,
the other to keep his unlawful love.
At this time the yield of crops was ruined by most inclem-
ent weather, and a mighty dearth of corn befell. Victuals began
to be scarce, and the commons were distressed with famine, so
that the king, anxiously pondering how to relieve the hard-
ness of the times, and seeing that the thirsty spent somewhat
more than the hungry, introduced thrift among the people.
He abolished drinking-bouts, and decreed that no drink should
be prepared from grain, thinking that the bitter famine should
be got rid of by prohibiting needless drinking, and that
plentiful food could be levied as a loan on thirst.
Then a certain wanton slave of his belly, lamenting the pro-
hibition against drink, adopted a deep kind of knavery, and
found a new way to indulge his desires. He broke the public
law of temperance by his own excess, contriving to get at what
he loved by a device both cunning and absurd. For he sipped
the forbidden liquor drop by drop, and so satisfied his longing
to be tipsy. When he was summoned for this by the king,
[283] he declared that there was no stricter observer of sobriety
than he, inasmuch as he mortified his longing to quaff
deep by this device for moderate drinking. He persisted
in the fault with which he was taxed, saying that he only
sucked. At last he was also menaced with threats, and
forbidden not only to drink, but even to sip; yet he could
not check his habits. For in order to enjoy the unlaw-
ful thing in a lawful way, and not to have his throat subject
to the command of another, he sopped morsels of bread in
liquor, and fed on the pieces thus soaked with drink ; tasting
slowly, so as to prolong the desired debauch, and attaining,
though in no unlawful manner, the forbidden measure of
satiety. Thus his stubborn and frantic intemperance risked
his life, all for luxury ; and, undeterred even by the threats
of the king, he fortified his rash appetite to despise every
peril. A second time he was summoned by the king on
the charge of disobeying his regulation. Yet he did not
even then cease to defend his act, but maintained that he
had in no wise contravened the royal decree, and that the
temperance prescribed by the ordinance had been in no way
violated by that which allured him ; especially as the thrift
ordered in the law of plain living was so described, that it
was apparently forbidden to drink liquor, but not to eat it.
Then the king called heaven to witness, and swore by the
general good, that if he ventured on any such thing hereafter
he would punish him with death. But the man thought that
death was not so bad as temperance, and that it was easier to
quit life than luxury; and he again boiled the grain in
water, and then fermented the liquor ; whereupon, despairing
of any further plea to excuse his appetite, he openly indulged
in drink, and turned to his cups again unabashed. Giving
up cunning for eifrontery, he chose rather to await the punish-
ment of the king than to turn sober. Therefore, when the
king asked him why he had so often made free to use the
forbidden thing, he said :
" 0 king, this craving is begotten, not so much of my thirst,
as of my goodwill towards thee ! For I remembered that the
funeral rites of a king must be paid with a drinking-bout.
Therefore, led by good judgment more than the desire to swill, [ 284 |
I have, by mixing the forbidden liquid, taken care that the
feast whereat thy obsequies are performed should not, by
reason of the scarcity of corn, lack the due and customary
drinking. Now I do not doubt that thou wilt perish of famine
before the rest, and be the first to need a tomb ; for thou hast
342 KAXO GRAMMATICUS.
passed this strange law of thrift in fear that thou wilt be
thyself the first to lack food. Thou art thinking for thyself,
and not for others, when thou bringest thyself to start such
strange miserly ways."
This witty quibbling turned the anger of the king into
shame ; and when he saw that his ordinance for the general
good came home in mockery to himself, he thought no more of
the public profit, but revoked the edict, relaxing his purpose
sooner than anger his subjects.
Whether it was that the soil had too little rain, or that it
was too hard baked, the crops, as I have said, were slack, and
the fields gave but little produce; so that the land lacked
victual, and was worn with a weary famine. The stock of food
began to fail, and no help was left to stave ofi" hunger. Then,
at the proposal of Agg and of Ebb, it was provided by a decree
of the people that the old men and the tiny children should be
slain ; that all who were too young to bear arms should be
taken out of the land, and only the strong should be vouchsafed
their own country ; that none but able-bodied soldiers and
husbandmen should continue to abide under their own roofs
and in the houses of their fathers. When Agg and Ebb brought
news of this to their mother Gambaruk, she saw that the authors
of this infamous decree had found safety in crime. Condemning
the decision of the assembly, she said that it was wrong to
relieve distress by murder of kindred, and declared that a plan
both more honourable and more desirable for the good of their
souls and bodies would be, to preserve respect towards their
parents and children, and choose by lot men who should quit
the country. And if the lot fell on old men and weak, then the
stronger should offer to go into exile in their place, and should
of their own free will undertake to bear the burden of it for the
feeble. But those men who had the heart to save their lives by
crime and impiety, and to persecute their parents and their
children by so abominable a decree, did not deserve life ; for
they would be doing a work of cruelty and not of love.
Finally, all those whose own lives were dearer to them than the
love of their parents or their children, deserved but ill of their
country. These words were reported to the assembly, and
assented to by the vote of the majority. So the fortunes of all
were staked upon the lot and those upon whom it fell were
doomed to be banished. Thus those who had been loth to
obey necessity of their own accord had now to accept the
award of chance. So they sailed first to Bleking, and then, [285]
sailing past Moring, they came to anchor at Gotland ; where,
according to Paulus,i they are said to have been prompted by
the goddess Frigg to take the name of the Longobardi
[Lombards], whose nation they afterwards founded. In the
end they landed at Rligen, and, abandoning their ships, began
to march overland. They crossed and wasted a great portion
of the world ; and at last, finding an abode in Italy, changed
the ancient name of the nation for their own.
Meanwhile, the land of the Danes, where the tillers laboured
less and less, and all traces of the furrows were covered with
overgrowth, began to look like a forest. Almost stripped of
its pleasant native turf, it bristled with the dense unshapely
woods that grew up. Traces of this are yet seen in the aspect
of its fields. What were once acres fertile in grain are now
seen to be dotted with trunks of trees ; and where of old the
tillers turned the earth up deep and scattered the huge clods,
there has now sprung up a forest covering the fields, which
still bear the tracks of ancient tillage. Had not these lands
remained untilled and desolate with long overgrowth, the
tenacious roots of trees could never have shared the soil of
one and the same land with the furrows made by the plough.
Moreover, the mounds which men laboriously built up of old
on the level ground for the burial of the dead are now
covered by a mass of woodland. Many piles of stones are also
to be seen interspersed among the forest glades. These were
once scattered over the whole country, but the peasants care-
fully gathered the boulders and piled them into a heap that
they might not prevent furrows being cut in all directions;
for they would sooner sacrifice a little of the land than find
the whole of it stubborn. From this work, done by the
^ Paulus] De Gestis Longobardorum, i. 2.
344 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
toil of the peasants for the easier working of the fields, it is
judged that the population in ancient times was greater than
the present one, which is satisfied with small fields, and keeps
its agriculture within narrower limits than those of the ancient
tillage. Thus the present generation is amazed to behold that
it has exchanged a soil which could once produce grain for one
only fit to grow acorns, and the plough-handle and the corn-
stalks for a landscape studded with trees. Let this account of
Snio, which I have put together as truly as I could, sufiice.
Snio was succeeded by BiORN; and after him Harald
became sovereign. Harald's son GoRM won no mean place of
honour among the ancient generals of the Danes by his record
. 286] of doughty deeds. For he ventured into fresh fields, preferring
to practise his inherited valour, not in war, but in searching
the secrets of nature ; and, just as other kings are stirred by
warlike ardour, so his heart thirsted to look into marvels;
either what he could experience himself, or what were merely
matters of report. And being desirous to go and see all
things foreign and extraordinary, he thought that he must
above all test a report which he had heard from the men of
Thule concerning the abode of a certain Geirrod.^ For they
boasted past belief of the mighty piles of treasure in that
country, but said that the way was beset with peril, and hardly
passable by mortal man. For those who had tried it declared
that it was needful to sail over the Ocean that goes round the
lands, to leave the sun and stars behind, to journey down into
chaos, and at last to pass into a land where no light was and
where darkness reigned eternally.
But the warrior trampled down in his soul all fear of the
dangers that beset him. Not that he desired booty, but glory ;
for he hoped for a great increase of renown if he ventured
on a wholly unattempted quest. Three hundred men an-
nounced that they had the same desire as the king ; and he
resolved that Thorkill, who had brought the news, should be
1 Geirrod] Oenithus. So, in the account of the battle of Bravalla,
Saxo speaks of "men of Thule" (Icelanders) at a date in his tale before
the finding of Iceland. For tale of Thor and Garfred, see C. P. B. ii. 17.
chosen to guide them on the journey, as he knew the ground
and was versed in the approaches to that country. Thorkill
did not refuse the task, and advised that, to meet the
extraordinary fury of the sea they had to cross, strongly-
made vessels should be built, fitted with many knotted
cords and close-set nails, filled with great store of provision,
and covered above with ox,-hides to protect the inner spaces of
the ships from the spray of the waves breaking in. Then
they sailed off in only three galleys, each containing a hundred
chosen men.
Now when they had come to Halogaland [Helgeland], they
lost their favouring breezes, and were driven and tossed divers
ways over the seas in perilous voyage. At last, in extreme want
of food, and lacking even bread, they staved off" hunger with a
little pottage. Some days passed, and they heard the thunder
of a storm brawling in the distance, as if it were deluging the
rocks. By this perceiving that land was near, they bade a
youth of great nimbleness climb to the masthead and look
out ; and he reported that a precipitous island was in sight.
All were overjoyed, and gazed with thirsty eyes at the
country at which he pointed, eagerly awaiting the refuge
of the promised shore. At last they managed to reach it,
and made their way out over the heights that blocked their
way, along very steep paths, into the higher ground. Then
Thorkill told them to take no more of the herds that were
running about in numbers on the coast, than would serve once
to appease their hunger. If they disobeyed,, the guardian gods
of the spot would not let them depart. But the seamen, more
anxious to go on filling their bellies than to obey orders, post-
poned counsels of safety to the temptations of gluttony, and
loaded the now emptied holds of their ships with the carcasses
of slaughtered cattle. These beasts were very easy to capture, [287]
because they gathered in amazement at the unwonted sight of
men, their fears being made bold. On the following night
monsters dashed down upon the shore, filled the forest with
clamour, and beleaguered and beset the ships. One of them,
huger than the rest, strode over the waters, armed with a
346 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
mighty club. Coming close up to them, he bellowed out that
they should never sail away till they had atoned for the crime
they had committed in slaughtering the flock, and had made
good the losses of the herd of the gods by giving up one
man for each of their ships. Thorkill yielded to his threats ;
and, in order to preserve the safety of all by imperilling a few,
singled out three men by lot and gaye them up.
This done, a favouring wind took them, and they sailed to
further Permland. It is a region of eternal cold, covered with
very deep snows, and not sensible to the force even of the
summer heats ; full of pathless forests, not fertile in grain
and haunted by beasts uncommon elsewhere. Its many rivers
pour onwards in a hissing, foaming flood, because of the reefs
imbedded in their channels. Here Thorkill drew up his ships
ashore, and bade them pitch their tents on the beach, declaring
that they had come to a spot whence the passage to Geirrod
would be short. Moreover, he forbade them to exchange any
speech with those that came up to them, declaring that
nothing enabled the monsters to injure strangers so much as
lincivil words on their part : it would be therefore safer for
his companions to keep silence ; none but he, who had seen all
the manners and customs of this nation before, could speak
safely. As twilight approached, a man of extraordinary bigness
greeted the sailors by their names, and came among them. All
were aghast, but Thorkill told them to greet his arrival cheer-
fully, telling them that this was Gudmund, the brother of
Geirrod, and the most faithful guardian in perils of all men
who landed in that spot. When the man asked why all
the rest thus kept silence, he answered that they were
very unskilled in his language, and were ashamed to use
[288] a speech they did not know. Then Gudmund invited them
to be his guests, and took them up in carriages. As they
went forward, they saw a river which could be crossed
by a bridge of gold.i They wished to go over it, but Gud-
mund restrained them, telling them that by this channel
1 Bridge of gold] Cp. 0iaMa/r-br4, the bridge over the river Gioll that
parted earth from the lower world.
nature had divided the world of men from the world of
monsters, and that no mortal track might go further. Then
they reached the dwelling of their guide ; and here Thorkill
took his companions apart and warned them to behave like
men of good counsel amidst the divers temptations chance
might throw in their way ; to abstain from the food of the
stranger, and nourish their bodies only on their own ; and to
seek a seat apart from the natives^ and have no contact with
any of them as they lay at meat. For if they partook of
that food they would lose recollection of all things, and
must live for ever in filthy intercourse amongst ghastly
hordes of monsters. Likewise he told them that they must
keep their hands off the servants and the cups of the people.
Round the table stood twelve noble sons of Gudmund, and
as many daughters of notable beauty. When Gudmund saw
that the king barely tasted what his servants brought, he re-
proached him with repulsing his kindness, and complained
that it was a slight on the host. But Thorkill was not at a
loss for a fitting excuse. He reminded him that men who
took unaccustomed food often suflTered from it seriously, and
that the king was not ungrateful for the service rendered by
another, but was merely taking care of his health, when he re-
freshed himself as he was wont, and furnished his supper with
his own viands. An act, therefore, that was only done in the
healthy desire to escape some bane, ought in no wise to be put
down to scorn. Now when Gudmund saw that the temperance
of his guests had baffled his treacherous preparations, he deter-
mined to sap their chastity, if he could not weaken their
abstinence, and eagerly strained every nerve of his wit to
enfeeble their self-control. For he offered the king his daughter
in marriage, and promised the rest that they should have what-
ever women of his household they desired. Most of them
inclined to his offer : but Thorkill by his healthy admonitions
prevented them, as he had done before, from falling into tempta-
tion. With wonderful management, he divided his heedful-
ness between the suspicious host and the delighted guests.
Four of the Danes, to whom lust was more than their salvation,
348 SAXO GEAMMATieUS.
accepted the offer ; the infection maddened them, distraught
their wits, and blotted out their recollection: for they are
said never to have been in their right mind after this. If
these men had kept themselves within the rightful bounds
of temperance, they would have equalled the glories of Her-
cules, surpassed with their spirit the bravery of giants, and been
[289] ennobled for ever by their wondrous services to their country.
Gudmund, stubborn to his purpose, and still doggedly spread-
ing his nets, extolled the delights of his garden, and tried to
lure the king thither to gather fruits, desiring to break down
his constant wariness by the lust of the eye and the baits
of the palate. The king, as before, was strengthened against
these treacheries by Thorkill, and rejected this feint of kindly
service ; he excused himself from accepting it on the plea
that he must hasten on his journey. Gudmund perceived
that Thorkill was shrewder than he at every point; so,
despairing to accomplish his treachery, he carried them all
across to the further side of the river, and let them finish
their journey.
They went on ; and saw, not far off, a gloomy, neglected
town, looking more like a cloud exhaling vapour. Stakes
interspersed among the battlements showed the severed heads
of warriors, and dogs of great ferocity were seen watching
before the doors to guard the entrance. Thorkill threw them
a horn smeared with fat to lick, and so, at slight cost,
appeased their most furious rage. High up the gates lay open
to enter, and they climbed to their level with ladders, entering
with difficulty. Inside the town was crowded with murky
and misshapen phantoms, and it was hard to say whether
their shrieking figures were more ghastly to the eye or to
the ear ; everything was foul, and the reeking mire afflicted
the nostrils of the visitors with its unbearable stench. Then
they found the rocky dwelling which Geirrod was rumoured
to inhabit for his palace. They resolved to visit its narrow
and horrible ledge, but stayed their steps and halted in
panic at the very entrance. Then Thorkill, seeing that they
were of two minds, dispelled their hesitation to enter by
600K EIGHT. 349
manful encouragement, counselling them to restrain them-
selves, and not to touch any piece of gear in the house
they were about to enter, albeit it seemed delightful to have
or pleasant to behold ; to keep their hearts as far from all
covetousness as from fear ; neither to desire what was pleasant
to take, nor dread what was awful to look upon, though they
should find themselves amidst abundance of both these
things. If they did, their greedy hands would suddenly be
bound fast, unable to tear themselves away from the thing
they touched, and knotted up with it as by inextricable bonds.
Moreover, they should enter in order, four by four. Broder and
Buchi [Buk ?] were the first who tried to go in ; Thorkill with
the king followed them, and the rest advanced behind these in
ordered ranks. Inside, the house was ruinous throughout,
and filled with a violent and abominable reek. And it was
seen to teem with everything that could disgust the eye or the [290]
mind : the door-posts were begrimed with the soot of ages, the
wall was plastered with filth, the roof was made up of spear-
heads, the flooring was covered with snakes and bespattered
with all manner of uncleanness. Such an unwonted sight
struck terror into the strangers, and, over all, the acrid and
incessant stench assailed their afflicted nostrils. Also bloodless
phantasmal monsters huddled on the iron seats, and the places
for sitting were railed ofl" by leaden trellises; and hideous
doorkeepers stood at watch on the thresholds. Some of these,
armed with clubs lashed together, yelled, while others played
a gruesome game, tossing a goat's hide from one to the other.
Here Thorkill again warned the men, and forbade them to
stretch forth their covetous hands rashly to the forbidden
things. Going on through the breach in the crag, they beheld
an old man with his body pierced through, sitting, not far off,
on a lofty seat facing the side of the rock that had been rent
away. Moreover, three women, whose bodies were covered
with tumours, and who seemed to have lost the strength of
their back-bones, filled adjoining seats. Thorkill's com-
panions were very curious; and he, who well knew the
reason of the matter, told them that long ago the god Thor
350 «AX0 GEAMMATlCtfg.
had been provoked by the insolence of the giants to drive
red-hot irons through the vitals of Geirrod, who strove with
him, and that the iron had slid further, torn up the mountain,
and battered through its side ; while the women had been
stricken by the might of his thunderbolts, and had been
punished (so he declared) for their attempt on the same deity,
by having their bodies broken. As the men departed thence,
there were disclosed to them seven butts hooped round with
belts of gold ; and from these hung circlets of silver entwined
with them in manifold links. Near these was found the tusk
of a strange beast, tipped at both ends with gold. Close by
was a vast stag-horn, laboriously decked with choice and
flashing gems, and this also did not lack chasing. Hard by
was to be seen a very heavy bracelet. One man was kindled
with an inordinate desire for this bracelet, and laid covetous
hands upon the gold, not knowing that the glorious metal
covered deadly mischief, and that a fatal bane lay hid under
the shining spoil. A second also, unable to restrain his covetous-
ness, reached out his quivering hands to the horn. A third,
matching the confidence of the others, and having no control
over his fingers, ventured to shoulder the tusk. The spoil
seemed alike lovely to look upon and desirable to enjoy,
for all that met the eye was fair and tempting to behold.
But the bracelet suddenly took the form of a snake, and
attacked him who was carrying it with its poisoned tooth;
[29 1 J the horn lengthened out into a serpent, and took the life of
the man who bore it ; the tusk wrought itself into a sword,
and plunged into the vitals of its bearer. The rest dreaded
the fate of perishing with their friends, and thought that the
guiltless would perish like the guilty ; they durst not hope
that even innocence would be safe. Then the side-door of
another room showed them a narrow alcove : and a privy
chamber with a yet richer treasure was revealed, wherein
arms were laid out too great for those of human stature,
^mong these were seen a royal mantle, a handsome hat, and
a belt marvellously wrought. Thorkill, struck with amaze-
ment at these things, gave rein to his covetousness, and cast
fiOOiC EIGHT. 351
off all his purposed self-restraint. He who so oft had trained
others could not so much as conquer his own cravings. For
he laid his hand upon the mantle, and his rash example
tempted the rest to join in his enterprise of plunder. There-
upon the recess shook from its lowest foundations, and
began suddenly to reel and totter. Straightway the women
raised a shriek that the wicked robbers were being endured
too long. Then they, who were before supposed to be half-
dead or lifeless phantoms, seemed to obey the cries of the
women, and, leaping suddenly up from their seats, attacked
the strangers with furious onset. The other creatures bellowed
hoarsely. Then Broder and Buchi fell to their old and familiar
arts, and attacked the witches, who ran at them, with a shower
of spears from every side ; and with the missiles from their
bows and slings they crushed the array of monster's. There
could be no stronger or more successful way to repulse them ;
but only twenty men out of all the king's company were
rescued by the intervention of this archery ; the rest were
torn in pieces by the monsters. The survivors returned to
the river, and were ferried over by Gudmund, who enter-
tained them at his house. Long and often as he besought
them, he could not keep them back ; so at last he gave them
presents and let them go. Then Buchi relaxed his watch upon
himself ; his self-control became unstrung, and he forsook the
virtue in which he hitherto rejoiced. For he conceived an
incurable love for one of the daughters of Gudmund, and
embraced her ; but he obtained a bride to his undoing, for soon
his brain suddenly began to whirl, and he lost his recollection.
Thus the hero who had subdued all the monsters and overcome
all the perils was mastered by passion for one girl ; his soul
strayed far from temperance, and he lay under a wretched
sensual yoke. For the sake of respect, he started to accom-
pany the departing king; but as he was about to ford the
river in his carriage, his wheels sank deep, he was caught up
in the violent eddies and destroyed. The king bewailed his [292]
friend's disaster and departed, hastening on his voyage. This
was at first prosperous, but afterwards he was tossed by
352 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
bad weather; his men perished of hunger, and but few-
survived ; so that he began to feel awe in his heart, and fell
to making vows to heaven, thinking the gods alone could
help him in his extreme need. At last the others besought
sundry powers among the gods, and thought they ought to
sacrifice to the majesty of divers deities; but the king, offer-
ing both vows and peace-offerings to Utgarda-Loki, obtained
that fair season of weather for which he prayed.
Coming home, and feeling that he had passed through all
these seas and toils, he thought it was time for his spirit,
wearied with calamities, to withdraw from his labours. So
he took a queen from Sweden, and exchanged his old pur-
suits for meditative leisure. His life was prolonged in the
utmost peace and quietness ; but when he had almost come to
the end of his days, certain men persuaded him by likely
arguments that souls were immortal; so that he was con-
stantly turning over in his mind the questions, to what abode
he was to fare when the breath left his limbs, or what reward
was earned by zealous adoration of the gods.
While he was thus inclined, certain men who wished ill to
Thorkill came and told Gorm that it was needful to consult
the gods, and that assurance about so great a matter must be
sought of the oracles of heaven, since it was too deep for
human wit and hard for mortals to discover. Therefore,
they said, Utgarda-Loki must be appeased, and no man
would accomplish this more fitly than Thorkill. Others,
again, laid information against him as guilty of treachery
and an enemy of the king's life. Thorkill, seeing himself
doomed to extreme peril, demanded that his accusers should
share his journey. Then they who had aspersed an innocent
man saw that the peril they had designed against the life of
another had recoiled upon themselves, and tried to take back
their plan. But vainly did they pester the ears of the king ;
he forced them to sail under the command of Thorkill, and
even upbraided them with cowardice. Thus, when a mis-
chief is designed against another, it is commonly sure to
strike home to its author. And when these men saw that
they were constrained, and could not possibly avoid the peril,
they covered their ship with ox-hides, and filled it with
abundant store of provision.
In this ship they sailed away, and came to a sunless land,
which knew not the stars, was void of daylight, and seemed
to overshadow thein with eternal night. Long they sailed
under this strange sky ; at last their timber fell short, and [293]
they lacked fuel ; and, having no place to boil their meat in,
they staved off their hunger with raw viands. But most of
those who ate contracted extreme disease, being glutted with
undigested food. For the unusual diet first made a faintness
steal gradually upon their stomachs ; then the infection spread
further, and the malady reached the vital parts. Thus there
was danger in either extreme, which made it hurtful not to eat,
and perilous to indulge; for it was found both unsafe to feed and
bad for them to abstain. Then, when they were beginning to
be in utter despair, a gleam of unexpected help relieved them,
even as the string breaks most easily when it is stretched
tightest. For suddenly the weary men saw the twinkle of
a fire at no great distance, and conceived a hope of prolong-
ing their lives. Thorkill thought this fire a heaven-sent relief,
and resolved to go and take some of it. To be surer of
getting back to his friends, he fastened a jewel upon the
mast-head, to mark it by the gleam. When he got to the
shore, his eyes fell on a cavern in a close defile, to which a
narrow way led. Telling his companions to await him outside,
he went in, and saw two men, swart^ and very huge, with
horny noses, feeding their fire with any chance-given fuel.
Moreover, the entrance was hideous, the door-posts were
decayed, the walls grimy with mould, the roof filthy, and the
floor swarming with snakes ; all of which disgusted the eye as
much as the mind. Then one of the giants greeted him, and
said that he had begun a most difficult venture in his burning
desire to visit a strange god, and his attempt to explore with
curious search an untrodden region beyond the world. Yet he
promised to tell Thorkill the paths of the journey he proposed
^ Swart] aquilos. See p. 51.
A A
354 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
to make, if he would deliver three true judgments in the form
of as many sayings. Then said Thorkill : " In good truth, I
do not remember ever to have seen a household with more
uncomely noses ; nor have I ever come to a spot where I had
less mind to live." Also he said : " That, I think, is my best foot
which can get out of this foremost." The giant was delighted
with the shrewdness of Thorkill, and praised the truth of his
sayings, telling him that he must first travel to a grassless
land which was veiled in deep darkness; but he must first
voyage for four days, rowing incessantly, before he could reach
his goal. There he could visit Utgarda-Loki, who had chosen
hideous and grisly caves for his filthy dwelling. Thorkill
[294] was much aghast at being bidden to go on a voyage so long
and hazardous ; but his doubtful hopes prevailed over his
present fears, and he asked for some live fuel. Then said the
giant : " If thou needest fire, thou must deliver three more
judgments in like sayings." Then said Thorkill : " Good
counsel is to be obeyed, though a mean fellow gave it." Like-
wise : " I have gone so far in rashness, that if I can get back
I shall owe my safety to none but my own legs." And
again : " Were I free to retreat this moment, I would take
good care never to come back."
Thereupon he took the fire along to his companions ; and
he found a kindly wind, and landed on the fourth day at
the appointed harbour. With his crew he entered a land
where an aspect of unbroken night checked the vicissitude^
of light and darkness. He could hardly see before him, but
beheld a rock of enormous size. Wishing to explore it, he
told his companions, who were standing posted at the door,
to strike a fire from flints as a timely safeguard against
demons, and kindle it in the entrance. Then he made others
bear a light before him, and stooped his body through the
narrow jaws of the cavern, where he beheld a number of iron
seats among a swarm of gliding serpents. Next there met his
eye a sluggish mass of water gently flowing over a sandy
1 Checked the vicissitude . . . .] "Grateful vicissitude like day and
night." (Milton, Far. Lost, vi. 8.)
bottom. He crossed this, and approached a cavern which
sloped somewhat more steeply. Again, after this, a foul and
gloomy room was disclosed to the visitors, wherein they saw
Utgarda-Loki, laden hand and foot with enormous chains.
Each of his reeking hairs was as large and stiff as a spear of
cornel. Thorkill (his companions lending a hand), in order
that his deeds might gain more credit, plucked one of these
from the chin of Utgarda-Loki, who suftered it. Straightway
such a noisome smell reached the bystanders, that they could
not breathe without stopping their noses with their mantles.
They could scarcely make their way out, and were bespattered
by the snakes which darted at them on every side.
Only five of Thorkill's company embarked with their
captain: the poison killed the rest. The demons hung furiously
over them, and cast their poisonous slaver from every side
upon the men below them. But the sailors sheltered them-
selves with their hides, and cast back the venom that fell upon
them. One man by chance at this point wished to peep out ; the
poison touched his head, which was taken off his neck as if
it had been severed with a sword. Another put his eyes out
of their shelter, and when he brought them back under it they
were blinded. Another thrust forth his hand while unfolding
his covering, and, when he withdrew his arm, it was withered
by the virulence of the same slaver. They besought their [295]
deities to be kinder to them ; vainly, until Thorkill prayed
to the god of the universe, and poured forth unto him libations
as well as prayers ; and thus, presently finding the sky even
as before and the elements clear, he made a fair voyage.
And now they seemed to behold another world, and the way
towards the life of men. At last Thorkill landed in Germany,
which had then been admitted to Christianity ; and among its
people he began to learn how to worship God. His band
of men were almost destroyed, because of the dreadful air
they had breathed, and he returned to his country accompanied
by two men only, who had escaped the worst. But the corrupt
matter which smeared his face so disguised his person and
original features that not even his friends knew him. But
A A 2
356 SAXO GRAMMATICITS.
when he wiped off the filth, he made himself recognisable by
those who saw him, and inspired the king with the greatest
eagerness to hear about his quest. But the detraction of his
rivals was not yet silenced ; and some pretended that the king
would die suddenly if he learnt Thorkill's tidings. The king
was the more disposed to credit this saying, because he was
already credulous by reason of a dream which falsely prophe-
sied the same thing. Men were therefore hired by the
king's command to slay Thorkill in the night. But somehow
he got wind of it, left his bed unknown to all, and put a
heavy log in his place. By this he baffled the treacherous
device of the king, for the hirelings smote only the stock. On
the morrow he went up to the king as he sat at meat, and
said : " I forgive thy cruelty and pardon thy error, in that
thou hast decreed punishment, and not thanks, to him who
brings good tidings of his errand. For thy sake I have
devoted my life to all these afflictions, and battered it in
all these perils; I hoped that thou wouldst requite my ser-
vices with much gratitude ; and behold ! I have found thee,
and thee alone, punish my valour sharpliest. But I forbear
all vengeance, and am satisfied with the shame within thy
heart — if, after all, any shame visits the thankless — as expia-
tion for this thy wrong-doing towards me. I have a right to
surmise that thou art worse than all demons in fury, and all
beasts in cruelty, if, after escaping the snares of all these
monsters, I have failed to be safe from thine."
The king desired to learn everything from Thorkill's own
lips ; and, thinking it hard to escape destiny, bade him relate
what had happened in due order. He listened eagerly to his
recital of everything, till at last, when his own god was named,
he could not endure him to be unfavourably judged. For he
[296] could not bear to hear TJtgarda-Loki reproached with filthi-
ness, and so resented his shameful misfortunes, that his very
life could not brook such words, and he yielded it up in the
midst of Thorkill's narrative. Thus, whilst he was so zealous
in the worship of a false god, he came to find where the true
prison of sorrows really was. Moreover, the reek of the hair,
which Thorkill plucked from the locks of the giant to testify
to the greatness of his own deeds, was exhaled upon the by-
standers, so that many perished of it.
After the death of Gorm, Gotrik his son came to the
throne. He was notable not only for prowess but for genero-
sity, and none can say whether his courage or his compassion
was the greater. He so chastened his harshness with mercy,
that he seemed to counterweigh the one with the other. At
this time Gaut, the King of Norway, was visited by Ber
[Biorn?] and Ref,i men of Thule. Gaut treated Ref with
attention and friendship, and presented him with a heavy
bracelet.
One of the courtier's, when he saw this, praised the great-
ness of the gift over-jealously, and declared that no one was
equal to King Gaut in kindness. But Ref, though he owed
thanks for the benefit, could not approve the inflated words
of this extravagant praiser, and said that Gotrik was
more generous than Gaut. Wishing to crush the empty boast
of the flatterer, he chose rather to bear witness to the
generosity of the absent than tickle with lies the vanity of
his benefactor who was present. For another thing, he
thought it somewhat more desirable to be charged with
ingratitude than to support with his assent such idle and
boastful praise, and also to move the king by the solemn
truth than to beguile hiiu with lying flatteries. But Ulf
persisted not only in stubbornly repeating his praises of
the king, but in bringing them to the proof ; and proposed
their gainsayer a wager. With his consent Ref went to
Denmark, and found Gotrik seated in state, and dealing
out the pay to his soldiers. When the king asked him
who he was, he said that his name was " Fox-cub". The
answer filled some with mirth and some with marvel, and
Gotrik said, "Yea, and it is fitting that a fox should catch his
prey in his mouth." And thereupon he drew a bracelet from
his arm, called the man to him, and put it between his lips.
Straightway Ref put it upon his arm, which he displayed to
1 Ref] 0. Norse &/r, "Fox."
358 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
them all adorned with gold, but the other arm he kept hidden
as lacking ornament; for which shrewdness he received a
gift equal to the first from that hand of matchless generosity.
At this he was overjoyed, not so much because the reward
was great, as because he had won his contention. And when
the king learnt from him about the wager he had laid, he
rejoiced that he had been lavish to him more by accident than
[297] of set purpose, and declared that he got more pleasure from the
giving than the receiver from the gift. So Ref return^ to
Norway and slew his opponent, who refused to pay the
wager. Then he took the daughter of Gaut captive, and
brought her to Gotrik for his own.
Gotrik, who is also called Godefride, carried his arms against
foreigners, and increased his strength and glory by his suc-
cessful generalship. Among his memorable deeds were the
terms of tribute he imposed upon the Saxons ; namely, that
whenever a change of kings occurred among the Danes, their
princes should devote a hundred snow-white horses to the
new king on his accession. But if the Saxons should receive
a new chief upon a change in the succession, this chief was
likewise to pay the aforesaid tribute obediently, and bow at
the outset of his power to the sovereign majesty of Denmark ;
thereby acknowledging the supremacy of our nation, and
solemnly confessing his own subjection. Nor was it enough
for Gotrik to subjugate Germany : he appointed Ref on a
mission to try the strength of Sweden. The Swedes feared
to slay him with open violence, but ventured to act like
bandits, and killed him, as he slept, with the blow of a stone.
For, hanging a millstone above him, they cut its fastenings,
and let it drop upon his neck as he lay beneath. To expiate
this crime it was decreed that each of the ringleaders should
pay twelve golden talents, while each of the common people
should pay Gotrik one ounce.i Men called this " the Fox-cub's
tribute" [Refsgild].
1 Talents .... ounce] anri talenta .... einsdem. generis nnciani.
Saxo's usual unit of weight for coinage is libra, which we render "mark".
Talentum may be the same amount, as often. Uncia is ^ of libra.
Meanwhile it befell that Karl, King of the Franks, crushed
Germany in war, and forced it not only to embrace the worship
of Christianity, but also to obey his authority. When Gotrik
heard of this, he attacked the nations bordering on the Elbe, and
attempted to regain under his sway as of old the realm of
Saxony, which eagerly accepted the yoke of Karl, and pre-
ferred the Roman to the Danish arms. Karl had at this time
withdrawn his victorious camp beyond the Rhine, and there-
fore forbore to engage the stranger enemy, being prevented
by the intervening river. But when he was intending to cross
once more to subdue the power of Gotrik, he was summoned
by Leo^ the Pope of the Romans to defend the city. Obeying
this command, he intrusted his son Pepin with the conduct of
the war against Gotrik ; so that while he himself was working
against a distant foe, Pepin might manage the conflict he had
undertaken with his neighbour. For Karl waiS distracted by [298]
two anxieties, and had to furnish sufficient out of a scanty band
to meet both of them. Meanwhile Gotrik won a glorious
victory over the Saxons. Then gathering new strength, and
mustering a larger body of forces, he resolved to avenge
the wrong he had suffered in losing his sovereignty, not only
upon the Saxons, but upon the whole people of Germany.
He began by subduing Friesland^ with his fleet. This province
lies very low, and whenever the fury of the ocean bursts the
dykes that bar its waves, it is wont to receive the -whole mass
of the deluge over its open plains. On this country Gotrik
imposed a kind of tribute, which was not so much harsh
as strange. I will briefly relate its terms and the manner
of it. First, a building was arranged, two hundred and
forty feet in length, and divided into twelve spaces ; each of
these stretching over an interval of twenty feet, and thus
making together, when the whole room was exhausted, the
aforesaid total. Now at the upper end of this building sat
the king's treasurer, and in a line with him at its further end
was displayed a round shield. When the Frisians came to pay
1 Leo] The Third, died 741.
2 Friesland] See p. 7, and passage there translated in noie,
360 SAXO ORA.MM VTIflUS.
tribute, they used to cast their coins one by one into the
hollow of this shield ; but only those coins which struck the
ear of the distant toll -gatherer with a distinct clang were
chosen by him, as he counted, to be reckoned among the
royal tribute. The result was that the collector only reckoned
that money towards the treasury of which his distant ear
caught the sound as it fell. But that of which the sound
was duller, and which fell out of his earshot, was received
indeed into the treasury, but did not count as any increase
to the sum paid. Now many coins that were cast in struck
with no audible loudness whatever on the collector's ear, so
that men who came to pay their appointed toll sometimes
squandered much of their money in useless tribute. Karl is
said to have freed them afterwards from the burden of this
tax. After Gotrik had crossed Friesland, and Karl had now
come back frojn Rome, Gotrik determined to swoop down
upon the further districts of Germany, but was treacherously
attacked by one of his own servants, and perished at home
by the sword of a traitor. When Karl heard this, he leapt
up overjoyed, declaring that nothing more delightful had ever
fallen to his lot than this happy chance.^
' With Godfred and Karl Saxo touches true history. Eginhard tells of
an expedition against Godfred, who was " so puffed up with idle hopes as
to promise himself the sway over all Germany, thinking Friesland and
Saxony as good as his own provinces." The chroniclers agree that Godfred
was killed in 810 at Stifla-Sound by a traitor suborned by Asa, as
Ynglinga'al witnesses. C. P. B. \. 250, ii. 655. See also Ynglinga Saga.
END OF BOOK EIGHT.
Book 9
After Gotrik's death reigned his son Olaf; who, desirous [299]
to avenge his father, did not hesitate to involve his country in
civil wars, putting patriotism after private inclination. When
he perished, his body vi^as put in a barrow, famous for the
name of Olaf, which was built up close by Leire.^
He was succeeded by Hemming, of whom I have found no
deed worthy of record, save that he made a sworn peace with
Kaisar Ludwig ; and yet, perhaps, envious antiquity liides
many notable deeds of his time, albeit they were then famous.
After these men there came to the throne, backed by the
Skanians and Zealanders, Siward, sumamed Ring. He
was the son, born long ago, of the chief of Norway who
bore the same name, by Gotrik's daughter. Now Ring,
cousin of Siward, and also a grandson of Gotrik, was master of
Jutland. Thus the power of the single kingdom was divided ;
and, as though its two parts were contemptible for their
smallness, foreigners began not only to despise but to attack
it. These Siward assailed with greater hatred than he did his
rival for the throne ; and, preferring wars abroad to wars at
home, he stubbornly defended his country against dangers for
five years ; for he chose to put up with a trouble at home that
he might the more easily cure one which came from abroad.
Wherefore Ring, [desiring his] command,^ seized the oppor-
tunity, tried to transfer the whole sovereignty to himself, and
did not hesitate to injure in his own land the man who was
' Ankt Geirstada-elf. See Ynglingatal, C. P. B. i. 250, which tells of
hia barrow, and Flateybuk, ii. 7, resptcting the worship of him.
Command] dominationis, ed. pr. Some word lite amd'ns is dropped,
if the reading is right. Holder takes St.'s emendation dorMiitvynis
(=peregrinati(nm). The passage would then run, "seizing the opprir-
tumty of his going abroad."
362 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
watching over it without ; for he attacked the provinces in
the possession of Siward, which was an ungrateful requital for
[300] the defence of their common country. Therefore, some of the
Zealanders who were more zealous for Siward, in order to
show him firmer loyalty in his absence, proclaimed his son
Eagnar as king, when he was scarcely dragged out of his
cradle. Not but what they knew he was too young to
govern ; yet they hoped that such a gage would serve to rouse
their sluggish allies against Eing. But, when Eing heard
that Siward had meantime returned from his expedition, he
attacked the Zealanders with a large force, and proclaimed
that they should perish by the sword if they did not
surrender; but the Zealanders, who were bidden to choose
between shame and peril, were so few that they distrusted
their strength, and requested a truce to consider the matter.
It was granted ; but, since it did not seem open to them
to seek the favour of Siward, nor honourable to embrace that
of Eing, they wavered long in perplexity between fear and
shame. In this plight even the old were at a loss for counsel ;
but Eagnar, who chanced to be present at the assembly, said :
" The short bow shoots its shaft suddenly. Though it may
seem the hardihood of a boy that I venture to forestall the
speech of the elders, yet I pray you to pardon my errors, and
be indulgent to my unripe words. Yet the counsellor of
wisdom is not to be spurned, though he seem contemptible ;
for the teaching of profitable things should be drunk in with
an open mind. Now it is shameful that we should be branded
as deserters and i-unaways, but it is just as foolhardy to
venture above our strength ; and thus there is proved to be
equal blame either way. We must, then, pretend to go over
to the enemy, but, when a chance comes in our way, we must
desert him betimes. It will thus be better to forestall the
wrath of our foe by feigned obedience than, by refusing it, to
give him a weapon wherewith to attack us yet more harshly ;
for if we decline the sway of the stronger, are we not simply
turning his arms against our own throat ? Intricate devices
are often the best nurse of craft. You need cunning to trap
a fox" By this sound counsel he dispelled the wavering
of his countrymen, and strengthened the camp of the enemy
to its own hurt.
The assemhly, marvelling at the eloquence as much as at
the wit of one so young, gladly embraced a proposal of such
genius, which they thought excellent beyond his years. Nor
were the old men ashamed to obey the bidding of a boy
when they lacked counsel themselves; for, though it came
from one of tender years, it was full, notwithstanding, of
weighty and sound instruction. But they feared to expose
their adviser to immediate peril, and sent him over to Norway
to he brought up. Soon afterwards, Siward joined battle with .L30iJ
King and attacked him. He slew Ring, but himself received
an incurable wound, of which he died a few days afterwards.
He was succeeded on the throne by Ragnar. At this time
Fro [Frey?], the King of Sweden, after slaying Siward, the
King of the Norwegians, put the wives of Siward's kinsfolk
in bonds in a brothel, and delivered them to public outrage.
When Ragnar heard of this, he went to Norway to avenge his
grandfather. As he came, many of the matrons, who had
either suffered insult to their persons or feared imminent peril
to their chastity, hastened eagerly to his camp in male attire,
declaring that they would prefer death to outrage. Nor did
Ragnar, who was to punish this reproach upon the women,
scorn to use against the author of the infamy the help of
those whose shame he had come to avenge. Among thein
was Ladgerda, a skilled amazon, who, though a maiden, had
the courage of a man, and fought in front among the bravest
with her hair loose over her shoulders. All marvelled at her
matchless deeds, for her locks flying down her back betrayed
that she was a woman. Ragnar, when he had cut down
the murderer of his grandfather, asked many questions of his
fellow-soldiers concerning the maiden whom he had seen so
forward in the fray, and declared that he had gained the
victory by the might of one woman. Learning that she was of
noble birth among the barbarians, he steadfastly wooed her
by means of messengers. She spurned his mission in her
364 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
heart, but feigned compliance. Giving false answers, she
made her panting wooer confident that he would gain his
desires ; but orJered that a bear and a dog should be set at the
porch of her dwelling, thinking to guard her own room against
all the ardour of a lover by means of the beasts that blocked
the way. Ragnar, comforted by the good news, embarked,
crossed the sea, and, telling his men to stop in Gaulardale,^ as
the valley is called, went to the dwelling of the maiden alone.
Here the beasts met him, and he thrust one through with
a spear, and caught the other by the throat, wrung its neck,
and choked it. Thus he had the maiden as the prize of the
peril he had overcome. By this marriage he had two daughters,
whose names have not come down to us, and a son Fridleif.
Then he lived three years at peace.
The Jutlanders, a presumptuous race,'' thinking that
because of his recent marriage he would never return, took
the Skanians into alliance, and tried to attack the Zealanders,
[302] who preserved the most zealous and aifectionate loyalty
towards Ragnar. He, when he heard of it, equipped thirty
ships, and, the winds favouring his voyage, crushed the
Skanians, who ventured to fight, near the stead of Whiteby^;
and when the winter was over he fought successfully with the
Jutlanders who dwelt near the Liim-fjord in that region.
A third and a fourth time he conquered the Skanians and the
Hallanders triumphantly. Then, changing his love, and desir-
ing Thora, the daughter of the King Herodd, to wife, he
divorced himself from Ladgerda; for he thought ill of her
trustworthiness, remembering that she had long ago set the
most savage beasts to destroy him. Meantime Herodd, the
King of the Swedes, happening to go and hunt in the woods,
brought home some snakes, found by his escort, for his daughter
to rear. She speedily obeyed the instructions of her father,
and endured to rear a race uH adders with her maiden
hands. Moreover, she took care that they should daily have
^ Gaulardale] Oohrdal, now (M.) Guuldale.
^ A presumptuous race] This is one of Saxo's prejudices. Cp. Bk. xvi,
pp. 645-6 Ced. Holder). ^ Whiteby] in Skaaiie,
a whole ox-carcase to gorge upon, not knowing that she -was
privately feeding and keeping up a public nuisance. The
vipers grew up, and scorched the country-side with their
pestilential breath. Whereupon the king, repenting of his
sluggishness, proclaimed that whosoever removed the pest
should have his daughter. Many warriors were attracted by
courage as much as by desire; but all idly and perilously
wasted their pains. Ragnar, learning from men who travelled
to and fro how the matter stood, asked his nurse for a
woollen mantle, and for some thigh-pieces that were ^•ery
hairy, with which he could repel the snake-bites. He thought
that he ought to use a dress stuffed with hair to protect
himself, and also took one that was not unwieldy, that he
might move nimbly. And when he had landed in Sweden,
he deliberately plunged his body in water, while there was
a frost falling, and, wetting his dress, to make it the less
penetrable, he let the cold freeze it. Thus attired, he took
leave of his companions, exhorted them to remain loyal to
Fridleif, and went on to the palace alone. When he saw it,
he tied his sword to his side, and lashed a spear to his
right hand with a thong. As he went on, an enormous
snake glided up and met him. Another, equally huge,
crawled up, following in the trail of the first. They strove
now to buffet the young man with the coils of their tails,
and now to spit and belch their venom stubbornly upon him.
Meantime the courtiers, betaking themselves to safer hiding,
watched the struggle from afar like afiFrighted little girls.
The king was stricken with equal fear, and fled, with a few
followers, to a narrow shelter. But Eagnar, trusting in the
hardness of his frozen dress, foiled the poisonous assaults not
only with his arms, but with his attire, and, single-handed, [303]
m unweariable combat, stood up against the two gaping
creatures, who stubbornly poured forth their venom upon him.
For their teeth he repelled with his shield, their poison with
his dress. At last he cast his spear, and drove it against the
bodies of the brutes, who were attacking him hard. He
pierced both their hearts, and his battle ended in victory
366 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
The king scanned his dress closely, and saw that he was rough
and hairy; but, above all, he laughed at the shaggy lower
portion of his garb, and chiefly the uncouth aspect of his
breeches; so that he gave him in jest the nickname of Lodbrog.i
Also he invited him to feast with his friends, to refresh him
after his labours. Ragnar said that he would first go back to
the witnesses whom he had left behind. He set out and
brought them back, splendidly attired for the coming feast.
At last, when the banquet was over, he received the prize that
was appointed for the victory. By her he begot two nobly-
gifted sons, Radbard and Dunwat.^ These also had brothers-
Si ward, Biorn, Agnar, and I war.
Meanwhile the Jutes and Skanians were kindled with an
unquenchable fire of sedition; they disallowed the title of
Ragnar, and gave a certain Harald the sovereign power.
Ragnar sent envoys to Norway, and besought friendly assist-
ance against these men ; and Ladgerda, whose early love
still flowed deep and steadfast, hastily sailed off with her
husband and her son. She brought herself to ofTer a hundred
and twenty ships to the man who had once put her away.
And he, thinking himself destitute of all resources, took to
borrowing help from folk of every age, crowded the strong
a.nd the feeble all together, and was not ashamed to insert
some old men and boys among the wedges of the strong. So
he first tried to crush the power of the Skanians in the field
which in Latin is called Laneus [Woolly^] ; here he had a hard
fight with the rebels. Here, too, Iwar, who was in his seventh
year, fought splendidly, and showed the strength of a man in
the body of a boy. But Siward, while attacking the enemy
face to face, fell forward upon the ground wounded. When
his men saw this, it made them look round most anxiously
for means of flight ; and this brought low not only Siward,
but almost the whole army on the side of Ragnar. But
Ragnar Ijy his manly deeds and exhortations comforted their
1 Lodbrog] O. Norse Ldd-brokr, Shaggy-Breech, the epithet for a hawk.
^ Dunwat] So St. for Dun Wa/rthnumque of ed. pr.
^ Woolly] Lanens, 0. Norse Ullr-akr, " Wool-Aore."
amazed and sunken spirits, and, just when they were ready
to be conquered, spurred them on to try and conquer. Also
Ladgerda, who had a matchless spirit though a delicate frame,
covered by her splendid bravery the inclination of the soldiers [304]
to waver. For she made a sally about, and flew round to
the rear of the enemy, taking them unawares, and thus turned
the panic of her friends into the camp of the enemy. At
last the Hnes of Harald became slack, and Harald himself
was routed with a great slaughter of his men. Ladgerda,
when she had gone home after the battle, murdered her
husband . . . .Mn the night with a spear-head, which she had
hid in her gown. Then she usurped the whole of his name and
sovereignty; for this most presumptuous dame thought it
pleasanter to rule without her husband than to share the
throne with him.
Meantime Siward was taken to a town in the neighbour-
hood, and gave himself to be tended by the doctors, who were
reduced to the depths of despair. But while the huge wound
baffled all the remedies they applied, a certain man of amazing
size^ was seen to approach the litter of the sick man, and
promised that Siward should straightway rejoice and be
whole, if he would consecrate unto him the souls of all whom
he should overcome in battle. Nor did he conceal his name,
but said that he was called Rostar.^ Now Siward, when he
saw that a great benefit could be got at the cost of a little
promise, eagerly acceded to his request. Then the old man
suddenly, by the help of his hand, touched and banished the
Uvid spot, and suddenly scarred the wound over. At last he
poured dust on his eyes and departed. Spots suddenly arose,
and the dust, to the amaze of the beholders, s'eemed to become
wonderfully like little snakes. I should think that he who
did this miracle wished to declare, by the manifest token of
his eyes, that the young man was to be cruel in future in
order that the more visible part of his body might not lick
\ ^^ «"3pe<=ts a lacuna, in which the husband's name has perished.
Man of amazing size] Odin. See Thulor, G. P. B. ii.
Roftar [Hr6ptr] would be a better readino
426.
368 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
some omen of his life that was to follow. When the old
woman, who had the care of his draughts, saw him showing
in his face signs of little snakes, she was seized with an extra-
ordinary horror of the young man, and suddenly fell and
swooned away. Hence it happened that Siward got the
widespread name of Snake-Eye.
Meantime Thora, the bride of Ragnar, perished of a
violent malady, which caused infinite trouble and distress
to the husband, who dearly loved his wife. This distress, he
thought, would be best dispelled by business, and he resolved
to find solace in exercise and qualify his grief by toil.
To banish his affliction and gain some comfort, he bent his
thoughts to warfare, and decreed that every father of a
family should devote to his service whichever of his children
he thought most contemptible, or any slave of his who was
lazy at his work or of doubtful fidelity. And albeit that this
[305] decree seemed little fitted for his purpose, he showed that the
feeblest of the Danish race were better than the strongest
men of other nations ; and it did the young men great good,
each of those chosen being eager to wipe off" the reproach of
indolence. Also he enacted that every piece of litigation
should be referred to the judgment of twelve chosen elders,
all ordinary methods of action^ being removed, the accuser
being forbidden to charge, and the accused to defend. This
law removed all chance of incurring^ litigation lightly. Think-
ing that there was thus sufficient provision made against false
accusations by unscrupulous men, he lifted up his arms against
Britain, and attacked and slew in battle its king, Hame, the
father of Helle,^ who was a most noble youth. Then he killed
the earls of Scotland and of Pictland, and of the isles that
they call the Southern or Meridional [Sudr-eyar], and made
his sons Siward and Radbard masters of the provinces, which
were now without governors. He also deprived Norway of
its chief by force, and commanded it to obey Fridleif, whom
^ Methods of action] actioiium instrumeiMs. So M.
^ Incurring] contractione.
'* The .^11 1 of the O. E. Chron., who was slain 867, as appears below.
he also set over the Orkneys, from which he took their own
earl.
Meantime some of the Danes who were most stubborn in
their hatred against Ragnar were obstinately bent on rebellion.
They rallied to the side of Harald, once an exile, and tried to
raise the fallen fortunes of the tyrant. By this hardihood they
raised up against the king the most virulent blasts of civil
war, and entangled him in domestic perils when he was free
from foreign troubles. Eagnar, setting out to check them with
a fleet of the Danes who lived in the isles, crushed the army of
the rebels, drove Harald, the leader of the conquered army, a
fugitive to Germany, and forced him to resign unbashfully an
honour which he had gained without scruple. Nor was he
content simply to kill his prisoners : he preferred to torture
them to death, so that those who could not be induced to for-
sake their disloyalty might not be so much as suffered to give
up the gJiost save under the most grievous punishment. More-
over, the estates of those who had deserted with Harald he
distributed among those who were serving as his soldiers,
thinking that the fathers would be worse punished by seeing the
honour of their inheritance made over to the children whom
they had rejected, while those whom they had loved better lost
their patrimony. But even this did not sate his vengeance and
he further determined to attack Saxony, thinking it the refuge
of his foes and the retreat of Harald. So, begging his sons to
help him, he came on Karl,i who happened then to be tarrying
on those borders of his empire. Intercepting his sentries, he
eluded the watch that was posted on guard. But while he [306I
thought that all the rest would therefore be easy and more
open to his attacks, suddenly a woman who was a soothsayer a
a kind of divine oracle or interpreter of the will of heaven
warned the kmg with a saving prophecy, and by her fortunate
fleet of Si ward had moored at the mouth of the river Seine
The emperor, heeding the warning, and understanding that
' K«l] This victory of Ragtiar is a rhetorical fiction.
B B
370 SAXO GRAMMATICTJS.
the enemy was at hand, managed to engage with and stop the
barbarians, who were thus pointed out to him. A battle was
fought with Ragnar ; but Karl did not succeed as happily in
the field as he had got warning of the danger. And so that
tireless conqueror of almost all Europe, who in his calm and
complete career of victory had travelled over so great a
portion of the world, now beheld his army, which had van-
quished all these states and nations, turning its face from the
field, and shattered by a handful from a single province.
Ragnar, after loading the Saxons with tribute, had sure
tidings from Sweden of the death of Herodd, and also heard
that his own sons, owing to the slander of Sorle, the succeed-
ing king, had been robbed of their inheritance. He besought
the aid of the brothers Biorn, Fridleif, and Radbard (for
Ragnald, Hwitserk, and Erik, his sons by Swanloga, had not
yet reached the age of bearing arms), and went to Sweden.
Sorle met him with his army, and offered him the choice
between a public conflict and a duel ; and, when Ragnar chose
personal combat, he sent against him Starkad,^ a champion of
approved daring, with his band of seven sons, to challenge
and fight with him. Ragnar took his three sons to share the
battle with him, engaged in the sight of both armies, and came
out of the combat triumphant. Now Biorn, because he had in-
flicted slaughter on the foe without hurt to himself, gained from
the strength of his sides, which were like iron, a perpetual name
[Ironsides]. This victory emboldened Ragnar to hope that he
could overcome any peril, and he attacked and slew Sorle with
the entire forces he was leading. He presented Biorn with the
lordship of Sweden for his conspicuous bravery and service.
Then for a little interval he rested from wars, and chanced to
fall deeply in love with a certain woman. In order to find
some means of approaching and winning her the more readily,
he courted her father [Esbern] by showing him the most obliging
and attentive kindness. He often invited him to banquets, and
received him with lavish courtesy. When he came, he paid
1 Starkad] Scarchdhnm, corrupt for Starcadhum.
him the respect of rising, and when he sat, he honoured
him with a seat next to himself. He also often comforted [307]
him with gifts, and at times with the most kindly speech.
The man saw that no merits of his own could be the cause of
all this distinction, and casting over the matter every way in
his mind, he perceived that the generosity of his monarch
was caused by his love for his daughter, and that he coloured
this lustful purpose with the name of kindness. But, that
he might balk the cleverness of the lover, however well
calculated, he had the girl watched all the more carefully that
he saw her beset by secret aims and obstinate methods. But
Ragnar, who was comforted by the surest tidings of her con-
sent, went to the farmhouse in which she was kept, and fancy-
ing that love must find out a way, repaired alone to a certain
peasant in a neighbouring lodging. In the morning he
exchanged dress with the women, and went in female attire,
and stood by his mistress as she was unwinding wool.
Cunningly, to avoid betrayal, he set his hands to the work of
a maiden, though they were little skilled in the art. In the
night he embraced the maiden and gained his desire. When
her time drew near, and the girl growing big, betrayed her
outraged chastity, the father, not knowing to whom his
daughter had given herself to be defiled, persisted in asking
the girl herself who was the unknown seducer. She stead*^
fastly affirmed that she had had no one to share her bed
except her handmaid, and he made the affair over to the king
to search into. He would not allow an innocent servant to be
branded with an extraordinary charge, and was not ashamed
to prove another's innocence by avowing his own guilt By
this generosity he partially removed the woman's reproach and
prevented an absurd report from being sown in the ears of
the wicked. Also he added, that the son to be born of her was
ot his own line, and that he wished him to be named Ubbe
When this son had grown up somewhat, his wit, despite his
tender years, equalled the discernment of manhood. For he
took to loving his mother, since she had had converse with a
BB 2
372 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
noble bed, but cast off all respect for his father, because he
had stooped to a union too lowly.
After this Ragnar prepared an expedition against the
Hellespontines, and summoned an assembly of the Danes,
promising that he would give the people most wholesome
laws. He had enacted before that each father of a household
should offer for service that one among his sons whom he
esteemed least ; but now he enacted that each should arm
[308] the son who was stoutest of hand or of most approved loyalty.
Thereon,taking all the sons he had by Thora,in addition toUbbe, ,
he attacked, crushed in sundry campaigns, and subdued the
Hellespont with its king Dia. At last he involved the same
king in disaster after disaster, and slew him. Dia's sons,
Dia and Daxo, who had before married the daughters of
the Russian king, begged forces from their father-in-law, and
rushed with most ardent courage to the work of avenging
their father. But Ragnar, when he saw their boundless
army, distrusted his own forces ; and he put brazen horses^ on
wheels that could be drawn easily, took them round on
carriages that would turn, and ordered that thej' should be
driven with the utmost force against the thickest ranks of
the enemy. This device served so well to break the line
of the foe, that the Danes' hope of conquest seemed to lie
more in the engine than in the soldiers : for its insupportable
weight overwhelmed whatever it struck. Thus one of the
leaders was killed, while one made off in flight, and the
whole army of the area of the Hellespont retreated. The
Scythians, also, who were closely related by blood to Daxo
on the mother's side, are said to have been crushed in the
same disaster. Their province was made over to Hwitserk,
and the king of the Russians, trusting little in his strength,
hastened to fly out of the reach of the terrible arms of
Ragnar.
Now Ragnar had spent almost five years in sea-roving, and
had quickly compelled all other nations to submit ; but he
1 Horses] equos. A confused account of some old traditional stratagem.
found the Perms in open defiance of his sovereignty. He had
just conquered them, but their loyalty was weak. When
they heard that he had come, they cast spells upon the
sky,i stirred up the clouds, and drove them into most furious
storms. This for some time prevented the Danes from voyag-
ing, and caused their supply of food to fail. Then, again, the
storm suddenly abated, and now they were scorched by
the most fervent and burning heat ; nor was this plague
any easier to bear than the great and violent cold had been.
Thus the mischievous excess in both directions affected their
bodies alternately, and injured them by an immoderate
increase first of cold and then of heat. Moreover dysentery
killed most of them. So the mass of the Danes, being pent in by
the dangerous state of the weather, perished of the bodily
plague that arose on every side. And when Ragnar saw that he
was hindered, not so much by a natural as by a factitious
tempest, he held on his voyage as best he could, and got
to the country of the Kurlanders and Sembs, who paid zealous
honour to his might and majesty, as if he were the most
revered of conquerors. This service enraged the king all the
more against the arrogance of the men of Permland, and he
attempted to avenge his slighted dignity by a sudden attack. [309]
Their king, whose name is not known, was struck with panic
at such a sudden invasion of the enemy, and at the same time
had no heart to join battle with them ; and fled to Matul, the
prince of Finmark. He, trusting in the great skill of his
archers, harassed with impunity the army of Ragnar, which
was wintering in Permland. For the Finns, who are wont to
glide on slippery timbers,^ scud along at whatever pace they
will, and are considered to be able to approach or depart very
quickly ; for as soon as they have damaged the enemy they
fly away as speedily as they approach, nor is the retreat they
make quicker than their charge. Thus their vehicles and their
^ Cast spells upon the sky] For the Permlanders bewitching the
weather, compare Bk. i, p. 30, above.
^ Glide on slippery timbers] For the snow-skates of the Finns, cp.
Bk. V, p. 203, above.
374 SAXO GRAMMATICtrS.
bodies are so nimWe that they acquire the utmost expertness
both in advance and flight. It may be supposed what amaze-
ment filled Eagnar at the poorness of his fortunes when he
saw that he, who had conquered Rome at its pinnacle of
power, was dragged by an unarmed and uncouth race into the
utmost peril. He, therefore, who had signally crushed the
most glorious flower of the Roman soldiery, and the forces of
a most great and serene captain, now yielded to a base mob
with the poorest and slenderest equipment ; and he whose
lustre in war the might of the strongest race on earth had
failed to tarnish, was now too weak to withstand the tiny band
of a miserable tribe. Hence, with that force which had helped
him bravely to defeat the most famous pomp in all the world
and the weightiest weapon of military power, and to subdue
in the field all that thunderous foot, horse, and encampment :
with this he had now, stealthily and like a thief, to endure
the attacks of a wretched and obscure populace ; nor must
he blush to stain by a treachery in the night that noble
glory of his which had been won in the light of day ; for he
took to a secret ambuscade instead of open bravery. This
affair was as profitable in its issue as it was unhandsome in
the doing. He was as much pleased at the flight of the
Finns as he had been at that of Karl, and owned that he had
found more strength in that defenceless people than in the
best equipped soldiery ; for he found the heaviest weapons of
the Romans easier to bear than the light darts of this ragged
tribe. Here, after killing the king of the Perms and routing
the king of the Finns, Ragnar set an eternal memorial of his
victory on the rocks, which bore the characters of his deeds
on their face, and looked down upon them.
[31°] Meanwhile Ubbe was led by his grandfather Esbem to
conceive an unholy desire for the throne ; and, casting away
all thought of the reverence due to his father, he claimed
the emblem of royalty for his own head. And when Ragnar
heard of his arrogance from Kelther and Thorkill, the earls of
Sweden, he made a hasty voyage towards Gothland. Eshern,
finding that these men were attached with a singular loyalty
to the side of Eagnar, tried to bribe them to desert the king-
But they did not swerve from their purpose, and replied that
their will depended on that of Biorn, declaring that not a
single Swede would dare to do what went against his pleasure.
Esbern speedily made an attempt on Biorn himself, addressing
him most courteously through his envoys. Biorn said that he
would never lean more to treachery than to good faith, and
judged that it would be a most abominable thing to prefer the
favour of an infamous brother to the love of a most righteous
father. The envoys themselves he punished with hanging,
because they counselled him to so grievous a crime. The
Swedes, moreover, slew the rest of the train of the envoys in
the same way, as a punishment for their mischievous advice.
So Esbern, thinking that his secret and stealthy manoeuvres
did not succee.d fast enough, mustered his forces openly, and
went publicly forth to war. But Iwar, the governor of Jut-
land, seeing no righteousness on either side of the impious
conflict, avoided an unholy war by voluntary exile. Eagnar
attacked and slew Esbern in the ha,y that is called in Latin
Viridis^ ; he cut off the dead man's head and bade it be set upon
the ship's prow, a dreadful sight for the seditious. But Ubbe
took to flight, and again attacked his father, having revived the
war in Zealand. Ubbe's ranks broke, and he was assailed single-
handed from all sides ; but he felled so many of the enemy's
Kne that he was surrounded with a pile of the corpses of the
foe as with a strong bulwark, and easily checked his assail-
ants from approaching. At last he was overwhelmed by the
thickening masses of the enemy, captured, and taken off to be
laden with public fetters. By immense violence he disen-
tangled his chains and cut them away. But when he tried to
sunder and rend the bonds that were [then] put upon him, he
could not in any wise escape his bars.^ But when Iwar heard
1 The bay that is called in Latin Viridis] Gronsund, between the isles
of Falster and Mone. — M.
2 By immense violence . . . escape his bars] At ille, immensa vi
extricatis recisisque catenis, inditos sibi -nexus disiicere ac lacemre adorsiis,
mllis obicem modis effugere •potuit. Jlere vbicem. is the conjecture of >!,
376 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
that the rising in his country had been quelled by the punish-
ment of the rebel, he went to Denmark. Ragnar received
him with the greatest honour, because, while the unnatural
war had raged its fiercest, he had behaved with the most
entire filial respect.
Meanwhile Daxo long and vainly tried to overcome Hwit-
serk, who ruled over Sweden' ; but at last he entrapped him
[311] under pretence of making a peace, and attacked him. Hwit-
serk received him hospitably, but Daxo had prepared an
army with weapons, who were to feign to be trading, ride
into the city in carriages, and break with a night-attack
into the house of their host. Hwitserk smote this band of
robbers with such a slaughter that he was surrounded with
a heap of his enemies' bodies, and could only be taken by
letting down ladders from above. Twelve of his companions,
who were captured at the same time by the enemy, were given
leave to go back to their country ; but they gave up their
lives for their king, and chose to share the dangers of another
rather than be quit of their own. But Daxo, moved with
compassion at the extreme beauty of Hwitserk, had not the
heart to pluck the budding blossom of that noble nature, and
offered him not only his life, but his daughter in marriage,
with a dowry of half his kingdom; choosing rather to
spare his comeliness than to punish his bravery. But the
for the obitum of the ed. pr., a reading inconsistent with fact and with
what follows about the fortune of Ubbe, and is therefore not saved by
the tamen which St. proposed to insert after nullin. The conjecture is
strengthened by an old [hst] MS. quoted by St., which runs via: xdlis
obicum nodis constringi potnit. But there is still a grammatical awkward-
ness in making the inditos nexus refer to a set of bonds subsequent to the
catenis.
^ Hwitserk, who ruled over Sweden] Withsercum, Suetiae imperamtem.
But, on p. 372, above, the same man is spoken of as governing the
Scythians, that is, a region vaguely conceived as far in the east. M.
explains the difficulty by supposing "Sweden" to be used here in the
sense .of some fabulous region. "Great Sweden" was a name used by
Icelanders for the doubtful quarters east of Finland, and Saxo may have
copied the word from his authority without understanding it perfectly.
other, in the greatness of his soul, valued as nothing the life
which he was given on sufferance, and spurned his safety
as though it were some trivial benefit. Of his own will he
embraced the sentence of doom, saying, that Ragnar would
exact a milder vengeance for his son if he found that he had
made his own choice in selecting the manner of his death. The
enemy wondered at his rashness, and promised that he should
die by the manner of death which he should choose for his
punishment. This leave the young man accepted as a great
kindness, and begged that he might be bound and burned
with his friends. Daxo speedily complied with his prayers
that craved for death, and by way of kindness granted him
the end that he had chosen. When Ragnar heard of this, he
began to grieve stubbornly even unto the death, and not only
put on the garb of mourning, but, in the exceeding sorrow of
his soul, took to his bed and showed his grief by groaning.
But his wife, who had more than a man's courage, chid his
weakness, and put heart into him with her manful admonitions.
Drawing his mind off from his woe, she bade him be zealous in
the pursuit of war ; declaring that it was better for so brave
a father to avenge the bloodstained ashes of his son with
weapons than with tears. She also told him not to whimper
like a woman, and get as much disgrace by his tears as he had
once earned glory by his valour. Upon these words Ragnar
began to fear lest he should destroy his ancient name for
courage by his womanish sorrow ; so, shaking off his melan-
choly garb and putting away his signs of mourning, he re-
vived his sleeping valour with hopes of speedy vengeance.
Thus do the weak sometimes nerve the spirits of the strong.
So he put his kingdom in charge of Iwar, and embraced with
a father's love Ubbe, who was now restored to his ancient
favour. Then he transported his fleet over to Russia, took
Daxo, bound him in chains, and sent him away to be kept in [312]
Utgard.i It was understood that Ragnar showed on this
1 Utgard] Saxo, rationalising as usual, turns the mythical home of
the giants into some terrestrial place in his vaguely-defined Eastern
Europe.
378 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
occasion the most merciful moderation towards the slayer of
his dearest son, since he sufficiently satisfied .the vengeance
which he desired, by the exile of the culprit rather than his
death. This compassion shamed the Russians out of any
further rage against such a king, who could not be driven
even by the most grievou^ wrongs to inflict death upon his
prisoners. Ragnar soon took Daxo back into favour, and
restored him to his country, upon his promising that he would
every year pay him his tribute barefoot, like a suppliant, with
twelve elders, also unshod. For he thought it better to punish
a prisoner and a suppliant gently, than to draw the axe of
bloodshed ; better to punish that proud neck with constant
slavery than to sever it once and for all. Then he went on
and appointed his son Erik, surnamed Wind-hat, over Sweden.
Here, while Fridleif and Siw8,rd were serving under him, he
found that the Norwegians and the Scots had wrongfully con-
ferred the title of king on two other men. So he first over-
threw the usurper to the power of Norway, and let Biorn have
the country for his own benefit.
Then he summoned Biorn and Erik, ravaged the Orkneys,
landed at last on the territory of the Scots, and in a three-days'
battle wearied out their king Murial, and slew him. But
Ragnar's sons Dunwat and Radbard, after fighting nobly, were
slain by the enemy. So that the victory their father won was
stained with their blood. He returned to Denmark, and found
that his wife Swanloga had in the meantime died of disease.
Straightway he sought medicine for his grief in loneliness, and
patiently confined the grief of his sick soul within the walls of
his house. But this bitter sorrow was driven out of him by
the sudden arrival of Iwar, who had been expelled from the
kingdom. For the Gauls had made him fly, and had wrong-
fully bestowed royal power on a certain Ella, the son of Hame.
Ragnar took Iwar to guide him, since he was acquainted with
the country, gave orders for a fleet, and approached the har-
bour called York.i Here he disembarked his forces, and
1 York] The MS. has Norvicus by mistake for loruicus, §ee the
0. B. Chrmdcle, 867.
after a battle which lasted three days, he made Ella, who
had trusted in the valour of the Gauls, desirous to fly. The
affair cost much blood to the English and very little to the
Danes. Here Kagnar completed a year of conquest, and then,
■summoning his sons to help him, he went to Ireland, slew its [3 1 3]
king Melbrik, besieged Dublin, which was filled with wealth
of the barbarians, attacked it, and received its surrender.
There he lay in camp for a year ; and then, sailing through the
midland sea, he made his way to the Hellespont.^ He won
signal victories as he crossed all the intervening countries, and
no ill-fortune anywhere checked his steady and prosperous
advance.
Harald, meanwhile, with the adherence of certain Danes who
were cold-hearted servants in the army of Ragnar, disturbed
his country with renewed sedition, and came forward claiming
the title of king. He was met by the arms of Ragnar returning
from the Hellespont ; but being unsuccessful, and seeing that
his resources of defence at home were exhausted, he went to
ask help of Ludwig,^ who was then stationed at Mainz. But
Ludwig, tilled with the greatest zeal for promoting his religion,
imposed a condition on the Barbarian, promising him help if
he would agree to follow the worship of Christ. For he said
there could be no agreement of hearts between those who em-
braced discordant creeds. Anyone, therefore, who asked for
help, must first have a fellowship in religion. No men could
be partners in great works who were separated by a different
form of worship. This decision procured not only salvation
for Ludwig's guest, but the praise of piety for Ludwig himself,
who, as soon as Harald had gone to the holy font, accordingly
strengthened him with Saxon auxiliaries. Trusting in these,
Harald built a temple in the land of Sleswik with much care
and cost, to be hallowed to God. Thus he borrowed a pattern
of the most holy way from the worship of Rome. He unhallowed
the error of misbelievers, pulled down the shrines, outlawed the
sacrificers, abolished the [heathen] priesthood, and was the
' Hellespont] Here Hellespont may stand for Gibraltar Straits,
2 Luiwig] Louis the Pious, son of Charles the Great,
380 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
first to introduce the religion of Christianity to his uncouth
country. Rejecting the worship of demons, he was zealous for
that of God. Lastly, he observed with the most scrupulous
care whatever concerned the protection of religion. But he
began with more piety than success. For Ragnar came up,
outraged the holy rites he had brought in, outlawed the true
faith, restored the false one to its old position, and bestowed
on the ceremonies the same honour as before. As for Harald,
he deserted and cast in his lot with sacrilege. For though
he was a notable ensample by his introduction of religion,
yet he was the first who was seen to neglect it, and this
illustrious promoter of holiness proved a most infamous for-
saker of the same.
Meanwhile Ella betook himself to the Irish, and put to the
sword or punished all those who were closely and loyally at-
tached to Ragnar. Then Ragnar attacked him with his fleet,
but, by the just visitation of the Omnipotent, was openly
[314] punished for disparaging religion. For when he had been
taken and cast into prison, his guilty limbs were given to
serpents to devour, and adders found ghastly sustenance in the
fibres of his entrails. His liver was eaten away, and a snake,
like a deadly executioner, beset his very heart. Then in a
courageous voice he recounted all his deeds in order, and at
the end of his recital added the following sentence : " If the
porkers knew the punishment of the boar-pig, surely they
would break into the sty and hasten to loose him from his
afiiiction." At this saying, Ella conjectured that some of his
sons were yet alive, and bade that the executioners should
stop and the vipers be removed. The servants ran up to
accomplish his bidding ; but Ragnar was dead, and forestalled
the order of the king. Surely we must say that this man had
a double lot for his share ? By one, he had a fleet unscathed,
an empire well-inclined, and immense power as a rover ; while
the other inflicted on him the ruin of his fame, the slaughter
of his soldiers, and a most bitter end. The executioner beheld
him beset with poisonous beasts, and asps gorging on that
heart which he had borne steadfast in the face of every peril.
Thus a most glorious conqueror declined to the piteous lot of
a prisoner ; a lesson that no man should put too much trust
in fortune.
Iwar heard of this disaster as he happened to be looking on
at the games. Nevertheless, he kept an unmoved countenance,
and in nowise broke down. Not only did he dissemble his
ffrief and conceal the news of his father's death, but he did not
o
even allow a clamour to arise, and forbade the panic-stricken
people to leave the scene of the sports. Thus, loth to in-
terrupt the spectacle by the ceasing of the games, he neither
clouded his countenance nor turned his eyes from public merri-
ment to dwell upon his private sorrow ; for he would not
fall suddenly into the deepest melancholy from the height of
festal joy, or seem to behave more like an afflicted son than a
blithe captain. 1 But when Siward heard the same tidings, he
loved his father more than he cared for his own pain, and in
his distraction plunged deeply into his foot the spear he
chanced to be holding, dead to all bodily troubles in his stony
sadness. For he wished to hurt some part of his body
severely, that he might the more patiently bear the wound in
his soul. By this act he showed at once his bravery and his
grief, and bore his lot like a son who was both afflicted and
steadfast. But Biorn received the tidings of his father's [3IS]
death while he was playing at dice,^ and squeezed so violently
the piece that he was grasping that he wrung the blood
from his fingers and shed it on the table ; whereon he said
that assuredly the cast of fate was more fickle than that of
the very die which he was throwing. When Ella heard this,
he judged that the father's death had been borne with the
toughest and most stubborn spirit by that son of the three
who had paid no filial respect to his decease ; and therefore he
dreaded the bravery of Iwar most. But Iwar went towards
England, and when he saw that his fleet was not strong
1 See note on the double of this tale, p. 389, below.
" Dice] tesserarum. M. thinks there is an allusion to chess, but the
word alea, used immediately after, points to "tables", either back-
gammon or an archaic kind of draughts.
382 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
enough to join battle with the enemy, he chose to be cunning
rather than bold, and tried a shrewd trick on Ella, begging as
a pledge of peace between them a strip of land as great as he
could cover with a horse's hide. He gained his request, for the
king supposed that it would cost little, and thought himself
happy that so strong a foe begged for a little boon instead of a
great one ; supposing that a tiny skin would cover but a very
little land. But Iwar cut the hide out and lengthened it into
very slender thongs, thus enclosing a piece of ground large
enough to build a city on. Then Ella came to repent of his
lavishness, and tardily set to reckoning the size of the hide,
measuring the little skin more narrowly now that it was cut
up than when it was whole. For that which he had thought
would encompass a little strip of ground, he saw lying wide
over a great estate. Iwar brought into the city, when he
founded it, supplies that would serve amply for a siege,
wishing the defences to be as good against scarcity as against
an enemy.
Meantime Siward and Biorn came up with a fleet of 400
ships, and with open challenge declared war against the king.
This they did at the appointed time ; and when they had
captured him, they ordered the figure of an eagle' to be cut in
his back, rejoicing to crush their most ruthless foe by marking
him with the cruellest of birds. Not satisfied with imprinting
a wound on him, they salted the mangled flesh. Thus Ella
was done to death, and Biorn and Siward went back to their
own kingdoms. Iwar governed England for two years.
Meanwhile the Danes were stubborn in revolt, and made war,
V and delivered the sovereignty publicly to a certain SiwAED and
to Erik, both of the royal line. The sons of Kagnar, together
with a fleet of 1,700 ships, attacked them at Sleswik, and de-
stroyed them in a conflict which lasted six months. Barrows
remain to tell the tale. The sound on which the war was con-
ducted has gained equal glory by the death of Siward. And now
[316] the royal stock was almost extinguished, saving only the sons of
1 Figure of an eagle] "This operation the Icelanders called rista bm a
bdk einom." — M. Ella was slain in 867.
Ragnar. Then, when Biorn and Erik had gone home, Iwar and
Siward settled in Denmark, that they might curb the rebels
with a stronger rein, setting Agnar to govern England.
Agnar was stung because the English rejected him, and, with
the help of Siward, chose, rather than foster the insolence of
the province that despised him, to dispeople it and leave its
fields, which were matted in decay, with none to till them.
He covered the richest land of the island with the most
hideous desolation, thinking it better to be lord of a wilder-
ness than of a headstrong country. After this he wished to
avenge Erik, who had been slain in Sweden by the malice
of a certain Osten. But while he was narrowly bent on
avenging another, he squandered his own blood on the foe ;
and while he was eagerly trying to punish the slaughter of
his brother, sacrificed his own life to brotherly love.
Thus SlWAED, by the sovereign vote of the whole Danish
assembly, received the empire of his father. But after the
defeats he had inflicted everywhere he was satisfied with the
honour he received at home, and liked better to be famous
with the gown than with the sword. He ceased to be a man
of camps, and changed from the fiercest of despots into the
most punctual guardian of peace. He found as much honour
in ease and leisure as he had used to think lay in many
victories. Fortune so favoured his change of pursuits, that
no foe ever attacked him, nor he any foe. He died, and Erik,
who was a very young child, inherited his nature, rather
than his realm or his tranquillity. For Erik, the brother of
Harald, despising his exceedingly tender years, invaded the
country with rebels, and seized the crown ; nor was he
ashamed to assail the lawful infant sovereign, and to assume an
unrightful power. In thus bringing himself to despoil a feeble
child of the kingdom he showed himself the more unworthy
of it. Thus he stripped the other of his throne, but himself
of all his virtues, and cast all manliness out of his heart,
when he made war upon a cradle : for where covetousness
and ambition flamed, love of kindred could find no place
But this brutality was requited by the wrath of a divine
384 SAXO GBAMMATICUS.
veno-eance. For the war between this man and Gudorm,
the son of Harald, ended suddenly with such a slaughter
that they were both slain, with numberless others ; and the
royal stock of the Danes, now worn out by the most terrible
massacres, was reduced to the only son of the above Siward.
This man [Erik] won the fortune of a throne by losing his
kindred ; it was luckier for him to have his relations dead than
[317] alive. He forsook the example of all the rest, and hastened
to tread in the steps of his grandfather ; for he suddenly
came out as a most zealous practitioner of roving. And would
that he had not shown himself rashly to inherit the spirit of
Rao-nar, by his abolition of Christian worship ! For he con-
tinually tortured all the most religious men, or stripped them
of their property and banished them. But it were idle for me to
blame the man's beginnings when I am to praise his end. For
that life is more laudable of which the foul beginning is cheeked
by a glorious close, than that which begins commendably but
declines into faults and infamies. For Erik, upon the healthy
admonitions of Ansgarius,^ laid aside the errors of his impious
heart, and atoned for whatsoever he had done amiss in the
insolence thereof : showing himself as strong in the observance
of religion as he had been in slighting it. Thus he not only
took a draught of more wholesome teaching with obedient
mind, but wiped off early stains by his purity at the end. He
had a son Kanute by the daughter of Gudorm, who was also
the granddaughter of Harald ; and him he left to survive his
death.
While this child remained in infancy a guardian was
required for the pupil and for the realm. But, inasmuch it
seemed to most people either invidious or difficult to give
the aid that this office needed, it was resolved that a man
should be chosen by lot. For the wisest of the Danes, fearing
much to make a choice by their own will in so lofty a matter,
allowed more voice to external chance than to their own
opinions, and entrusted the issue of the selection rather to
1 Ansgarius] See Adam of Bremen for the life of this Evangelist and
of Brio.
luck than to sound counsel. The issue was that a certain
Enni-gnup [Steep-brow], a man of the highest and most entire
virtue, was forced to put his shoulder to this heavy burden ;
and when he entered on the administration which chance had
decreed, he oversaw, not only the early rearing of the king, but
the affairs of the whole people. For which reason some who are
little versed in our history give this man a central place in
its annals. But when Kanute had passed through the period
of boyhood, and had in time grown to be a man, he left those
who had done him the service of bringing him up, and turned
from an almost hopeless youth to the practice of unhoped-for
virtue ; being deplorable for this reason only, that he passed
from life to death without the tokens of the Christian faith.
But soon the sovereignty passed to his son Frode. This
man's fortune, increased by arms and warfare, rose to such
a height of prosperity that he brought back to the ancient
yoke the provinces which had once revolted from the Danes,
and bound them in their old obedience. He also came forward
to be baptised with holy water in England, which had for [318]
some while past been versed in Christianity. But he desired
that his personal salvation should overflow and become
general, and begged that Denmark should be instructed in
divinity by Agapete, who was then Pope of Rome. But he
was cut oft' before his prayers attained this wish. His death
befel before the arrival of the messengers from Rome : and
indeed his intention was better than his fortune, and he won
as great a reward in heaven for his intended piety as others
are vouchsafed for their achievement.
His son GoRM, who had the surname of "The Englishman",
because he was born in England, gained the sovereignty in
the island on his father's death ; but his fortune, though it
came soon, did not last long. He left England for Denmark
to put it in order; but a long misfortune was the fruit
of this short absence. For the English, who thought that
their whole chance of freedom lay in his being away, planned
an open revolt from the Danes, and in hot haste took heart to
rebel. But the greater the hatred and contempt of England,
0 0
386 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
tho greater the loyal attachment of Denmark to the king.
Thus while he stretched out his two hands to both provinces
in his desire for sway, he gained one, but lost the lordship
of the other irretrievably ; for he never made any bold effort
to regain it. So hard is it to keep a hold on very large
empires.
After this man his son Haeald came to be king of Den-
mark ; he is half- forgotten by posterity, and lacks all record
for famous deeds, because he rather preserved than extended
the possessions of the realm.
After this the throne was obtained by GoRM, a man whose
soul was ever hostile to religion, and who tried to efface all
regard for Christ's worshippers, as though they were the most
abominable of men. All those who shared this rule of life
he harassed with divers kinds of injuries, and incessantly
pursued with whatever slanders he could. Also, in order
to restore the old worship to the shrines, he razed to its
lowest foundations, as though it were some unholy abode of
impiety, a temple which religious men had founded in a
stead in Sleswik ; and those whom he did not visit with
tortures he punished by the demolition of the holy chapel.
Though this man was thought notable for his stature, his mind
did not answer to his body^ ; for he kept himself so well sated
with power that he rejoiced more in saving than increasing
his dignity, and thought it better to guard his own than to
[3 tp] fittack what belonged to others : caring more to look to what
he had than to swell his havings.
This man was counselled by the elders to celebrate the rites
of marriage, and he wooed Thyra, the daughter of Ethelred, the
king of the English, for his wife. She surpassed other women
in seriousness and shrewdness, and laid the condition on her
suitor that she would not marry him till she had received
Denmark as a dowry. This compact was made between
them, and she was betrothed to Gorm. But on the first
night that she went up on to the marriage-bed, she prayed
1 Mind did not answer to his body] G.>rm was called Loghe, the
sluggish.
her husband most earnestly that she should be allowed to go
for three days free from intercourse with man. For she
resolved to have no pleasure of love till i<he had learned by
some omen in a vision that her marriage would be fruitful.
Thus, under pretence of self-control, she deferred her
experience of marriage, and veiled under a show of modesty
her wish to learn about her issue. She put off lustful inter-
course, inquiring, under a feint of chastity, into the fortune she
would have in continuing her line. Some conjecture that she
refused the pleasures of the nuptial couch in order to win her
mate over to Christianity by her abstinence. But the youth,
though he was most ardently bent on her love, yet chose to
regard the continence of another more than his own desires,
and thought it nobler to control the impulses of the night than
to rebuff" the prayers of his weeping mistress; for he thought
that her beseechings, really coming from calculation, had to do
with modesty. Thus it befell that he who should have done
a husband's part made himself the guardian of her chastity,
so that the reproach of an infamous mind should not be
his at the very beginning of his marriage ; as though he
had yielded more to the might of passion than to his own
self-respect. Moreover, that he might not seem to forestall by
his lustful embraces the love which the maiden would not
grant, he not only forbore to let their sides that were next one
another touch, but even severed them by his drawn sword,
and turned the bed into a divided shelter for his bride and
himself. But he soon tasted in the joyous form of a dream the
pleasure which he postponed from free lovingkindness.^ For,
when his spirit was steeped in slumber, he thought that two
birds glided down from the privy parts of his wife, one larger
than the other ; that they poised their bodies aloft and soared
swiftly to heaven, and, when a little time had elapsed, came
back and sat on either of his hands. A second, and again a
third time, when they had been refreshed by a short rest, they
ventured forth to the air with outspread wings. At last the
I Grorm's dream is told in Knytlinga Saga, where traces of the original
Veroe-form of part of it appear.
C C 2
888 SAXO GRAMMATICtrS.
lesser of them came back without his fellow, and with wings
[320] smeared with blood. He was amazed with this imagination,
and, being in a deep sleep, uttered a cry to betoken his
astonishment, filling the whole house with an uproarious shout.
When his servants questioned him, he related his vision ; and
Thyra, thinking that she would be blest with offspring, foi'bore
her purpose to put off her marriage, eagerly relaxing the
chastity for which she had so hotly prayed. Exchanging
celibacy for love, she granted her husband full joy of
herself, requiting his virtuous self-restraint with the fulne>s
of permitted intercourse, and telling him that she would not
have married him at all, had she not inferred from these
images in the dream which he had related, the certainty of her
being fruitful. Thus by a device as cunning as it was strange,
her pretended modesty passed into an acknowledgment of her
future offspring. Nor did fate disappoint her hopes. Soon she
was the fortunate mother of Kanute and Harald. When these
princes had attained man's estate, they put forth a fleet and
quelled the reckless insolence of the Sclavs. Neither did they
leave England free from an attack of the same kind. Ethelred
was delighted with their spirit, and rejoiced at the violence
his nephews offered him ; accepting an abominable wrong as
though it were the richest of benefits. For he saw far more
merit in their bravery than in piety. Thus he thought it
nobler to be attacked by foes than courted by cowards, and
felt that he saw in their valiant promise a sample of their
future manhood. For he could not doubt that they would
some day attack foreign realms, since they so boldly claimed
those of their mother. He so much preferred their wrongdoing
to their service, that he passed over his daughter, and
bequeathed England in his will to these two, not scrupling to
set the name of grandfather before that of father. Nor was
he unwise ; for he knew that it beseemed men to enjoy the
sovereignty rather than women, and considered that he ought
to separate the lot of his unwarlike daughter from that of her
valiant sons. Hence Thyra saw her sons inheriting the goods
of her father, not grudging to be disinherited herself. For she
thought that the preference above herself was honourable to
her, rather than insulting. These same men enriched them-
selves with great gains from sea-roving, and most confidently
aspired to lay hands on Ireland. Dublin, which was con-
sidered the capital of the country, was besieged. Its king-
went into a wood adjoining the city with a few very skilled [321 J
archers, and with treacherous art surrounded Kanute^ (who was
present with a great throng of soldiers witnessing the show of
the games by night), and aimed a deadly arrow at him from
afar. It struck the body of the king in front, and pierced him
with a mortal wound. But Kanute feared that the enemy
would greet his peril with an outburst of delight. He
therefore wished his disaster to be kept dark ; and, sum-
moning voice with his last breath, he ordered the games to be
gone through without disturbance. By this device he made
the Danes masters of Ireland ere he made his own death
known to the Irish. Who would not bewail the end of such
a man, whose self-mastery served to give the victory to his
soldiers, by reason of the wisdom that outlasted his life ? For
the safety of the Danes was most seriously endangered, and
was nearly involved in the most deadly peril ; yet because
they obeyed the dying orders of their general they presentlj'
triumphed over those they feared. At this time Gorm had
reached the extremity of his days, having passed a great
succession of years in blindness, and had prolonged his old
age to the utmost bounds of the human lot, being more
anxious for the life and prosperity of his sons than for the
few days he had to breathe. But so great was his love for his
elder son that he swore that he would slay with his own hand
whosoever first brought him news of his death. As it chanced,
' Surrounded Kanute] Editors have noticed the inconsequence of this
tale, and the pointlessness of the game* being held by night during a
siege in Kanute's presence. But the trait of Kanute hiding his wound is
a natural and Northern, as well as a Spartan, one, and finds perhaps its
strongest expression in English poetry in the scene of John Ford's
tragedy, The Broken Heart, where Calantha dances on and on smiling as
fatal tidings arrive. See p. 381, above. As to the games being held at
night, we continually read of feasting and sport by the light of camp-fires.
390 SAXO GEAMMATIOUS.
Thyra heard sure tidings that this son had perished. But
when no man durst openly hint this to Gorm, she fell back on
her cunning to defend her, and revealed by her deeds the
mischance which she durst not speak plainly out. For she
took the royal robes oiF her husband and dressed him in filthy
garments, bringing him other signs of grief also, to explain
the cause of her mourning; for the ancients were wont to
use such things in the performance of obsequies, bearing
witness by their garb to the bitterness of their sorrow. Then
said Gorm : "Dost thou declare to me the death of Kanute^?"
And Thyra said : " That is proclaimed by thy presage, not by
mine." By this answer she made out her lord a dead man and
herself a widow, and had to lament her husband as soon as
her son. Thus, while she announced the fate of her son to
her husband, she united them in death, and followed the
obsequies of both with equal mourning ; shedding the tears of
a wife upon the one and of a mother upon the second ; though
at that moment she ought to have been cheered with comfort
rather than crushed with disasters.
^ Kanute] Here the vernacular is far finer. The old king notices
"Denmark is drooping, dead must my son be!" puts on the signs of
mourning, and dies.
END OF BOOK NINE.
APPENDIX I.
PASSAGES FROM LATER BOOKS OF SAXO.
I.
Story of Toke and the Apple (Bk. x, p. 329, ed. Holder).
One Toke, who had served some while with the king [Harald
Bluet oth], had made many men foes to his virtues by the
servicer wherein he overpassed the zeal of his comrades.
Talking in his cups among the f casters, he chanced to boast
that if an apple, however small, were set at a distance upon a
stick, he would hit it with the first shaft he aimed. This
speech, catching the ears of his detractors, reached the hearing
of the king. But the unscrupulous monarch presently turned
the father's confidence to the peril of the son, and commanded
that this most sweet pledge of Toke's life should be put in the
place of the stick with the apple on his head, and should
suffer with his own head for that windy boast, unless he who
made the promise should with the first arrow that he tried
strike the apple off it. Thus the treacherous slanders of
others took up his half -tipsy vaunt, and the soldier was forced
by his king's behest to do better than his promises, so that his
words bound him to more than their own consequence
So Toke brought the lad forth, and warned him straitly to
await the singing of the arrow with steadfast ear and
unswerving head, so as not to balk by any slight motion the
successful t-ial of his skill. Also he considered a plan to
remove the 1 id's fear, and made him turn away his face, that
he should not be scared by the sight of the missile. Then he
put out three arrows from the quiver ; the first that he fitted
to the string struck the mark proposed. [Eulogy on father
392 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
and son.J .... But when the king askfd Toke why he had
taken three shafts from the quiver, when he was to try his
fortunes but once with the bow^ Toke answered, "That I
might avenge on thyself the miss of the first with the point
of the others, lest perchance my innocence might suffer and
thy violence escape."
II.
Allusion to Nifiung story (Bk. xiii, p. 427).
[Magnus, plotting to slay Kanute, sends a Saxon minstrel
who is in the conspiracy, to lure him out to a wood at night]
Then the minstrel, knowing that Kanute was a great lover
both of the Saxon name and customs, wished to arm him with
caution, but thought that the sanctity of his oath [of con-
spiracy] was in the way of his acting thus. Therefore, thinking
it a sin to betray the matter plainly, he tried to do so
covertly So he purposely started to relate in a noble
song the treachery of Grimhild towards her brethren, trying
by this example of notorious guile to inspire him with fear
of a like fate. [Kanute ignores the hint and perishes.]
III.
The Statue of Suanto-Viius (Bk. xiv, p. 564 sqq.)
[Waldemar I and Absalon lay siege to Ark on in Riigen, a
city on a ness with precipice walls.]
On a level in the midst of the city was to be seen a wooden
temple of most graceful workmanship, held in honour not only
for the splendour of its ornament, but for the divinity of an
image set up within it. The outside of the building was bright
with careful graving [or painting], whereon sundry shapes
were rudely and uncouthly pictured. There was but one gate
for entrance. The shrine itself was shut in a double row of
enclosures, the outer whereof was made of walls and covered
^yith a red summit ; while the inner one rested on four pillars,
APPENDIX I. 393
and instead of having walls was gorgeous with hangings, not
communicating with the outer save for the roof and a few
beams. In the temple stood a huge image, far overtopping
all human stature, marvellous for its four heads and four
necks, two facing the breast and two the hack. Moreover, of
those in front as well as of those behind, one looked leftwards
and the other rightwards. The beards were figured as
shaven and the hair as clipped ; the skilled workman might
be thought to have copied the fashion of the Rugeners in the
dressing of the heads. In the right hand it held a horn
wrought of divers metals, which the priest, who was versed in
its rites, used to fill every year with new wine, in order to
foresee the crops of the next season from the disposition of
the liquor. In the left there was a representation of a bow,
the arm being drawn back to the side. A tunic was figured
reaching to the shanks, which were made of different woods,
and so secretly joined to the knees that the place of the join
could only be detected by narrow scrutiny. The feet were
seen close to the earth, their base being hid underground.
Not far 00" a bridle and saddle and many emblems of godhead
were visible. Men's marvel at these things was increased by
a sword of notable size, whose scabbard and hilt were not
only excellently graven, but also graced outside with [mounts
or inlaying of] silver. This image was regularly worshipped
in the following way. Once every year, after harvest, a
motley throng from the whole isle would sacrifice beasts for
peace-offering before the temple of the image, and keep
ceremonial feast. Its priest was conspicuous for his long beard
and hair, beyond the common fashion of the country. On the
day before that on which he must sacrifice, he used to sweep
with brooms the shrine, which he had the sole right of entering.
He took heed not to breathe within the building. As often
as he needed to draw or give breath, he would run out to the
door, lest forsooth the divine presence should be tainted with
human breath. On the morrow, the people being at watch
before the doors, he took the cup from the image, and looked
at it narrowly ; if any of the liquor put in had gone away
394 . SAXO GRAMMATICtrS.
he thought that this pointed to a scanty harvest for next
year. When he had noted this he bade them keep, against
the future, the corn which they had. If he s&w no lessening
in its usual fulness, he foretold fertile crops. So, according to
this omen, he told them to use the harvest of the present year
now thriftily, now generously. Then he poured out the old
wine as a libation at the feet of the image, and filled the
empty cup with fresh ; and, feigning the part of a cupbearer,
he adored the statue, and in a regular form of address prayed
for good increase of wealth and conquests for himself, his
country and its people, This done, he put the cup to his lips,
and drank it up over-fast at an unbroken draught ; refilhng
it then with wine, he put it back m the hand of the statue.
Mead-cakes were also placed for offering, round in shape
and great, almost up to the height of a man's stature. The
priest used to put this between himself and the people, and
ask. Whether the men of Riigen could see him ? By this
request he prayed not for the doom of his people or himself,
but for increase of the coming crops. Then he greeted the
crowd in the name of the image, and bade them prolong their
worship of the god with diliirent sacrificing, promising them
sure rewards of their tillage, and victory by sea and land. . . .
[The people keep orgy the rest of the day to please the god.] . . .
Each male and female hung a coin every year as a gift in
worship of the image. It was also allotted a third of the spoil
and plunder, as though these had been got and won by its
protection. This god also had 300 horses appointed to it, and
as many men-at-arms riding them, all of whose gains, either
by arms or theft, were put in the care of the priest. Out of
these spoils he wrought sundry emblems and temple-ornaments
which he consigned to locked coflFers containing store of money
and piles of time-eaten purple. -Here, too, was to be seen
a mass of public and private gifts, the contributions of anxious
iipplicants for blessings. This statue was worshipped with the
tributes of all Scla\onia, and neighbouring kings did not fail
to honour its sacrifice with gifts. . . . [Even Sweyn gave a
wrought cup, and there were smaller shrines.] . . . Also it
APPENDIX I. 395
possessed a special white horse, the hairs of whose mane and
tail it was thought impious to pluck, and which only the
priest had the privilege of feeding and riding, lest the use of
the divine beast might become common and therefore cheap.
On this horse, in the belief of Riigen, Suanto- Vitus — so
the image was called — rode to war against the foes of his
religion. The chief proof was that the horse when stabled
at night was commonly found in the morning bespattered
with mire and sweat, as though he had come from exercise
and travelled leagues. Omens also where taken by this horse,
thus : When war was determined against any district, the
servants set out three rows of spears, two joined crosswise,
each row being planted point downwards in the earth ; the
rows an equal distance apart. When it was time to make the
expedition, after a solemn prayer, the horse was led in harness
out of the porch by the priest. If he crossed the rows with
the right foot before the left it was taken as a lucky omen of
warfare ; if he put the left first, so much as once, the plan of
attacking that district was dropped ; neither was any voyage
finally fixed, until three paces in succession of the fortunate
manner of walking were observed. Also folk faring out on
sundry businesses took an omen concerning their wishes from
their first meeting with the beast. Was the omen happy, they
blithely went on with their journey; was it baleful, they
turned and went home. Nor were these people ignorant of
the use of lots. Three bits of wood, black on one side, white
on the other, were cast into the lap. Fair, meant good luck ;
dusky, ill. Neither were their women free from this sort of
knowledge, for they would sit by the hearth and draw random
lines in the ashes without counting. If these when counted
were even, they were thought to bode success; if odd, ill-
fortune. [The king goes to attack the town and efface profane
rites. His men make works, but he says these are needless]
because the Riigeners had once been taken by Karl Casar,
and bidden to honour with tribute Saint Vitus of Corvey,
famous for his sanctified death. But when the conqueror died
they wished to regain freedom, and exchanged slavery for
396 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
superstition, putting up an image at home to which they gave
the name of the holy Vitus, and, scorning the people of Corvey,
they proceeded to transfer the tribute to its worship, saying
that they were content with their own Vitus, and need not
serve a strange one. [Vitus would come and avenge himself,
so the king prophesies ; the siege is related ; the people trust
their defences, and guard] the tower over the gate only with
emblems and standards. Among these was Stanitia [viargin,
Stuatira], notable for size and hue, which received as much
adoration from the Etigeners as almost all the gods together ;
for, shielded by her, they took leave to assail the laws of God
and man, counting nothing unlawful which they liked ....
[the town is taken and fired] p. 574. [The image could not
be prized up without iron tools. Esbern and Snio cut it down],
j'he image fell to the ground with a crash. Much purple hung
round the temple ; it was gorgeous, but so rotten with decay
that it could not bear the touch. There were also the horns
of woodland beasts, marvellous in themselves and for their
workmanship. A demon in the form of a dusky animal was
seen to quit the inner part and suddenly vanish from the sight
of the bystanders. [The image of Suanto- Vitus is then
chopped into firewood.]
IV.
The Irnage at Karentia {Garz\ in Rilgen (Bk. xiv, p. 577).
[Absalon goes against the Karentines ; takes the town, and
comes upon three temples of a similar kind to that at Arkon.]
The greater temple was situated in the midst of its own ante-
chamber, but both were enclosed with purple [hangings] in-
stead of walls, the summit of the roof being propped merely on
pillars. So the servants, tearing down the gear of the ante-
chamber, at last stretched out their hands to the inmost veil
of the temple. This was removed, and an oaken image which
they called Rugie- Vitus [Rugen's Vitus] was exposed on every
side amid mockery at its hideousness, For the swallows had
APPENDIX I. 397
built their nests beneath its features, and had piled a heap of
droppings on its breast. The god was only fit to have his
effigy thus hideously befouled by birds. Also in its head were
set seven faces, after human likeness, all covered in under a
single poll, and the workman had also bound by its side in a
single belt seven real swords with their scabbards. The eighth
it held in its hand drawn ; this was fitted in the wrist and
fixed very fast with an iron nail, and the hand must be cut ott"
before it could be wrenched away ; which led to the image
being mutilated. Its thickness was beyond that of a human
body, but it was so long that Absalon, standing a-tip-toe,
could scarce reach its chin with the little axe he was wont
to carry in his hand. The people had believed this god to pre-
side over wars, as if it had the power of Mars. Nothing in
this image pleased the eye ; its features were hideous with
uncouth graving [or painting]. [It is cut down, and its own
people spurn it and are converted. The assailants go on] to
the image of Pore- Vitus, which was worshipped in the next
town. This was also five-headed, but represented without
weapons. On this being cut down they go to the temple of
Porenutius. This statue, representing four faces, had the fifth
inserted in its bosom ; its left hand touched the brow, and its
right the chin. [It is destroyed.]
APPENDIX II.
SAXO'S HAMLET.
Goethe is said to have been so strucli by Saxo's tale of
Amleth, that he thought of himself treating it freely, without
reference to Shakspere. For Shakspere, reading Belleforest
or his translator, rejected or changed so many traits that the
story of Amleth became almost as different as his soul.
Leaving aside Belleforest, with his innocent diffuse plati-
tudes, and the earlier play from which Shakspere may have
worked, let us press out the likenesses, and the differences,
between the rich barbarous tale which Saxo wrought out of
motley sources, and that tale whose message to the modern
world, so far from becoming exhausted, increases.
Amleth, like Hamlet, is a prince, whose father is slain by
his jealous uncle, and whose mother Gerutha (Gertrude)
incestuously marries the murderer, Feng. Feng's guilt is
open, and he crowns his crimes by pretending he had slain
his brother for Gerutha's good ; Shakspere drops these points.
Amleth then feigns madness. We know how Shakspere so
subtilises this motive that the degree of reality in Hamlet's
distraction is disputed, some thinking it wholly real, some
wholly feigned, while others, without attempting to draw a
rigid line, hold that Hamlet is an actor who flings himself
into a part which presently invades his very self. But
there is no doubt about Amleth ; he not only feigns, but
feigns in order to execute a revenge, on the fanciful cruelty
of whose long-considered plan — a whole palace and company
of feasters to be wrapped in one net and flame of destruc-
tion— -we are led to think that he sates his imagination for a
whole year in advance. Hence the whole play of doubts upon.
APPENDIX II. 399
Hamlet's intellect, and of vacillations upon his will, is excluded
from the very idea of the old story. Shakspere also omits
the tricks by which Amleth both hides and symbolises his inten-
tion, such as the '' crooks" pointed in the fire, and his riddles,
which, indeed, are absent in Belleforest. But the attribute of
riddling speech is, in Hamlet, infinitely developed, and the temp-
tations set in the way of the two princes have marked likenesses.
Amleth's foster-sister is a vague presentiment of Ophelia, even
as the friend who warns Amleth against her is of Horatio. Then
follows the eavesdropping prototype of Polonius, whom Ham-
let runs through'^ in his scene with his mother. In Shakspere
or his immediate source the girl is made his daughter ; in Saxo
they have no connection. Hamlet's harangue to his mother is
descended straight from Amleth, and the two may be com-
pared in detail. This speech, as it stands in Saxo's rhetoric,
is evidently his own, and thus constitutes the chief place
where Shakspere, of course unwittingly, bears traces of his
very words. Then follows the embassy to Britain, and the
motive of the doomed man causing the death of his executioner
by altering the names in the warrant. But, agreeably to the
root-idea of Saxo's vei-sion, Amleth, before departure, has
laid his plans, and bidden his converted mother net the fatal
hangings, which, with the crooks, are to encompass his ven-
geance. Hamlet has no such plan, nor do we hear of any
such adventures of his in England as those which are detailed
of Amleth, and which form the link with the post-Shaksperean
portion of his tale in Saxo's Fourth Book. Amleth's return,
and the fashion of his vengeance, of course differ; and the
difference is due not merely to the impossibility of burning a
whole palace upon an Elizabethan stage, but to the radical
difi"erence of the heroes. Amleth has to fulfil his plan with
indiscriminate slaughter, and then to reign. Hamlet only
punishes the criminal, and this by accident, at the last
moment before his own destruction. The sole points in com-
mon are that both the uncle and the mother are killed. After
^ Saxo's " straw" becomes in Belleforest and Shakspere the hangings
behind which the listener lurk?.
400 SAXO GEAMMATICUS.
this point Amleth enters on a wholly new set of adventures
which Shakspere, though he found them in Belleforest, did
not need.
" Two points in Amleth 's soul" are yet to mention. Saxo
makes him not only long-headed and full of equivocations,
Lufc punctilious of verbal truthfulness. He lies, that is, wishes
to deceive, but his words, if he is to be challenged afterwards,
will bear a truthful colour. "Though his words did not
lack truth, thnre was nothing to betoken the truth." He is
also preternaturally observant of small things (pp. 114-5).
These traits are transformed in Hamlet, who is continually
giving double answers, not from love of truth, but from love
of mockery, as if to satisfy his delight in fooling others ; and
who has also sudden formidable outbursts of penetration, as
with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. But the point for remark
is, that nearly all the differences of motive between Shak-
spere and Saxo depend on their different conceptions of the
prince's character : Amleth being quite sane and quite resolute,
Hamlet neither.
We cannot wonder at Goethe having seen rich artistic possi-
bilities in Saxo.^ Into none of his tales does Saxo put more of
himself ; for colour of incident, as in the burning of the palace,
for sweep and power of declamation, as in the harangue to
the Danes, he has written nothing to equal the story of
Amleth, unless it be the story of Starkad. It must be
granted that Saxo's blemishes appear also ; he is unwieldy in
his narrative, and he leaves difficulties without explaining them.
His tale cannot always be understood as he gives it. What is
the meaning of Amleth's dark answers on p. 109 ? What is
the sense of the message through the gadfly ? We can
answer some of these questions, but Saxo does not. He
acquiesces in and reports these seeming puerilities without
trying to smooth them down, or seeing that the reader will
1 Uhland, one of the first men who tried to collate Saxo with Norse
authorities, speaks aptly of the "broad copiousness, romantic ornamen-
tation, and sharp-wittedness" evident in the tale. {Werke, v. 205-9.)
APPENDIX il. 401
be thrown out. Yet this defect of the artist is a merit of the
reporter. It avouches his fidelity, and we are let into some
of the secrets of his workmanship and of his sources. What
sources he may have had for his story or stories of Amleth,
and some parallels that may be found for these, I now
briefly consider.
II.
§ 1. The tale of Saxo falls into two parts, divided by the
accession of Amleth to power (the former part only, and
not all of that, being used by Shakspere). These parts,
whether or no they were connected originally, are closely
connected in Saxo. Amleth's relations, both with the King
of Denmark and the King of Britain, are quite continuous ;
and his adventures in Scotland are partly linked to his
past by the storied shield. By this Hermutrude recog-
nises Amleth for the famous hero who revenged his father.
Thus Saxo offers us not two stories, but two chapters in the
same story. This is important for those who would decom-
pose Amleth into two distinct heroes, one belonging to the
Third and one to the Fourth Book. Such theorists have to
admit either that Saxo deliberately invented the above links
between the two, or that he took the legend in some form
later than what they profess to be the original one. We
must note, then, what indications Saxo himself gives of his
sources, and what undoubted parallels can be found. The
following are materials for a judgment.
§ 2. It is clear from one passage that Saxo had two versions
before him for at least a single trait. When Amleth (pp. 114-5)
detects a taint in the King of England's liquor, it is found to
come from a well spoilt with sword-rust ; but " others relate"
that he "detected some bees that had formerly fed in the
paunch of a dead man". No such reference to another ver-
sion is found elsewhere in the story, nor is there anything in
the p^issage to tell us whether the sources before Saxo were
oral or written.
D J)
402 SAXO GSAMMATICITS.
§ 3. Amleth was in popular tradition a Jutlander. " A
plain in Jutland is to be found, famous for his name and
burial-place" (p. 130). Two places, says Mtiller, are still called
Amelhede. If we are to trust Saxo as a reporter at all, this
proves that the tale as he received it concerned a prince
represented as (1) historical, _ (2) Jutish. That there was
such a prince we have no positive evidence for believing;
that the legend in this form concerns a Jute, is consistent
with either a Danish or an Icelandic authorship for Saxo's
version of it. To form an opinion on this latter point, we must
consider the bearing of
§ 4. The allusion to Amld^i. The verse put, in the Prose
Edda, into the mouth of the tenth century poet-adventurer,
Snsebiorn, runs (G. P. B. ii. 50^^) : "Men say that the nine maidens
of the island-mill [the ocean] are working hard at the host-
devouring skerry-quern [the sea], out beyond the skirts of the
earth ; yea, they have for ages past been grinding at Amlo'Si's
meal-bin [the sea]." This is the only extant allusion to
Amlo^i by name earlier than Saxo. The inference from it
is, that a myth was current in Iceland, 200 years before Saxo,
concerning a man or giant, AmldSi, whose quern the sea was
called; perhaps an inhabitant of its depths. He, then, is
(1) mythical, (2) Icelandic. We can now pursue comparisons
in Icelandic myth, both ancient and modem, not indeed to
this, but to other points of Saxo's narrative.^
§ 5. Parallels to the earlier part (Bk. iii) of Amleth's career
are found in the tale of Helgi and Hroar in Hrolfssaga
Kraka.^ Let us number these. There are (i) the dispossessed
sons of Halfdan, whom (ii) his brother Fro^i has murdered.
Fro'Si (iii) pursues them, and tries by sorcerers to find their
1 ' ' H vatt kve'Sa hroera Grotta her-grimmastan skerja lit fyr iar^ar skauti
EyWSrs nio brd^ir : >aer es (lungs) fyr longo liiS-meldr (skipa hli^ar)
(baug-skerUir ristr barSi b61) AmldSa mdlo."
^ These are summarised by Dr. F. Better in Zeitsch. fur deutsches
iilterthum, vol. xxxvi, No. 1, 1892. It will be seen that I do not go
wholly with his inferences, though I have freely used his material.
^ Fornaldar Sognr, ed. Rafn, 1829, vol. i. ad init.
APPENDIX II. 403
whereabouts ; but is baulked by the astuteness of Vifil, who
keeps them on an isle. They go (iv) to a feast with Halfdan,
disguised and under false names, one of them (v) behaving
wildly. Their sister Signy recognises them, there is a scene
of confusion, they nail up the doors ; (vi) the king is de-
stroyed; as well as (vii) their mother, who refuses to quit the
hall, and whom we may infer (viii ?) had allied herself with
the usurper.
These resemblances to Amleth's story resolve themselves
mainly into the motive for vengeance and the 'method of
vengeance. The element of feigned 'madness is lightly touched
on (" Helgi .... laetr ser alia vega heimskliga," p. 9) ; but
the version of this tale which Saxo himself gives us (Bk. vii,
pp. 260-263), wherein the names of the sons are Harald
and Halfdan, brings out the feigned madness more strongly,
and lays equal stress on the crime and the punishment.^
The Amleth story, however, is so different in its details that
the resemblance of these three elements is somewhat obscured.
We cannot say which, if either, is the parent story, or whether
the stories are collaterals, and variants descended from some
widespread and early version. The latter is more likely ; but
the existence of this version is itself conjectural. The com-
parison only establishes that Saxo's tale of Amleth is parallel
in its three chief elements to an Icelandic saga, which
concerns a historical king, Hrolf Kraki, included by Saxo in
his Danish list (Bk. ii, p. 69), but represented by him as living
at a period long before Amleth.
1 It has been pointed out (Introd., § 7) that the story of the conceal-
ment of the two boys under hounds' guise is the Lancelot-Lionel story,
where the Dame du lac hides two kingly children from foes by actually
turning them for the time into hounds. Whether this Celtic element
was borrowed and added in Saxo's authority to the story (as, for
instance, a Tristram 'motif was added to Grettis Saga) is uncertain but the
theory is probable. In this case the original Halfdan and Harald story
may have been closer still to Saxo's Amlethus. The incident of two lads
avenging in their youth a murderer of their father occurs in the Icelandic
famUy Sagas.— F. Y. P.
D D 2
404 SAXO GRAMMATtOtrs.
§ 6. But Amleth attracted writers in Norse after Saxo.
Two sagas, as yet unedited, remain in MS. at Copenhagen.
The first, Aml6"5asaga Hardvendilssona, is a free manipulation
of Saxo's, and is probably^ made from Vedel's Danish transla-
tion of 1575. In the second, called Ambales-saga, or Aml6tSa-
saga, and written after the Keformation, the original tale is
half-effaced by romantic elements. Ambales, son of Salman,
King of Cimbria, was called Amlo^i, "because he lay con-
tinually in the fire-hall opposite the ash-heap". He (i) escapes
from an invading usurper by (ii) sham madness, while his
elder brother, who is more simple, is killed. The usurper
(iii) marries perforce Ambales' mother, Amba. . Ambales does
nothing but " fashion (iv) very small spits from hard wood,
and when they seemed ready he left them in a corner near
the fire-house". He also gives strange answers, and when
asked where he felt the death of his father worst, he said,
" Sorest behind". There is (v) an eavesdropper, whom, hidden
under the queen's bed, Ambales kills. He is then sent to
Tamerlane, bat (vi) on the way changes the names in the
death-warrant, so that (vii) the messengers are killed. He
(viii) marries Tamerlane's daughter, and goes back for
vengeance. In (ix) fool's guise he creeps into the hall, (x)
nails down the clothes of the company with his pegs, and
(xi) sets fire to the hall. The rest is fighting and fairy tales.
There is no doubt that this is a form of Saxo's tale; the
question is, whether it bears traces of being partly drawn
from any source different from his.^
§ 7. Now an interesting and undoubted variant of this last
1 In the view of Dr. Otto Jiriczek, quoted by Better, op. cit, p. 18,
from whom I also draw the summary of the Ambales-aaga. The MSS.
are respectively AM. 621 d, and AM. 521 a, b, c.
^ There seems no proof of any early element in this story, while it bears
evident marks of being drawn from Saxo. The introduction of names
like Salman (Soliman the Turk), Tamerlane (the Tatar Kaan), Cimbria,
etc., are signs of late " fictitious sagas", made up in a regular phraseology
and in regular saga style, and founded on any scrap of tale — Arthurian,
Carolingian, Classical, Biblical — which fell in the compiler's way. —
F. Y. P.
APPENDIX II. 405
tale has been found in modern Icelandic folk-lore.^ The tale
of Brjd,in relates how an Ahab-like king coveted, not the
vineyard, but the cow of a poor man. His servants kill the
man and the two elder sons. " They asked the children where
they felt the pain sorest. All clapped their breasts save
Brj4m, who [see § 6] clapped his hinderlands and grinned."
The others are killed, but he is (i) spared as witless, and his
mother makes him a sorcerer. He (ii) fosters revenge, and in
the end goes (iii) to a feast of the king, having previously got
and wrought at (iv) some wooden pegs, like Amleth's crooks.
Asked their use, he (v) says, " to avenge daddy" (hefna papa),
but is derided. Pointing these with steel, he (vi) fastens the
feasters to the benches while they drink. They grow angry
and slay one another. Brjdm then marries the princess, and
(vii) becomes king.
It will be seen that the stories of § 6 and § 7 have points in
common which are not in Saxo, especially the killing of the
elder brother and sparing of the younger, who feigns madness,
together with the answer of the latter. As Dr. Better points
out, the two when put together supply many of the traits of
Amleth, such as his answer that he will avenge his father. I
do not, however, follow his conclusion that we have here a com-
position independent of Saxo, which has even preserved some
motives of the Brutus-story lacking in Saxo.^ The Brutus
story, of which it is time now to speak, may have been known
to and have influenced the makers of this version, which yet
may have rested mainly upon Saxo. (Before passing on it is
worth noting that Saxo's tale was trolled far and wide in
popular song at the end of the fifteenth century. The
Danish Rime- Chronicle, ascribed to Niels of Soro, and pub-
lished in 1495, follows Saxo only, and casts every essential
incident into its running doggerel. It brings in nothing new.)
§ 8. But other elements in Saxo's tale take us back to
Eoman story. When Amleth has caused the King of England
to hang Feng's messengers, he makes out their death to be a
' Arnason, Izl. pjd'6sSgur ok jEfint^ri, Leipz., 1864, ii. 205.
2 Zeitschr., I. c, p. 22.
406 SAXP GKAMMATICUS.
grievance, exacts gold for were-gild, and pours it molten into
hollow staves (p. 116). Asked on his return where the men
are, he points to the staves, and says, " There are both". This
he does partly to increase his repute for madness, partly on his
principle of telling the literal truth.
This, together with the feigned madness, constitutes so
striking a likeness between the tales of Amleth and Brutus,
as to prove their connection. Belleforest and the old com-
mentators . were fond of making a comparison ; we see a
relationship. The Roman tale is found in Livy, Valerius
Maximus, besides Dionysius of Halicarnassus,^ each of whom
gives his own colouring and his own turn to it. Valerius
we know that Saxo read ; and there are also traits which
occur in Saxo and Livy, but not in Valerius. The words of
these tv>ro latter historians then may be quoted.
Livy (i. 56) says of Tarquin : "Duos filios per ignotas ea
tempestate terras, ignotiora maria, in Graeciam misit. comes
additus iis L. lunius Brutus, Tarquinia sorore regis natus,
iuvenis longe alius ingenio quam cuius aimulationem induerat.
is cum primores civitatis, in quibus fratrem suum ab avunculo
interfectum audisset, neque in animo suo quicquam regi
timendum neque in fortuna concupiscendum relinquere statuit,
contemptuque tutus esset, ubi in iure parum praesidii esset.
ergo ex industria factus ad imitationem stultitiae cum se
suaque praedae regi sineret, Bruti quoque haud abnuit cogno-
men, ut sub eius obtentu -cognominis liberator ille populi
Roraani animus latens opperiretur tempora sua. is turn ab
Tarquiniis ductus Delphos, ludibrium verius quam comes,
aureum baculum inclusum corneo cavato ad id baculo tulisse
donum Apollini dicitur, per ambages effigiem ingenii sui."
They leave Delphi, and the well-known tale follows of
Brutus kissing his mother earth. Brutus does not throw off
the mask till the death of Lucretia, when he suddenly vows
that kings shall cease at Rome, and gives his friends the
suicide's knife ; they " wonder at the marvel, whence was
^ Cp. also Ovid, Fasti, ii. 717: "Brutus erat stulti sapiens imitator.''
APPENDIX II. 407
this strange wit in the breast of Brutus". The sequel
shows him dethroning the tyrant, and elected one of the first
consuls.
Such is the story of Livy. The points to note are these :
(i) The uncle, a usurper, who has already killed a son of the
old king, now slays one of his own nephews who is spirited
and unwary, and (ii) persecutes the other, who (iii) escapes
by seeming doltish. This nephew then (iv) goes on an errand
with two companions, who think him foolish ; he (v) puts
gold in his sticks by kissing the earth ; he (vi) outwits his
companions, he awakens up on emergency ; he (vii) matures
revenge and works it ; he (viii) succeeds to power. These
likenesses to Saxo's tale are clear ; but Saxo, there is no
doubt, knew the story best from his favourite, Valerius
Maximus. His page is duller than Livy's, and his version
runs as follows (the phrase in italics is taken by Saxo in his
story of Amleth, as Stephanius long ago noticed) :• — •
"Quo in genere acuminis [vafritiae] in primis Junius
Brutus referendus est. nam cum a rege Tarquinio, avunculo
suo, omnem nobilitatis indolem excerpi, interque ceteros etiam
fratrem suum, quod vegetioris ingenii esset, interfectum ani-
madverteret, ohtunsi se cordis esse simulavit eaque fallacia
maximas suas virtutes texit. profectus etiam Delphos cum
Tarquinii filiis, quos is ad Apollinem Pythium muneribus et
sacrificiis honorandum miserat, aurum deo nomine doni clam
cavato baculo inclusum tulit, quia timebat ne sibi caeleste
numen aperta liberalitate venerari tutum non esset." (Memo-
rabilia, vii. 2.) "-, K o,\c\ I
Valerius, therefore, adds nothing to Livy, but, on the
contrary, reduces and dries up his story. Dionysius of
Halicarnassus' account of the matter (iv. 68, 77) may be
shortened. Here, Brutus's father and brother have been
murdered by Tarquin. "Brutus being young and wholly
without support, undertook the wisest possible project: he
libelled himself with an assumption of folly; and he from
that time forth continually kept up the pretence of being
stupid, whence he received this surname [B/3o£)to9, which
408 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
Dionysius elsewhere explains as equal to rjXi0io<;'], and this
saved him from suffering any harm at the hands of the tyrant,
while many good men perished." Tarquin then takes away
his goods, and keeps him with his children to be their butt.
They visit Delphi, and, after hearing the oracle, " they pre-
sented offerings to the god, and mocked much at Brutus
because he offered to Apollo a wooden stick ; but he had
bored it through like a flute, and put in it a rod of gold,
without any man knowing." The usual sequel is repeated.
Later, on being made consul, he harangues the Eomans in a
way reminding us of Amleth, explaining how he had assumed
the mien of a man distracted, and had seemed a fool. This
feature, absent in Livy and Valerius, is the only one that
raises a possibility (quite remote) of Dionysius having reached
Saxo through some epitome or Latinised citations.
§ 9. These points of likeness are apparent. Another is the
name of Amleth, Aml6^i. Like Brutus, it means dull or
foolish. Vigfiisson (Icel. Bid. s. v.) conjecturally connects it
with an Anglo-Saxon word liomola, which occurs once in the
laws of Alfred, and which he translates " fool" ; but Bosworth
aad Toller give up the meaning of homola. Vigf (isson gives as
a secondary modern meaning, " an imbecile, weak person, one of
weak bodily frame, unable to do work, not up to the mark.
' You are a great Amld'Si, that is, a weak fellow, poor fool.' "
Compounds carry out this idea, amld^a-skapr, for instance,
meaning imbecility. Aasen (Norsk Ordbog, 1877) gives amlod
in a modern Norwegian dialect as a pestering fool, amlode to
pester foolishly.
The reference in Snsebiorn's verse (§ 4) to an Oceanic
Amlo^i clearly shows that the word as a proper name is 200
years older than Saxo. Nor is there anything in that verse
to show that this being was stupid. The name, therefore,
may be guessed to have gained its connotation of "stupid"
(and thence to have entered the language) from the story
Saxo knew and repeated. The prince was not called Amleth
because he feigned stupidity ; but, because Amleth did so, his
name came to mean " stupid". The view, therefore, that the
APPENDIX II. 409
name of Amleth is a deliberate translation of the word Brutus
into Norse, is unnecessary.
§ 10. But is the story, as Dr. Detter holds, an immigrant
version of the Briitus-story, "transformed and taken up as
the Hamlet-saga into Norse literature" ? " We find it", he
says, " in the Skald Snsebiorn, in the verse Edda, and in the
saga of Hrolf Kraki. In the twelfth century Saxo Grammaticus
works it up. The saga wanders to the extreme north of
Europe, where we find it as Ambales-saga, and where it has
survived till to-day in the folk-tale of Brjam." On this view,
the skeleton at least of the story is directly taken from the
Latin classics, while the Norse elements are so many accretions.
Certainly the likenesses between the Brutus tale and the
sundry forms of the Amleth tale are remarkable ; and to do
this theory justice they may be recapitulated. They are :
(i) the usurping uncle ; (ii) the persecuted nephew ; (iii) his
loss of his elder brother, and own escape ; (iv) his feigned
madness, which takes in everybody; (v) his going on a
journey ; (vi) his maturing of revenge ; (vii) his putting gold
in the sticks ; (viii) his punishing his foes ; and (ix) his coming
to power.
But we must also bear in mind the many features in Saxo
alone which have no analogue at all in any shape of the Latin
story. They are (i) the part played by the prince's mother ;
(ii) the plans against him ; (iii) all his devices, besides the
sticks, to baulk them ; (iv) the part played by the prototypes
of Ophelia and Polonius ; (v) the whole fashion of revenge, and
(vi) the entire chapter of Amleth's adventures in England.
With the element represented in the classics, therefore, an
equally large element, presumably Norse, is found in combina-
tion. The question is, how the apparently classic element came
in ? Did Saxo find it there, or did he put it there ? A strong
presumption that he put in some of it, is found in the episode
of the sticks filled with gold. This was in Valerius, whom he
habitually read. Also, given a story to his hand with any re-
semblance to that of Brutus, he would be strongly tempted to
improve the resemblance, and probably did so. But, in that
410 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
case, how much he added from other sources or his own
fancy, it is impossible to guess. Even that xmknown amount
of resemblance to the Brutus story which Saxo found and
did not make, may be due to many causes. There is no
need to assume an infiltration of the classic saga. The motive
may have been part of the general European fund, of which
the Latin and Norse versions may be separate offshoots. We
cannot yet tell. Likewise, it is impossible to determine how
far Saxo found the Danish^ element (§ 3) and the Icelandic
elements (§ 4, sq.) already united, and how far (if at all) he
united them himself. We can only say that a tradition, con-
nected first with a mythical Norse name, and with Icelandic
sagas early and late, is by Saxo attached to a prince of Jutland,
and bears traces of classical influence ; and further (§ 2), that
Saxo had different versions before him which he sifted. It
may be objected this is merely to restate the problem we
began with ; and so it is. But, with the facts before us, we
can at least shun licence of hypothesis.^ And we really know
too little — though this also has been a ground teeming with
hypotheses — of the degree to which Saxo habitually altered
his materials, to justify us in decomposing his saga further.^
^ There is no doubt that (as Dr. Olrik points out, KUd. til Sakses Old
Historie, p. 132; Kons;. Nord. Oldsk., 1892) that the forms Amlethus
(Jutish) and Hermintruda (German) point to Danish origin, as do the local
associations, the anonymity of many of the personages (un-Icelandic), and
other traits of the story, the absence of verse for instance. — F. Y. P.
2 Such as has been rife on this question. Dr. Adolf Zinzow, in Die
Hamletsage an und mit verwandten Sagen erldutert, Halle, 1877, reduces
all the personages to nature-myths, Feng being the destructive winter-
god, and the like. Dr. R. G. Latham, in two Dissertations on the
Hamlet of Saxo Grammaticus and of Shakespeare, London, 1872, a very
confused work, denies (what the verses in the prose Edda prove) that
there was ever an Amlethus in Norse legend, asserting, in spite of
their strait connection, that the Amleths of Bks. iii and iv are different
persons ; he identifies the first with a totally different character, the mute
Uffo, and the second with Huglek-Chochelaicus.
^ There is a type of old -story occurring in Great Britain and Ireland,
which relates how a wicked king usurps a kingdom. The hero, pretending
to be a fool, executes vengeance by letting in the water of the sea upon
APPENDIX II. 411
the king and his palace and realm, which is sunk under the waves, only
appearing now and then at low tides or by fragments dragged up by
fishermen's anchors. There is a woman of the Ophelia type, apparently,
in some versions of the story (see Fotir Aiicient Books of Wales, i. 302, 310 ;
ii. 59, 353). Now, there are several marked indications of sea-influence in
this Amlethus story ; his remarks touching the rudder smack of the sea.
Snssbiorn speaks of his mill and the sand his meal-. He kills his foes by
a net which trammels them. There is the feigned madness, the usurper,
the woman, common elements in both. Is it not possible that the original
Amlethus took vengeance by water, not by fire ? Is not this folk-tale,
the Sea-Hamlet, one of the ground-elements in Saxo's story ? The
"riddles" (which might originally have been in verse, as we thought in
0. P. B.) must be part of the original story ; they are not Saxo's inven-
tions, in our judgment.
That there was an eleventh-century AmlolSi's Saga is not an hypothesis
that has much evidence to support it. But it is not unlikely that a brief
chapter on Amlo^i found an episode in the early part of Scioldunga ;
there may even have been a scrap or two of verse of an old Amlo^i's lay
in this chapter. But the main part of Saxo's relation rests on local
tradition (whether plain speech or verse we do not know, but more
probably plain speech), and on the Brutus story, which we know Saxo
had before him in one classic author at least.
The connection between Hamlet and the rest of Teutonic mythology
rests with Orwendil, whose son he is. Dr. Rydberg's Hamlet- Swipdag
{Tewt. Myth. 571-2) is a mere guess, and his evidence from Jordanis
reposes, in the case of Orwendil, on a false reading — Arwantala
(Arpantala) for Respamare or Reswamare. That the original Amlo«i
tale, whatever it was, was connected with Orwendil and Geirwendil
seems hardly doubtful. That Orwendil was known in England the Codex
Exonienais bears witness in the verses —
"Eala Earendel, engla beorhtast
Ofer middangeard monnum sended."
Grimm pointed this out long ago {Teui. Myth., tr. Stally brass, i. 375-6).
So far, no trace of the Hamlet story associated with Hamlet's name has
been recognised in England. — P. Y. P.
NoTB.— Since the above was in type. Professor Rhys has kindly sent
us a summary of an unpublished Irish tale copied by him from Bodley MS.
Laud 610 (foil. 96-7), of the same general kind as the story given in
§^5, though no kinship can be supposed. There is (i) a rightful heir (ii)
i;eared by his foster-father, and (iii) in the end dispossessing an usurper.
412 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
The heir (iv) gives a wise answer. The story in its other features touches
rather the great class that deals with 'princes reared among beasts, like
William of Palerne. We are glad to print Professor Rhys' summary
here, as being of interest in a book on folk-lore : —
"The battle of Magh Mucruimhe was fought between Art, King of
Ireland, and Mac Con. The latter had been banished, and returned with
allies from Britain. They invaded Connaught, and Magh Mucruimhe is
supposed by O'Curry (MS. Materials, p. 43) to be between Athenree and
Gralway, and he guesses the date to have been 195 a.d. Irish history
speaks of it as a great battle, and, as usual in Irish story, the great
leaders slept with young women of distinction the night before going to
the battle, that they might leave issue. Several of the latter figure in
Irish story. This was the case with Art, the King of Ireland ; he fell in
the battle, leaving Achtan, the maid with whom he slept, with child.
In due time the child was born : it was a boy, and was named Cormac
— the celebrated Cormac Mao Airt he became. After the battle
Mac Con usurped the kingly power, and ruled at Tara for thirty years,
when he was superseded by Cormac Mac Airt. I ought to have said that
Mac Con was related to Art : he appears to have been the son of his
sister.
"Now as to Cormac's story. When he was born, five spells were sung
over him, to defend him against (1) wounds, (2) drowning, (3) fire,
(4) brevity of life (?), (5) wolves. [In fact, he died an old man, choked by
a salmon-bone, at the wish of a Druid who was angry with him for
becoming Christian.] When he was a young child, a she-wolf carried
Cormac away from his mother's side, and the beast suckled him, till a
certain man found him running with the cubs of the she-wolf. He
caught him and fed him for a year, when his mother Achtan heard of it,
and came for the child. The man gave her the child, and told her the
story of his finding it. He sent her away secretly when he discovered
that the child was son of Art, as he felt that he was risking his own life if
this reached the ears of Mac Con, the King of Tara.
"Achtan and her child went to the North of Ireland to the foster-
father of Art, and on her way she was attacked by a pack of wolves,
which were, however, diverted by a herd of deer attracting their atten-
tion. At the house of Art's foster-father the mother and child remained,
and Cormac was brought up there till he was thirty years of age. Then
he was equipped with the sword, the gold ring, and the raiment of his
father, and sent alone to Tara. At the gates of Tara Cormac found a man
disputing with a woman, who was weeping bitterly, whereupon Cormac
made for the man, and drew his sword. The man proved to be Nechtan,
the King's steward, and in spite of his remonstrance he had to surrender.
Whereupon Cormac bound him to grant him a boon : the boon proved to
APPENDIX II. 413
be that he was to say nothing at the Court of Tara about him (Cormac).
This granted, Cormac inquired why the woman was weeping, and the
steward replied that she wept because that she did not like a judgment
pronounced by the King, namely, that she was to forfeit her sheep for the
damage they had done by grazing on the Queen's lawn. It were more
just, said Cormac, that the one fleecing [the wool of the sheep] should be
taken as indemnity for the other [the grazing the sheep had done]. The
steward reported this to the King, who exclaimed that the man who said
that was to be his successor on the throne of Tara, adding, ' If there be
a man of the race of Art in Erinn, it is that man.' Mac Con thereupon
quitted Tara, and left it and the kingdom in the hands of Cormac."
APPENDIX III.
GENEALOaY OF SAXO. Books I. II.
1. HUMBLUS I.
Grytha.f2. Dan I.
Angul.
3. HUMBLTJS II. <t. LOTHEE.
I
Aluilda, d. E. Saxonu.j5. Scioldus.
I
I
HaquinuSjR. Signe.dtr. Sum-f6. Geam.^
Nitherorom. blus, E. I
I Finnoi'u.
iSwipdag, E. Sueonum.
=Gro, dtr. Sigtrwjus, Gunil-^p^smwnd.
B. Sueonum. da.
Rag- =
Hilda.
7. Hadin- Harth- Guthormus. Hericus. Uffo. i?«m(Zinjr,fThoi-ilda.
Gus. grepa, f. IE.
Wagn- I Sueonum.
head. Dtr.
I 1 2 3 I I I
Dtr. ofHand- 8. Fbotho Guth- Ulvil- Uffo. Scot- ^\xa.\i-=^Regnerus, Thoral-
uanus, E.
Hellesponti.
I.
I
orm. da.
I I I
Haldantjs I. 9. EoE I. 9. Soatus.
E. dus.
Sueonum.
tua. huita.
IIothbroddMS, R. Sueonum.
10. EoE II. 10. HELiiB.fThora.
I I I
Vrsa,.f^Atislus, E. Nanna, f. Gewai-. 12. Hotheeus.
I Sueonum. I
11. EoLuo krage. Sculda Hiartuarus, Euta. Biarco. 13. EoKious,
Pref. Suecie. Slyngebond.
Gerwendillus, prefectus lutie.
I 2 I 1
Fengo. Hoi'wendillus.fGerutha.
2 I 1
li. Vi(}LECus. Hermuntruda. Amlethua.=Dtr. of K. of
I Britain.
Frowine, E. of SleswiGk.
15. Vekmundus.
E. Ket. B. Wig. Dtr. sl6. TJFro [Olauus Mansuetus].
I
17. Dan II [tumidus].
APPENDIX UI.
GENEALOGY OF SAXO. Books III. IV. V. VI. VII.
18. HuaLEcixs.
19. Frotho II Veoetus.
20. Dan III.
Hun, K. of Huns.
2 I 1
Eoller, Hanuu-f=
s. of da. I
Kagnar of
Norway. |
21. Fridleuus I CELER. Gotharus,
K. Norway.
Eagnar of
Norway.
2 I
22. FaoTHO III.jAlvilda. Gothwar, K.^Gunwara. = Brie elo-
Norway. I quens, K.
of Swedes.
Progertha, dtr. off
Asmund, K. I
Norw.
I III
23. Fridleuus — luritha, Ane. Alf. Eyfora.f=Avn- Alt-
II. I dtr. of Grubb. | grim, liild.
Hythin, K. of
Thelemark.
24. Frotho IV LAKQUS. Olaf Sons of /Arngantyr, Rane.
Litilldte. Arn- I Hiartwar, Hiortwar.
grim — J Haddings twain,
j Tyrfing Tand.
Hiarrande Brodd.
vTiiarbi Brond.
Dtv. Half- Dtr.p25. Ingellitb. H eIga.=T^Helge of Norway . Asa.
dan, of
K. of Swert-
Swedes. ing.
Frode. Fridlaf. Ingeld.
Siward' K. Swedes. 26. Olatius. o. s. p. o.s.p. u.s.p. Carolus, Pr»f.
I I Gothie.
I I 1
TJlfiida. 27. Frotho V. Haraldus.fSygne. Hather.
I
Eric, K.
of
Sweden.
Haraldus. 28. Haldanxts II.=f Thorhild.
Asmund.
416 SAX.0 GtRAMMAflCUS.
GENEALOGY OF SAXO. Books VII. VIII.
29. Yngwe, K. of Goths.
1 I
31). SiwALD I. Sigrid.
1 I
31. SioAE. Sigrid. = Ottar Ebbe's sou.
32. SiwALD II. Alfgeir.
Signe. = Hagbard. s. of Hamund.
Siward, K. of Goths.
Eegnald, K. of Norway.
1 1 „ 1 ,
2„ 1 1
Alf.fAlfhild. Osten. Wermund. 33. BoBGAiiFfDrott,f=Gunnar the cruel, of
of Scania. | | Sweden.
Guritha.THalfdan. 'Div.YIngild, s. of Dtr.=pSiward of Hildiger
Ali!er,'K.Qi | Norway. the cruel.
Sweden, b. |
of Olaf and i
Ing. I
Athysl, K. of Scania. 35. Eino. Esa, dtr. of Olaf, K. of Werinia.=r36. Ole
I ! ^
I I I
Homod. Dtr. Esa.f=37. Omund.
T
34. Hakald I Hildetand.
T
III I
38. Siward I. Budle. Dtr. = ffoiAai-, K. of Swedes. Dtr.
! , .^
I I I
39. Ebmanabic — sister of the Hellespontines. Dtr. Dtr.
I ^^
40. Bbodbe. S. S. S.
41. SlWALD III.
I
42. Snio. = Dtr. of K. of Goths.
43. BiOEN.
I
44. Habald II.
I
45. GoBM I. Gaut, K. of Norway.
46. GOTBIC-GODFBED. =Dtr.
Siward I5ing.fDtr. 47. Olauus. Dtr. 48. Hemming.
I ■
King, K, of Jutland.
APPEifDix m.
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E E
APPENDIX IV.
LAST NEWS OF STAECAD.
The Tale of Thorstan shiver {Flatey-hooh, i. 416). — It
is told that the summer after^ King 01a£ [Tryggwesson]
went to guest quarters east over the Wick and other places
about. He took quarters at the homestead that is called Rain.
He had a good many men with him. There was a man then
with the king whose name was Thorstan, the son of Thorkell,
the son of Asgar sedicoll, the son of Audun shackle, an
Icelander, and he had come to the king the winter before.
In the evening, as men sat over the drink-tables. King Olaf
said that no man of his men was to go alone into the hall
by night: and that anyone who wished to go should call
his bedfellow with him ; or else, he said, he would not
permit it. Men now drank well the evening through, and
when the drink-table was oflf men went to bed. And as
the night wore on, Thorstan the Icelander woke, and was
minded to get out of his berth; but he that lay beside
him was sleeping so soundly that Thorstan would not at
all wake him. He stood up and slipped his shoes on his
feet and took a thick rug over him and walked to the
draught-house. It was a big house, and set so that eleven
men could sit on either side. He sat down on the nearest
seat. And when he had sat there a little while he saw a puck
come up out of the inmost seat and sit down there. Then
said Thorstan, " Who is come there ?" The iSend answereth,
"Here is come Thorkell the thin that fell at Bra-field^
1 It was the summer after Earl Rognwald had sent an embassy to the
king.
2 MS. reads "a hrse", which Vigfusson emends "d Brd,velli" with
success.
APPENDIX IV. 419
with King Harold War-tooth." " Whence comest thou now ?"
quoth Thorstan. He said he was come fresh from hell.
" What canst tell me about it ?" asked Thorstan. He an-
swereth, " What wilt thou know about ?" " Who beareth his
pain best in Hell ?" " None better," quoth the puck, " than
Sigurd Fafnesbane." " What pain hath he ?" " He kindleth
the burning oven," saith the ghost. " That seemeth not to
me so great a pain," saith Thorstan. " That is not so," quoth
the puck, " for he himself is the kindling." " Then it is great,"
quoth Thorstan. " But who beareth his pain the worst ?"
The ghost answereth, " Starcad the old beareth it worst, for he
will be whooping so that it is greater punishment to us fiends
than well-nigh all else, inasmuch as we can get no rest for his
whooping." " What punishment hath he, then ?" quoth
Thorstan, " that he beareth so ill, so stout a man as he hath
been called ?" " He hath his ankles afire." " That doth not
seem to me so much," said Thorstan, " for such a champion as
he hath been." "It is not accounted so little," quoth the
ghost, " for only the soles of his feet stand up out of the
fire." " That is a great punishment," quoth Thorstan, " and do
thou whoop a whoop like him ?" " So it shall be," quoth the
puck. Then he cast asunder the chaps on him and set up a
great howl. But Thorstan pulled the skirt of the rug over
his head. He was right ill at ease with that whoop, and he
spake, " Doth he whoop his biggest whoop so ?" " Far from
it," quoth the ghost, " for that is the whoop of a paltry little
devil like me." " Whoop a little like Starcad," quoth Thorstan.
" That may well be," quoth the puck. Then he betook him
to whooping a second time, and so frightfully that it was a
wonder to Thorstan how so small a fiend could make such
a mighty howl. Thorstan did as before ; he wrapped the rug
about his head and covered him so, nevertheless a swoon came
Over him so that he lost his senses. Then the puck asked,
" Why art thou silent ?" Thorstan answered, " I was silent
because I was wondering what a mighty power of noise there
is in thee, so small a puck as methinks thou art. And is that
the biggest whoop of Starcad ?" " It is no nearer it," saith he ;
£ E 2
420 SAXO GRAMMATICUS.
" it is rather the least of his whoops." " Put it off no more,"
quoth Thorstan, " and let me hear his biggest whoop." The
puck agreed thereto. Thorstan made him ready against it,
and drew the rug together, and so turned it over his head and
held it outside with his two hands. The ghost had moved
up toward Thorstan about three seats with each whoop, and
there were now only three seats between them. Then the
puck puffed out his chaps fearfully, and rolled his eyes, and
began to howl so loud that Thorstan thought it passed all
measure.
And at that nick a bell rang in the place, and Thorstan fell
forward senseless down on to the floor. But the puck, when
he heard the noise of the bell, was so moved that he sank
down through the floor, and one might long hear the booming
of him down in the earth. Thorstan soon came to himself, and
stood up and walked to his berth and lay down.
And in the morning men got up, the king went to church
and heard the hours. After that they walked to table. The
king was not very blithe. He took up his speech, " Did any
man go alone to the draught-house last night ?" Thorstan
then stood up and bowed down before the king, and said that he
had broken his command. The king answereth, " It hath not
so greatly offended me : but thou showest what is told of you
Icelanders, that ye are very self-willed. But didst see any-
thing ?" Thorstan told him then the whole story as it had
happened. The king asked, "What didst think when he
whooped ?" " I will tell thee. Lord, I thought I could tell from
thy having warned all men not to go thither alone, when the
bogey came up, that we should not part without scathe. But I
thought that thou wouldst waken. Lord, when he whooped, and
I thought if thou should learn to know of it, I should then be
holpen." " It was so," said the king, " that I woke with it, and
thereby I knew what was going on, wherefor I had the bell
rung, for I knew that thou couldst not otherwise endure. But
wast not afraid when the puck began to whoop ?" Thorstan
answered, " I know not what it is to be afraid." " Was never
fear in thy breast V said the king. " Never," said Thorstan,
APPENDIX IV. 421
"though with that last whoop a shiver well-nigh shot into
my breast." Answereth the king, " Now thy name shall be
eked, and thou called Thorstan Shiver henceforward. And
here is a sword that I will give thee as a name-fastening."
Thorstan thanked him. It is told that Thorstan became a
court-man of King Olaf's, and was with him afterwards, and
fell with other of the king's champions on the Long Serpent.
"AND THE END WAS EVER TO DO WELL."
*5
INDICES.
I.— PERSONS AND PLACES.
Absalon, bishop, x, xii, xv, xcviii, ±, ;i,
285, 397
Achtan, 412
^Inoth, English monk, ix
Africanus (Scipio), 213
Agapete, Agapetus, 385
Agdar Ness [modern Norw. Agdenaes],
Agdarnes, 222
Agg, Agi ( ? Aki), Aggi, 309, 312
Agg, Aggo, guardian of Frode III, 148
Agg, Aggo, son of Gambaruk, 342
Agnar, Agnerus, son of Ingell, xlvi, 68-9,
Agnar, Agnerus, son of Ragnar, 366
Aland, Halica provincia, 311
Alf, K. of Hethmark, 199
Alf, son of Sigar, xciii, c, cxxi, 274-9,
Alf, son of Agg, 309
Alf Goter, 310
Alf, Aluo, son of Erik, 203
Alf the Far- Wanderer, 313
Alf the Lofty, 313
Alfhild, Aluilda, Saxon princess, 17
Alfhild, Aluilda, d. of Gotar, 181-4
Alfhild, Alui'da, d. of Siward the Goth,
liv, c, 274-7
Alfred, xlix, li, Ixxxiv, xc
Alger, -us, 274, 277, 279
Alkil, Alkillus, 339
AUemannians, Alemanni, 18 ; Allemannia,
Alrik, Alricus, K. of Swedes, 199
Alver, Aluerus, son of Alrek, 313
Alver, Aluerus, K. of Sweden, 290, 292,
Ambales, 404
Ambar, 309
Amleth, -us, I eel. Amld^i, D. Am lode,
Hamlet, prince of Jutland, xlvii, xcv,
106-30, 398-413 : speech to his mother,
111-2 ; to the Danes, 118-21
Ammianus, Marcellinus, xcvii
Amund, -us, K. of Norway, 218-21
Ana-fial, rock in Russia, 229
Andrew, Andreas, D. Anders Suneson,
Archbishop of Lund, patron of Saxo,
xvi, 2
Ane, Ano, the Archer, xlvii, 221-3
Anganty, Angantir, son of Arngrim, 205
Anganty, Angaierus or Anganturus,
Zealander, 238, 241
Angers-Fragment, xix-xxi, 17-20
Angles, Anglica gens, in S. Jutland, 15
Angli ( — 'EngWsti), 208. 5ee English
Angrbode, cxxi
Angul, brother of Dan, 15
Anlaf, xlix, lii, cxiv
Anses, cxxii
Ansgarius, saint, Ixxxii, cxiv, 384
Anund, -us, rover, 266
Aquitania, 301
Arabia, xxx
Are, xciii
Ari the One-Eyed, Ary cassus lumine,
Arinbiorn, Norwegian robber, 213
Arkon, town in Rugen, 392
Arngrim. -us, Swedish champion, xlvii,
xciv, 203-4
Arnold the Icelander, Arnoldus Tylensis,
XV, xcviii '
Arthor, or Arnthor, Arthorius, prince of
Sundmor and Nordmor, 196
Arwakki, Arwacki, Swede, 313
Arwar-odd, Aruaroddus { = Arrow-Odd),
rover, xlvii, liv, 204, 205
Asa, sister of Ingild, 238
Ascensius, Jodocus Badius, printer of srf.
fr, of Saxo, xvii-xviii
Aschaneus, priest, xix
Asgard, xci
Asker, bishop, xi
Asmund, -us, son of Alf, 199-201 ; his
song, 201
Asmund, -us, son of Halfdan, 270
Asmund, -us, son of Swipdag, his song,
Ixvi, 32-33
Asmund, -us, K. of Wikars, 297
Aswid, Asuitus, Asuit, son of Biorn, Ixvi,
Ixvii, 199-201
Atalanta, lii, xciv
Athisl, -us, D. Adils (Eadgils), K. of
Swedes, xxxvii, 131-8, 140
Athisl, Atislus, Athislus (Eadgils), son of
Hothbrodd, 64-7, 69, 83, 90
Attal, champion, 17
Attila, Ixxxi
Atyl, -us (Eadgils), Skanian, 321
Axelsted, Axelstada — Alsted in Zealand ?
INDEX.
B.
Balder, -us, son of Odin, xlvi, Ixi, Ixiv,
Ixvii, cxxii, 84-93
Balder's haven or lee, 89
Bannockburn, li
Bsiri, 310
Barri, 310
Barth, Caspar, xviii
Beigad, Begathus, Dane, 310
Belgi, 310
Bemon, 311
Ber (Biorn?), Bero, soldier of Rusla, 323
Bar (Biorn?), Bero, Icelander, 357
Berg, Berhgar, Icelander, 313
Berhtwulf, 772 n.
Bersi, from Falu, 312
Bess, -us, servant of Gram,, his flyting,
19-21 ; song, 22 '
Biarbe, Biarbi, son of Arngrim, 264
Biargram, Biargrammus, ' ' mountain-
strong," 265
Biari, 311
Biarke, Biarco, Bearce, champion, xlvi,
68-80 : his songs, 72, 77-79, 80
Biarki, Byarchi, 312
Bikk, Bicco, prince of Livonians, 335-8
Bild, Bildus, son of Finn, 145-6
Bilwis, Bilwisus, brother of Bolwis, 282
Biorn, K. of Denmark, son of Snio,
Biorn, Biorn, Biorno, Norwegian robber,
213-22
Biorn, from Soghni, 312
Biorn, Biornus, ruler of Sweden, son of
Ragnar Lodbrog, 366, 370, 374, 378,
381-3
Biorn, Biorno, ruler of Wik, 199
Birger, archbishop of Lund, xvii
Birwil, Bijivillus, sea-king, 307; "the
Pale," 312
Blacmen, Btacmanni, 275-6
Bleking, Blekingia, 8 ; rock in, 9, 296,
Blend (Blaeng?), Icelander, 310
Blihar (Blig?), the Snub-nosed, 312
Bo (Bui?), Bramason, 310
Bocheror, Bocher-Sr, in Sweden, 339
Boe, Bous, son of Odin, Ixii, Ixvi, 99, 100
Bok, Bokus, the Covetous, 75
Bolwis, Bolwisus, the ill counsellor, 279,
Bootes, the constellation, 9
Borgar, Borcarus, friend of Alf Sigarson,
276, 287, 290-1
Borgar, Borrhy, Burgha (?), from Leire,
310, 316
Borgar, Burgar, 312
Boudicea, xxix
Brage, Brache, tutor of Hadding, 24
Bragi (?), Brahi, Icelander, 313
Brak, Bracus, Brae, husband of Kraka,
178, 180, 184
Brand Crumb [Mica), 310
Brand, Brander, son of Arngrim, 204
Brat, Jutlander, 310
Bravalla, warriors at the fight of, xlix-1,
309-19; "Bravic war," 319; trophies
of, 328
Bremen, ix, xiv
Bricrind, Iv
Britain, Britaiinia, 2, 15, 42, k,6, 59-60,
112-3, 122-7, 147* 205, 301, 368
British Knight, his speech, 59-60
Britons, S/-;to»«z', 56-58, 60, 67, 113, 128,
Brjdm, 405, 409
Brodd, Brodder, son of Arngrim, 204
Brodd, Brodde, son of Finn, 145-6
Broder, -us, K. of Denmark, son of
Jarmerik, 336-8
Broder, -us, servant of Gudmund, 349,
3SI
Brun, Bruno, servant of Harald Hyldetan,
? Odin, Ix, 307, 315, 317
Brundeluk (Bryndalk ?), Brundelucus,
surname of Gram, 313
Brunhild, xcii
Bryniolf, Bishop of Skalholt, xviii
Buchi (Buk 7), brother of Broder, 349, 351
Budle, Buthlus, Regent of Denmark,
brother of Siward, 330, 334
Bug, Bugo, son of Finn, 145, 146
Byzantium, Bizantium, seat of the gods,
Ix, xcii ; 31, 98 and n,, 230
C (see K).
Caesar, his "recompense", 212
Calais burgesses, xlvi
" Captain Cook's path," Ixxxi
Chaka, li
Christ, 379
Christianity, 359, 380, 384-6
Christian II, xvii
Cicero, xxi, 213-4 '^•
Clerk Saunders, Ixix
Cormac Mac Airt, 412, 413.
Corvey, men of, Coruegienscs, 396
Cuchullin, xxxvii
Curtana, sword, .xlvi
D.
Dag, -us, K. of Ruthenians, 193, 197
Dag (?), Dakar, of Gronland (Grenski),
3"
Dal, Sclavonian, 301
Dal (Dag ?) the Fat, 310
Dala, in Norway (Gudbrandsdalen), 317
Daleman, -nus, governor of London, 61
Dan I, K. of Denmark, 15-16
Dan II, K. of Denmark, son of Uffe,
Dan III, K, of Denmark, 145
Danai, 15
Danes, Dani, fassim
Danewerk, x
Daxo, Daxon, prince of "Hellespont",
xxvi, xxxiv, xlv, 372, 376, 378
Denmark, Dania, fassim
Dia, Dian, K. of " Hellespont", 372
Dia, Dian, son of Dia, 372
INDEX.
Dorn, Dorno, K. of Kurlanders, 46
Draupnir, Ixvi
Drotta, Drot, Drota, d. of Regnald, 288
Duk, Dnc^ Sclavonian general, 301, 310
Dudo, historian of Normandy, xci, xcviii,
IS
Dublin, Duflinum, Duflina, 147, 229,
328, 379, 389
Duna (Dunaburg), 30
Dunbar, Ivii
Dunwat, son of Ragnar Lodbrog, 366,
E.
Ebb, Ebbe, Ehbo, rover, 270, 273
Ebb, Ebho, son of Sibb, 330-1
Ebb, Ebho, son of Gambarulc, 342
Eckisax, sword, Ixxxi
Edwin, xli
Egther, -us, prince of Permland, 203-4
Egther, -us, Finlander, 269
Eider, Eyder, Eidorus, river, 7, 142
Elbe, Albi[y)a, lii, 6, 8, 145, 196, 231,
312, 359
Elfheah, Ivii
Ella, see Helle
.EUi, 309, 316
Elpenor, Ixxiii
Elrik (Alrek ?), Elricus, 313-4
Enar (icel. Einarr) the Paunched, 313
England, Anglia, 15, 381, 383, 385, 388,
English, AngH, 379, 383, 385, 386
Enni-gnup (= Steep-Brow), regent of
Denmark, 385
Erand, 307
Erasmus, cited, xvi, xxii
Erik, Ericus, Mil-sfaki, the Shrewd-
Spoken, K. of Sweden, son of Ragnar
the champion, xlii, Ixxvi-vii, Ixxxii,
155-185, 1S9-192, 194, 197, 198-203,
205, 213; prose-speech to Gotar, 155-6;
flyting with Grep, 162-3 I flyting with
Frode, 166-171 ; with Gotwar, 171 ;
prose remonstrance with Frode, 175-7 '>
flyting with Olmar, 190
Erik, Ericus, son of Frode V, 263-5
Erik, Ericus Fabulator, the Story-teller,
Erik, Ericus Veniosi Pillei, son of Rag-
nar Lodbrog, Wind-hat, 370, 378, 383
Erik, Ericus, "of royal line," 382-3
Erik, Ericus, bro. of Harald, 382
Erik I, Ericus, the Christian, Ixxxii, 383-4
Erling, Erlingar, the Snake, 313
Ermoldus Nigellus, ix
Esa, princess of Werms, 304
Esbern, Hesbernus, son of Asker, 285
Esbern, Hesbernus, grandfather of Ubbe,
Esbiorn, robber, 213
Esthonia, Hestia, Estia, 2 n. , 196, 199,
Esthonians, Estones, 224, 314
Etha-scog (= Eid-skogen or Eyda-skog
in Wermland), 302
Ethelred (H)edelradus, K. of English
386, 388
Europe, Europa, 30, 370
Eyfura, Ofura, d. of Frode III, 203-5
Eyr, Helgi's general, 62
Eystan the Bad, xxiv
Falu { = Fjalir ?), in Norway, 313
Fanning, -us, son of Finn, 145
Fantua, " Foreboder, " 51
Fates, ParccB, 223, 294
Fauconberg, lii
Fauns, Fauni, 51
Feng, Fengo, prince of Jutland, uncle of
Amleth, 104-13, 117-123, 125, and
App. II
Ferdia, xxxvii
Fialler, governor of Skaane, cxxii, 129
Findar (Finn ?), 312
Finland, Finnia, Phinnia, Ixi, 23, 199,
276 ; Finmark, Finnimarckia, Finn-
tnarchia, 203, 373
Finn, Fyn, 145
Finns, Finlanders, Finni, Phinni, xlv,
xlviii, Ixxxix, xciv, 23, 24, 87, 94, 203-4,
373-4
Flebak, 328
Flokk, Floccus, Russian chief, 227
Folk, Folco, officer of Ket, 132
Folki, son of Elrik, 313
Frakk, Fraccus, son of Bemon, 227
Franks, Franci, 359
Frazer, Mr., xxix
Frey, Fro, god, Ix, Ixii, Ixiii, cxv, cxxii,
cxxiv, 37, 90, 228 (?), 313 ; Fray's sacri-
fice, Frdblod, 38
Frey (?), Fro, K. of Sweden, 363
Freya, Ixiii, cxxi, cxxii
Friesland, Fresia, xlv, 55, 359-360
Friesland( Lesser North Friesland), Fresia
minor, 7 and n.
Fridleif I, Fridleuus, the Swift, K. of
Denmark, 145-8, 190
Fridleif II, Fridleuus, Frithlaf, K. of
Denmark, son of Frode III, li, xci,
212-23
Fridleif, Fridleuus, son of Ingild, 233
Fridleif, Fridleuus, son of Ragnar Lod-
brog, 364-5, 368-70, 378
Frigg, Frigga, Frig, Frigga, goddess, Ixi,
31, 80, 343
Frisians, Fresi, Fresica gens, Freson.es,
55-6, 300, 359
Frode I, Froiho, K. of Denmark, son of
Hadding, lii, xcii, 45-9, 54-61
Frode \\,Frotho Vegetus, K. of Denmark,
the Vigorous, Icel. hinnfrcekni, 144-5
Frode III, Froiho, K. of Denmark, son
"of Fridleif, xxvi, Ixvi, 148-53, 155-57,
161, 166-80, 181-200, 202-10 ; flyting
with Erik, 166-71 ; prose speech to
I Erik, 174-5; laws, xl-xliv, 187-9, I9^"4'
INDEX.
Frode's Rock, Frothonis petra (" Fro-
deaas, near Tonsberg in Norway,"
Holder), xli, 202
Frode IV, Frotho, K. of Denmark, son
of Fridleif, 223-4, 230-33, 239, 244,
248, 250-8, 328
Frode V, Frotho, K. of Denmark, son of
Ingild, 233, 260-3, 266
Frode VI, Frotho, K. of Denmark, son of
Kanute I, 385
Frogertha, -/Vtf^er/Aa, Frogertha, d. of
Amund, 218, 222-3
Frokasund, Frbcasund (mod. Frekeyar-
sund), in Norway, 219
Frok, Froco, 218
Froger, Frogerus, K. of Norway, 144-5
Frosti, Frosty, named Bowl, 313
Frowin, Frowinus, governor of Sleswik,
131-2. 135-6
Funen, Fionia, Fyonia, D. Fyen, Germ.
FUhnen, xxv, 8, 262, 288, 290, 331
( = Pheonia ? 32 and n. )
Fyriswald, FiriuaUini agri, in Sweden,
76 and n.
G.
Galway Code, xxxvi
Gambaruk, Gamiaruc, mother of Agg
and Ebb, 342
Gandal the Old, 311
Ganelon, xxxiv
Gardh, of town Stang, 310. ? = Gardar,
Garnum, mod. Garnshamn, 314
Gaul, Gallia, 2
Gauls, Gain, 379
Gaulardale, GUerdal, mod. Guldal, in
Norway, xciii, 364
Gaut, Goto, K. of Norway, 357-8
Gautrec, xxxvi
Geigad, Gegatkus (not Begathus), warrior
of Starkad, 228-9, 254
Geir, Ger, aLivonian, 311
Geirrod, Geruthus, Garfred, giant, Ixiii,
Ixv, Ixx, 344-50
Gelder, Gelderus, K. of Saxony, Ixvi,
86-7, 89
Geoffrey of Monmouth, xc, cxv, cxxvi-vii
Gerbiorn, robber, 213
Germans, Germani, 315, 331
Germany, Germania, Iv, 56, 336, 355,
358-9, 369
Gerutha, mother of Amleth, 106, 111-2,
116, 118-21
Gerwendil, Geiwendillus, father of Feng,
Gestiblind, Gestiblindus, K. of Goths,
Gewar, Geuarus, K. of Norway, lii, 64
and n. , 83-9, 99-100
Gialp, Ixxii
Giallar-brii, 346
Gislamark, 313
Glomer, -us, rover, 196
Glumer, -us, servant of Hadding, 34
Gnepie, Gnepia Vetutus, the Old, 309,
Gnizli, 310
Gorm I, Gormo, son of Harald, K. of
Denmark, 344, 352, 357
Gorm II, -0, the "Englishman", K. of
Denmark, son of Frode, vi, 385
Gorm III, -o, Guthrum, K. of Denmark,
Ivii, Ixix-lxxvi, 386, 389-90
Gotar, Gbtarus, Gotherus, Gotwarus, K.
of Norway, Ixxvi, 155-6, 169-70, 178-84,
189-90
Gotar, Gotarus, K. of Sweden, 330, 332-4
Gotar, 3 n.
Gothland, Gothia, D. Gotland, 8, 12, 19,
22, 260, 339, 374
Goths, Gotthi, Gothi, Got{h)enses, dwellers
in Gothland, 74, 78, 80, 198, 267, 270,
274, 314, 317, 339
Gotrik, Gotricus, Gotricus ; or Godefred,
Godefride, Godefridus; K. of Denmark,
son of Gorm I, xxxv, xlv, cxiv, cxv,
3S7-6o. 361
Gottland, Gudlandia, Gutlandia, 30
(see n.), 343 ; Guttonica classis, 314
Gotwar, Gotwara, Gotwara, wife of Koll,
148-52; flyting with Erik, 171-2, 178
Gram (Bryndalk?), 313
Gram, K. of Denmark, son of Skiold,
18-25
Gram, sword, xlvi n.
Grand vik, G[r]anduicuin mare, 13
Greece, Grecia, 225-6
Greip, Ixxii
Grendel, Ixv
Grenzli, 311
Grep, Greppus (three brothers so named),
Ixxvi, xciii, 150, 154; flyting with Erik,
162-3, 1^7' iSS
Grette, xxxviii
Grettir the Wicked, 312, 317
Grim, Grimar, 311
Grim from Skerry, 313
Grim, Grimmo, champion, 269
Grim, Grimo, son of Gunn, 302; his
death-song, 303
Grimhild, Ixxxi
Grindir, Grinder, 312
Grip, 21
Grizzle, Patient, xxxi
Groa, Gro, daughter of Sigtryg the Swede,
ig ; flyting with Bess and Gram, 19-21,
Groa, Gro, attendant of AUhild, 277
Grombar the Aged, 313
Gromer, -us, from Wermland, 312
Gronsund, 375
Grubb, -us, 222
Grundi, 312
Grytha, wife of Dan, 16
Gudfast, Guthfast, 313
Gudmund, Guthmundus, brother of Geir-
rod, Ixx, 346-351
Gudrun, Guthruna, witch, 338
INDEX.
Grundtvig, N. F. S., translator of Saxo,
xix
Gummi, from Gislamark, 313
Gunbiorn, robber, 213
Gungne, Woden's spear, xlvii
Gunholm, son of Finn, 145
Gunn, Gunno, "satrap" ot Gewar, 100
Gunn, Gunno, of Tellemark, 302-3
Gunn, Gunno, foster-brother of J armerik,
332-4
Gunnar, -us, Swede, 288-92
Gunnere, xxxiii
Gunthion, -us, Gunntheow, son of Alrik,
Ixvi, 198
Gunwar, Gunuara, Gunwara, the Fair,
sister of Frode III {=Freya?), Ixiv,
Ixxvi, Ixxvii, 140, 154, 165, 171-3,
179-83
Gurid, Guritha, Gyuritha, daughter of
Alf, xxxi, 276, 287, 291, 294, 296
Guthi, Lyuth Guthi (GdSe?), 312
Guthorm, -us, son of Gram, 24-5
Guthorm, -us, son-in-law of Hadding, 42
Guthorm, -us, son of Harald, 384
Guti, son of Alf, 312
Guy of Warwick, liv
Gytha, xxxii
H.
Hadding, Hadingus, son of Gram, xxiii,
xxxv, xxxvi, li, liii, Ixviii-ix, Ixxx, xcv,
cxix, 24-39 I ^^s songs, 40, 41-4, 45, 49,
SO, 147
Haddings, two, sons of Arngrim, 204
Haethcyn, xxxii
Hafle, Haphlius, giant, 24
Hafursfirth, 1
Hagbard, Haglarthus, son of Hamund,
xxxiv, Ixvi and «., ciii, cv, 277-9;
songs to Signe, 280-1 ; death-songs,
283-4
Hagder, Hadd, Hagder, Haddir, the
Hard, 312, 317
Hakon, Haco, tyrant of Denmark, 228,
229, 254, 259
Hakon, Hako, Haco, of Zealand, son of
Wiger, 274, 278, 280-s
Hakon, Hako, Haco, son of Hamund,
285-7 ; his howe, Ixvi, 287
Hakon, Hclco genam scissus. Cut-cheek,
at Bravalla, 310, 315-6
Hakon, Haco Fastuosus, the Proud, 287
Hakon, Haquinus, K. of the *' Nithers",
Hakon, Haquinus, a champion, 61
Hakon, Haquinus, a champion of Erik,
Halfdan I, K. of Denmark, Haldanus,
son of Frode I, 61-2
Halfdan II, Haldanus, Biargramm, K.
of Denmark, son of Harald, c, cxix, 261,
263-70 ; his song, 267
Halfdan, Haldanus, son of Erik the
Eloquent and K. of Sweden, 213, 219,
223, 233, 237, 252
Hall, Capt., li
Halland, Hallandia, province, 8, 322,
330-1
Hallanders, Alandi, 364
Halogaland, Helgeland in Norway,
Halogia, Ixix, xc, 87, 200, 202, 345
Hame, Hama, Saxon champion, 230-r,
Hame, Hama, Dane, 311
Hame, Hama, Swede, 313
Hame, Hama, Hamo, K. of Britain, 368,
Hamlet, see Amleth, and 398-413
Hamund, -us, petty king, 277, 279, 285,
Hamund, -us, his son, 277, 279
Hamund's Bay, 279
Handwan, -us, K. of the "Hellespont",
30. 49-5°
Hane, Hano, governor of Funen, 28B
Hanef, Haneuus, Hanef, K. of Saxony,
224, 231
Hanofra (Hanover), 231
Hanund, -a, Hunnish princess, 153, 168-9,
Har, 311
Harald, -us, ? son of Erik the Good, 94
Harald, -us, son of Olaf, 260-3
Harald, -us, his son, 261-3
Harald I, -us, Hyldetan, K. of Denmark,
son of Borgar, cxiii, cxv, 277 (?), 296-7,
301, 307-8,309-10, 315-9
Harald, -us, son of Olaf, at Bravalla, 311
Harald, -us, from " Imisland", at Bra-
valla, 311
Harald, -us, from Thotn, at Bravalla,
Harald II, -us, K. of Denmark, son of
Biorn, 344
Harald, -us, " Klak", Earl of Jutland,
366-9, 379, 383-4
Harald III, -us, K. of Denmark, son of
Gorm II, 386
Harald IV, -us, Bluetooth {Blaaiani),
Harald Greyfell, xxiv
Harald Fairhair, xxx, xxxi, liv
Harald Harefoot, xliii
Hardbeen, Harthbenus, giant, 268
Hardgrep, Harthgrepa, giantess, her
song to Hadding, Ixv, cxix, 25-7
Hastin, at Bravalla, 311
Hastings, li
Hather, -us, Haterus, ruler of Jutland,
288, 297
Hather, -us, a chief, 269
Hather, -us, son of Hlenne, 324-330 ; his
song to Starkad, 326
Hector, xxxiii
Hedin, Hithinus, prince of some Nor-
wegians, xcvi, ciii, 195-8
Hedin, Hythin, the Slight, at Bravalla,^
3"
Hedin's Isle, HithinsS, mod. Hiddensoe,
INDEX.
Heimdall, Ixiii, cxxi
Helga, d. of Frode IV, 233-6, 239-40, 243,
Helge I, Helgo, Hundingsbane, K. of
Denmark, xxxvi, xliv-v, 62-4, 83
Helge, Helgo, K. of Halogaland, 87-9
Helge, Helgo, Norwegian, 238-44
Helle, Ella, Hella, A. S. v£//a, son of
Hame, xxxiv, xciv, 368, 378-81
Hellespont, -us, xci, 30, 372, 379 ; Helles-
pontines, 336-8, 372
Helsings, Heisingi, 196
Helsingland, Helsingia, on G. of Bothnia,
36, 199, 264, 268
Helwin, son of Hamund, 277, 279
Hemming, -us. K. of Denmark, 361
Hendil, Hendill, 313
Henry, -icus, K. of Saxony, 23-4
Henry, -icus, son of Asmund, 32
Heorot, xxvii
Hercules, 19, 130, 348
Herebeald, xxxii
Herlek, Herletus, ruler of Norway, 100
Herlewar (Herleif ?), at Bravalla, 311
Hermutrude, Herinuthruda, Queen of
Scotland, 124-30, 401, 410; speech to
Amleth, 125-6, 127-30
Herodd, Herotkus, K. of Sweden, xcii,
364. 370
Herwig, Exercituum Sinus, Hosts' Bight,
285, 287
Heske, Hesca, Helge Hundingsbane's
general, 62
Hetha, amazon, at Bravalla, Iv, 311, 315,
Hethmark, -marchia, in Norway, 199
Hiale, Hial[l)us, bully, 304-5
Hialte, Hialto, lalto, chajnpion, 68, 71 ;
his songs to Biarke, 72, 73-4, 75-7, 79
Hialte, Hialto, at Bravalla, 310
Hiarn, -us, -0, K. of D. and poet, Ixvi, c,
212, 217-8 ; his isle, Hiarno, 217
Hiarrande, Hiarrandi, son of Arngrim,
Hiartuar, Hiarthuuar, son of Arngrim,
Hiartuar, Hiai\th)'warus, Hiart{h)uarus,
ruler of Sweden, xxvi, 69, 70, 74, 78,
81, 83, 90
Hilda, daughter of Hogni, 195, 197-8
Hildebrand, xxvii
Hildi, at Bravalla, 312
Hildiger, -us, son of Gunnar, xlviii, cxxiii,
289, 292-4
Hildigisl, -euus, a Teuton, 278-9
Hiarrand, harper, xxiv
Hiortuar, Hiorthuar, son of Arngrim,
Hlenne, Lenno, Lennus, 324, 328-9
HIenne, Lennius, 319
Hodbrodd, -us, Hothbrodd, - us, son of
Ragnar, 64, 83
Hodbrodd, -us, the Furious, at Bravalla,
Hogni, Hoginus, Jutish chief, xcvi, 196-8
Hogni the Clever, at Bravalla, ciii, 312
Hogrim, -us, ruler of Sweden, 144
Holmar, at Bravalla, 313
Holmgard, -ia, in N. Russia, 197
Holmstein, Holmstni , at Bravalla, 313
Holti, at Bravalla, 313
Homi, 313
Homod, Homothus, ruler of Sweden, 144
Homod, servant of Omund, 321-2
Hornclofe, xlvi, hv, Ixxxiii
Horlar, Hjort, at Bravalla, 312, 316
Horwendil, -illus, f. of Amleth, cxxiii,
104-6, 117-23
Hother, Hotherus, Hotherus, Icel. Hb%r,
K. of D., son of Hodbrodd, xlv, Ixi,
Ixiv, cxxii, 64, 83-93
Hother's village, Horsens in Jutland (M. ),
Hoyer in Tondern (H.), 91
Hrafn, Rafn, at Bravalla, 312
Hrafn, Rafn, Norwegian, J 56-7
Hrane, Rani, son ol Arngrim, 205
Hrane, Rani, at Bravalla, 212
Hrut, 313 n.
Hriitr, cxxi
Hugleik, Hugktus, K. of D. , 144
Hugleik, Hugletvs, K. of Ireland, 228-9
Huyrwil, -illus, chief of Oland, Ixxxiii, n.,
145-6
Hwirwil, -illus, sea-king, 307
Humble, Humblus, f. of Dan, 15
Humble, Humblus, son of Dan, 16
Humbli, at Bravalla, ,31 1
Humbrians, Humbri, in Britain, 301
Humnehy (?), at Bravalla, 311
Hun, K. of Huns, 190, 196-7 ; his brother
Hun, 197
Hun, Ring's warrior, at Bravalla, 312
Hun, Harald's warrior, ib., 316
Hunding, -us, K. of Sweden, son of As-
mund, 40, 44, 50
Hunding, -us, fighter, 61
Hunding, -us, son of Syrik K. of Saxony,
Hunding, -us, ruler of Zealand, 288, 297
Hunferth, xxvii
Hunger, at Bravalla, 311
Huns, Hunni, Huni, xlvii, Ixxix, 151,
153, igo, 194-7 ; called Pannonians, 314
Hwitserk, Vithsercus, Whitesark, xxvi,
370, 372. 376
Hwyting, -us, sword of Halfdan, xlvi, 292
Hygelac (Chocilaicus), cvii, cxv
Hythin, K. of Tellemark, 219 and n., 223.
See Hedin
I. J.
Japan, xlvi
Jarmerik, larmericus, Eorraenric, Erman-
aric, K. of D., xxiv, 1, Ixxviii, xci, ciii,
cv, cvii, cxv, 331-6, 338
Jarnbers, -i, in Dalarna, 197
Jather, lalher, lathria, Jaederen in Stav-
anger, 288, 313, 321
Iceland, Tyle, Thule, ix, 310, 313
Icelanders, Tylenses, men of Thule,
INDEX.
Ixxxix, xcviii-xcix, 3, 344, 357 ; Ice-
landic sources, ci-cxv
Jellinge, lalunga, c, 132
Jemts, lamti, in Sweden, 197
Imisland, Imica re^o, 311 ; Query,
Hunnica ? H. explains, ' ' Umea in
Lappmark"
Ing, -0, Swede, 298, 300
Ingemund, xxxv
Ingen Ruadh, Iv
Ingi (Yngwe), at Bravalla, 313
Ingild, Ingell, Ingellus, 68, 78
Ingild, Ingellus, K. of D. , son of Frode
IV, xxxv, 232-3, 238-9, 242-50, 253,
256, 258, 260
Ingild, Ingellus, his son, 233
Ingild, Ingellus, K. of Sweden, 298-301
lokul, xxxv
Jove, Jupiter, lix, 73, 225-6
Ireland, Hi\y)hernia, xliii, 147, 228, 321,
323. 379. 389
Irish, Hi{y)berni, -ienses, xlviii, Ixxxix,
208, 229, 285, 328
Isefjord, Ysora, mod. Rorvig, haven in
Od District, Zealand (H. and Grundt-
vig), 90
Ismar, -us, K. of Sklavs, 332
Isulf, -us, guardian of Frode III, 148
Italy, -ia, 2, 343
Julius (Cassar, mistake for Pompey ?), 213
Juritha, luritha, mother of Olaf Litilldte,
Jutland, lulia, D. Jylland, xxv, xc, 6-8,
41, 62, 91, 104, 116, 128, 130, 186, 197,
217, 288, 297, 300, 319, 323, 331, 361,
375. 402. 410
Jutlanders, Jutes, luti, 104, 195, 364, 402
Iwalde, Iwaldings, cxxiv
Iwar, luarus, son of Ragnar Lodbrog,
306, 375. 377. 381. 383
Iwar, Ywar, -us, at Bravalla, 313
Iwar Widefathom, cv
K (C).
Kall-Rasmussen's fragment, xxi, 260-3
Kalmar, Kalmarna, 314
Kanute I, Kanutus, 384
Kanute, -us, son of Germ, 388-90
Kanute, -us, called Lavard, f. of Walde-
mar II, 9, 392
Karentia, =Garz, in Riigen, 396 ; Karen-
tines, ih.
Kail, Karolus, the Great, xxx, xlv, 359,
360, 369, 374, 395
Karl, Karolus, governor of Gothland,
260-1
Keklu-Karl, or Kelke-Karl, at Bravalla,
Kelther, -us, jarl of Sweden, 374
Ker, Kerrus, 328
Kerwil, Kervillus, Cearbhal, 208
Ket, -0, son of Frowin, 131-8
KoU, Coll, 312
KoU, Collerus, K. of Norway, 105-6
Konogard, -ia, 19
Krage, Icel. Kraki, " trunk- ladder", sur-
name of Rolf, 69
Kraka, Craca, mother of Roller, Ixxvii,
157-9. 178-S2
Krok, Croc agrestis, the Peasant, at
Bravalla, 313 and m.
Ktesippos, Ivii
Kurland, Curetia, 196
Kurs, Kurlanders, Curetes, Kyrii, Curi,
xlv, 29, 46, 100, 229, 314, 327, 328,
335. 373
Kuse, Cuse, Cuso, K. of Finns and Perms,
Ladgerda, Lathgertha, amazon, xciii,
363-6
Laneus ager, Icel. Ullr-akr, Wool-Acre,
Laplands, Lappia utraque, 197, 199
Latin language, Latinitas, Latinus
Serm-o, Latina vox, i, 143, 285-6
Latins, 125, 225
Latium, 225-6
Laverentzen, Johan, xix ; his fragment,
xxi, 247, 251, 258-63
Leire, Lethra, Lethrce, near Ledreborg
(or at mouth of Isefjord .according to
Grundtvig), 70, 80, 129, 259, 297, 310,
319. 361
Leo III, Pope, 359
Leotar, -us, Liotarus, 306-7
Ler, Helge's general, 62, 328
Lesso, Lasbe, Ixxvi, i6x
Lesy, Lossi, at Bravalla, 313-4
Liim - fjord, Lyinfiorthinum frelum,
Lymicus Sinus, Lymicum mare, in
Jutland, 7, 364
Lewy, Leuy, at Bravalla, 313
Lionel-Launcelot story, xcvi, 403
Lither, Lithar-fylki, Lier by Drammen,
in Norway, 181
Livonia, 2 n.
Livonians, Liui, 314, 335
Logthi, Lbgthi^ Ole's sword, xlvi, 306
Loke, Ixix-lxxv
Loker, -us, lord of Kurs, 29
Lodbrog, Lothbrog, Icel. L6d-irokr,
Shaggy- Breech, nick-name of Ragnar,
Loke, Ixiii
Lombards, Longobardi, 343
London, Lundonia, xxxiii, 60-r
Lother, Loder, Lotherus, K. of D., son of
Dan, 16
Louis, St. , Ivi
Lovi, Lovi, " Leaf", a sword of Biarke,
xlvi, 69
Ludwig, Lodouicus CtBsar, Ludouicus,
361. 379
Lund, ix, xiii, xvii
Lysir, Liserus, rover, Ix, Ixiii, 29
Lyusing, "Shining", a sword of Halfdan,
xlvi, 292
INDEX.
Lyuth Guthi (Hlj6t Godi ?), at Bravalla,
M.
MacCon, 412
Macduff, Ixiv
Magh Mucruirahe, 412
Magnus, Nicholasson, Ixiii
Maidhbh, xxix
Mainz, Maguntia, 379
Mannus, cxvii n.
Mar Ruffus, the Red, at Bravalla, 313
Margaret, xxx
Martianus Capella, xxii, xcvii, ciii, 51
Matthew Paris, ci
Matul, -lus, MbttuU, princeof Finmark, 373
Melbrik, -zVwj, " Governor of Scotland",
S6
Mercury, -ius, god, lix, 225-6
Mevil, Meuillus, admiral, 196
Midfirth, Mithfirthi fagus, " Midfiord
in Sandeherred near Tonsberg" (H.),
Midfrith-Scegge, xlvi n,
Midgarth, Ixxvii
Mimer, cxviii
Miming, -us, satyr, xlvi, Ixv, 85
Mit-othin, Mitothyn, Mig-O'Sin, pseudo-
Odin (? Loke), Ixi, Ixvi, cxv, 31
Moring, -ia, ' ' S. and N. More in Sma-
land" (H.), 343; Nordmor and Sund-
mor, 196
Mul, xxvi, xxxiv
Murial, Scotch K. , 378
N.
Nanna, d. of Gewar, Ixi, Ixiii, 82-87, 9°
Nathan's story, xxxiv
Nausicaa, xcvi
Nef, sea-king, 307
Niels of Soro, 405
Niflungs, xxxi, xciii, 392
Niord, cv, cvi, cxxii
Nitherians, Nitheri, 37 and n.
Norns, Ixiv
Noruicus (Norwich), error for loruicus
(York), 378 n.
Norway, Noruagia, 8-13, 24, ^7, 38, 87,
100, 104, 144, 145, 155, 157, 178, 189,
196, 200, 213, 218, 223, 225, 269, 270,
288, 297, 301, 312, 320, 323, 357, 361,
363. 366, 368
Norwegians, Noruagiensis, Noriei, Nor-
manni, " Northmen", Ixxxix, 156, 179,
190, 200, 202, 22T, 226, 288, 289, 320,
322. 331. 363. 378
Ocean, -us, 6, 12 (see «.), 53 (=German
O. ), see 205, 359 ; 344 (ambitorem terra-
rum O.)
Od, Od, Englishman, at Bravalla, 313
Odd, -o, Hoddo, nephew of Frode III,
Ixxvi, 149 and «., 156, 159-61, 167
Odd, -o, chief of Jather, 321
Oddi, Othi, at Bravalla, 312
Odin, Othinus, Othin, supposed god(«e
Woden), lii, lix-lxii, Ixv, cxvi, cxix,
cxxii, 30-2, 80, 84, 94-99, 144, 225,
296-8, 307, 317, 338, 367 (Roftar,
Hrdptr); =Ygg, Uggerus, 195
Odusseus, Ixxvi, xcv, cxvii
Offot, -KJ, giant, " Unfoot", Ixv, xcvii, 214
Ohthere, lix, xc
Oland, Olandia, Olandia, Holandia, 145
(see «.), 196, 263 (Osyssel in Liimfiord
according to H. , but certainly Oland off
Sweden in last two cases)
Olaf, Olauus, the Gentle, alias of Uffe,
Olaf, -uus, son of Fridleif, 222-3
Olaf, -uus, K. of D. , son of Ingild, 233,
Olaf, -aaj, son ofAlver, K. of Sweden,
298, 300
Olaf, -uus, K. of Thronds, 300
Olaf, -uus, K. of Werms, 304-5
Olaf, -uus, K. of D. , son of Gotrik, 361
Olaf the Stout, xxxv
Olaf Tryggwesson, xxiv, Ivi, Ixxxii, 417-21
Ole, Olo, K.. of D. , son of Siward, 301-7,
314, 319-20, 324, 327
Oiler, -us, Wuldor, pseudo-god, Ixii, 98,
Olmar, Olimarus, K. of Easterlings or
W. Russians, 190-6
Olwir the Broad, at Bravalla, 309
Oly, son of Elrik, at Bravalla, 313
Omi, harbour in Jaederen, Stavanger, 184
Omund, -us, K. of D., son of Ole, liii,
306, 320-3, 330
Onef, sea-king, 307
Onef, Onef, Oneuus, sea-king, 196-7
Ophelia, 399, 411
Orkneys, Orc{h)ades, 196, 369, 378
Orm, BritannicusGX Anglicus, the Briton,
301, 310
Orwar-Odd, see Arwar-Odd
Osten, -us, son of Siward the Goth, 274
Osten, -us, in Sweden, 382
Otgerus, Otkerus, Ogier, Ixiv
Otrit, -us, the Young, at Bravalla, 311
Ottar, Otharus, son of Ebb, cxxi, 271 3
Otto, X
Owain, Sir, Ixix
Oxford, xlvi
P.
Palatine co. of Chester, xUi
Paltisca, PolotzkinW. Russia ("Pleskau,
Plescovia", H.), 49
Pans, Panes, Satyrs, 51
Papil Cross in Shetland, Ixxxiii
Paris, 3 «.
Patrick, St., xxviii
Patrick Spens, Sir, Ixxv
Pepin, Pipinus, son of Karl the Great,
INDEX.
Perm\a.nd, Bi{y)armia, 203-4, 228, 346, 373
Perms, Permlanders, Byarmi, Bi(y)ar-
menses, Ixxix, xcv, 38, 39, 87, 204
Phoenician temples, Ixii
Pictland, Petia, 368
Picts, lii ^
Poland, Polonia, 230
Polonius, 399
Polyphemus, Ixv
Porenutius or Porevitus, idol, 397
Proserpina, =Hela, Ixi, 93
Proteus, 27
R.
Rabelais, xxxi
Radbard, Rathbarihus, 313 ; see n,
Radbard, Ra/hberthus, son of Ragnar
Lodbrog, 366, 370, 378
Rafnkel, Rankil, at Bravalla, 313
Ragnald, Regnaldus, rival of Yngwin,
Ragnald, Regnaldus, K. of Northmen,
xlvi, 288, 290
Ragnald, Regnaldus, Rutheman, 313
Ragnald, Regnaldus, son of Ragnar Lod-
brog, 370
Ragnar, Regnerus, K. of Sweden, 50, 52,
54. 61, 63
Ragnar, Regnerus, Regno, champion and
f. of Erik, 156, 158, 178
Ragnar, Regno, rearer of Halfdan, 262-3
Ragnar, Regnerus, Lodbrog or Shaggy-
breech, K. of D. , xxvi, xliv, xlv, xcii,
xciii, 362, 363-6, 368-80
Ragnhild, Regnilda, d. of Hakon the
"Nitherian' , 37
Rand, sea-king, 307
Rati, of Funen, at Bravalla, 309
Rawi, 313 : see Hrut
Redward, Reduarthus, sea-king, 307
Ref, Refo, Icelander, 357-8
Ref's gild, xxvi, xxxiv, xlv
Rennes Isle, Renneso, Renso, in Stavan-
ger, 166, 189
Rethyr, at Bravalla, 312
Revil, -illus, admiral, 196
Rhampsinitos, xxxv
Rhine, Rhenus, 56, 197, 301, 359
Richard II, xliii
Rin, son of Flebak, 328
Rinda, Russian princess, Wrinda, Ixi, 94,
95. 99
Ring, -0, surname of Siward, K. of D.,
q. V.
Ring, Adilsson, at Bravalla, 312
Ring, f. of Siward, 301
Ring, -0, Zealander, 23
Ring, -0, K. of Sweden, son of Ingild,
301, 307-8, 309-19
Ring, -0, ruler of a Norwegian tribe, 320-2
Ring, -0, grandson of Gotrik, 361-3
Roar, Roarius, teacher of Gram, 19
Ro, Roe, son of Frode I, 61
Ro, Roe, K. of D. , son of Halfdan, 62, 64
Ro, Roe, Roa (Hrothgar?), xc, 309, 316
Rob Roy's sons, xliii
Rognwald, Earl, xxiv n.
Rokar the Swart (Hrokkr), at Bravalla, 312
Roldar, Rolder, "Toe-Joint" (Hroaldr)
at Bravalla, 312, 317
Rolf the Uxorious, at Bravalla, 312
Rolf, Rolpho, Roluo, "Krake" [q. v.), K.
of D,, xlv, xlvi, Ivii, xcv, ciii, cxvii,
63-70. 75. 77, 78, 80-2, 90
Roliung, Rolung, in Zealand, 240, 330
Roller, -us, son of Ragnar the Champion,
Ixxvi, 156-160, 165, 168, 173, 178, 180,
184, 190, 196
Romans, 6, 225, 359, 374
Rome, 360
Rorik, RSricus, son of Bok, 75
Rorik, Roricus, Slyngebond = Swing-
bracelet (Hrothric), K. of D., cxiii,
100-104, 106, 128
Rorik, Roricus, ruler of Jutland, 288, 297
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, 400
Roskild, Roski(y)ldia {Roes-kild=Hroth-
gar's well), D. Roskilde, old capital of
Zealand, ix, xii, xvii, i, 62
Rostar, Roster (properly Roftar, Hrdptr),
see Odin
Rostioph, -us, Hrossthiof, a Finn, Ixi,
Ixv, 94
Rote, Rotho, Walkyrie, 258
Rotel, Rotala, in Esthonia, 48
Rothe, Rotho, Ruthenian rover, 1, 290-1
Rothe-Ran (Rothe's Robbery), 290
Riigen, Rugia, D. Rygen, island, 343,
392-6
Rugeners, Rugiani, 393-6
Rugie- Vitus, idol, 396
Russia, Ruscia, 48, 190, 196, 197, 212,
213, 227, 229, 230, 292
Russians, Rut(h)enians, Rut{h]eni (the
term not co-extensive with Russians),
xlii, 47-8, 94, 192, 290, 292, 372, 378
Ruther, cxxi
S.
Salgard, Salgarthus, at Bravalla, 309
Sali, Goth, ib., 312
Sambar, tb., 309
Samsb, Sampso, island, between Kalund
borg and Aarhus (Grundtvig), 205
Sangals, -i, 229
Saxo the Splitter (Fletir), 312
Saxo, Grammaticus, the Lettered, Intro-
duction to, i-cxxvii (see table of Con-
tents); his Historypart-translated, i-end
Saxo, provost of Roskild, xii
Saxo the Scribe, xiii
Saxo, "Magister", xiii
Saxons, Saxones, xliv, xlv, 17, 24, 41, 62,
14s, 224, 230, 250, 294, 296, 315, 358,
370, 379 ■ -'
Saxony, Saxonia, 23, 41, 62, 86, 89, 138,
142, 143, 197, 224, 359, 369
Scandinavia, xxx ■
Scef, cXvi
Scot, Scottus, founder of Scotland, S5
Index.
Scotland, Scot[i)ia, 56, 60, 124, 306
Scots, Scot{t)i, Scotthi, 60, 126-7, 287,
Scyths, SciihcE, xcv, 372
Seine, Sighuinum Jlumen, 369
Sela, sister of Koller, 106
Sembs, Sembi, Sembones, 229, 335, 373
Semgala, 328
Serker, at Bravalla, 311
Sibb, -0, father of Ebb, 332, 334
Sigar, Sigarus, Sygarus, K. of D. , son of
, Siwald, 274-5, 278-82, 284-6
Sigarsted, 284
Sigfred, Ixiv
Sigmund, Sygmundus, son of Bemo, at
Bravalla, 311
Sigmund, Simundus, at Bravalla, 313
Signe, 403
Signe, d. of Sumbl, 23
Signe, Signe, d. of Karl, 260-1
Signe, Signe, Sygne, d. of Sigar, 274, 278,
280 ; her speech to Hagbard, 281
Sigrid, Syritha, d. of Siwald, cxxi, 271,
Sigtryg, Sigtrug, K. of Sweden, 19, 22
Sigtun, town in Sweden, " Forn-Sigtuna
near Sigtuna" (H. ), 313
Sigurd Fafnesbane, 419
Simon, governor of Skaane, 332
Sitones, xxix
Siwald, Syualdus, Swede, 266-7
Siwald I, Syualdus, son of Yngwin, K.
of D. , 271, 274
Siwald II, Syualdus, K. of D. , son of
Sigar, 274, 286-7
Siwald III, Syualdus, K. of D. , 339
Siwar, Siuarus, a Saxon, xxxi, 294
Siward, Siuardus, "of royal stock", 382
Siward, Syuardus, son of Ole, 301-6
Siward, Syuardus, K. of Sweden, 244,
Siward, Syuardus, K. of Goths, 274-5
Siward, Syuardus, " Boarhead", at Bra-
valla, 313
Siward I, Syuardus, K. of D., son of
Omund, 330, 331, 334
Siward, Siuardus, Norwegian, 360, 363
Siward II, "Ring", Siuardus, K. of D. ,
■ ,360-3
Siward III, Siwardus, Sywardus, "Snake-
eye", D. Snogoie, K. of D. , 366-7, 369,
378, 381-3
Siward, Earl of Northumberland, xxxvi
Skaane, Scania, once Danish, now
Swedish, xxv, 38, 129, 288, 311, 319,
321, 331, 339
Skaga-fiord, Scaha-Fyrthi ( ' ' Skougen on
borders of Tellemark," H.), 313
Skalk, Scale, Skalc, the Skanian, 198,
203, 309, 316 (?)
Skalk, Scalcus, K. of Sklavia, 62
SkaJk, Scalcus, page of Biarke, 72
Skanians, Scani, 198, 203, 287, 321, 361,
364. 366
Skat, Scatus, champion, 17
Skat, Scatus, ruler of Alemannia, 18
Skat, Scato, 61
Skat, Scatus, son of Frode I, 61
Skate, Scatus, bully, 304, 305
Skawe, the, 8, n.
Scef, patriarch, cxvi
Skier, Skerry in Iceland (?), "Skier in
Tellemark," (H.) 313
Skiold, Scioldus, K. of D. , son of Lother,
xxiii, xxv «., xxix, xxxviii, xl, xcv, cxii,
16-17
Skioldungs, 17
Sklavia, Sclavonia, Sclauia, 62, 185, 301,
314. 319
Sklavs, Sclavs, Slavs, xlviii, 100, 102,
184-7, 197, 229, 332-6, 388
Skrep, Wermund's sword, xlvi, 14T, 143
Skrik-Finns, ? Skrito-Finns, Scricfinni, 13
Skroter, Scrbter, a ship, liii, 156
Skulda, Sculda, sister of Rolf, 69-70, 74
Skumbar, Scumbar, at Bravalla, 312
Sle, Slesvig, Schleswig, 131, 310, 382
Sleipner, xcvii
Sluys, liii
Snio, K. of Denmark, son of Siwald, xciii,
339-40, 344
Snorre, lix
Snyrtir, sword of Biarke, xlvi, 78
Sogni, better Sogn, Soghni, in Norway,
Soknarsoti, 312 and n.
Soleyar, Solloer, itisulcE Solis, 199
Solongs, -i, dwellers there, 198
Solwe, at Bravalla, 312
Sora, ix
Sorle, Sorlus, K. of Sweden, 370
Soth, champion, at Bravalla, 316
Stad, Stadium, town, " Hollingstedt near
Schleswig?" (H. ), 62
Stanitia, iKarg. led. Stuatira, idol in
Riigen, 396
Starkad, Starcatherus, Starchaterus, Star-
cherus, Icel. Starkadr, D. Stisrkodder,
hero, son of Storwerk, xxvii, xxviii, Iv,
Ixiii, Ixvi, Ixxxi, Ixxxiii, 224-231, 233-4:
song over the smith, 235-7, 238-251 ;
song at Ingild's feast, 251-7 ; triumph-
song, 258-9; 274, 285, 307, 309, 316,
319-20, 323 ; song against Hather,
324-26 ; another, 326-9 ; 330, 418-21 ;
mis-spelt Scarchdhum, 370
Stein, Sten, Tolo-Stein (?), at Bravalla,
Stenbiorn, robber, 213
Stikla, Sticla, Stikla, amazon, 200, 300
Storwerk, Storuerkus, f. of Starkad, 224
Strunik, Strunicus, K. of Sklavs, 186
Styr, Stur, the Stout, 312
Styx, 27, 294
Suanto-vit(h)us, idol in Rugen, 392-96
Sumble, Sumblus, K. of Finns, 23
Susa, "Suus-Aa in Zealand" (H.), "un-
certain, but most likely the river running
from Bavelse Lake to Noetved" {Grundt-
vig), 285, 287
INDEX.
Swanhwid, Suanhuita, d. of Hadding,
xxxiv, 50, 52 ; her speech to Ragnar,
^ 52 ; 53-4. 63
Swanhild, Suanilda, wife of Jarmerik,
Ixxviii, 337-8
Swanloga, Suanlog[h)a, wife of Ragnar,
370. 378
Swarin, Suarinus, ruler of Gothland, 22,
Sweden, Suei{h)ia, 9, 12, 13, 22, 24, 25,
33. 34. 35. 50. 54. 61. 63. 69, 89, 90, 99,
131-2. 135. 144. 196, 199. 203, 213, 223,
224, 225, 233, 244, 252, 260, 263, 265,
292, 300, 301, 334, 340, 352, 363, 370,
376, 378, 383
Swedes, Sue(t)ones, Sueti, xliv, xlv, 19,
20, 22, 36, 37, 44, 53, 64, 67, 71, 82, 89,
90, 100, 133, 138, ig8, 200, 204, 224,
228, 233, 238, 265, 266, 268, 269, 274,
298, 312, 313-8, 330, 339, 358, 364, 375
Sweyn Aageson, Sueno Aggonis, Dan.
Svend, historian, ix, x, cvii
Sweyn, Svein, Suen, at Bravalla, 309
Sweyn, Sueno, "Top-shorn", at Bravalla,
Sweyn, Sueno, "Fork-beard", K. of D. ,
Sweyn Estridsson, xiv
Swipdag, Suifdagerus, K. of Norway
and Denmark, Ixxi, Ixxv, cxvii, cxx, 23,
24, 25, 30, 32
Swipdag, Suibdauus, warrior of Starkad,
22S
Syersted, town, 274 (in gloss)
Syfrid, -us, Saxon general, 41
Tamerlane, 404
Tand, Tander, son of Arngrim, 204
Tanne, Tanna, giant, 230
Tara, 412-3
Tarquin, 408
Tartarus, Ixxii, 20, 27, 283, 318
Tatar, at Bravalla, 310
Tellemark, Telemarchia, Thialamarchia,
a province in Norway, 219, 302, 312,
316, 322, 328
Teutonland, Teutonia, 7, 247. See
Germany
Teutons, Teutones, 16, 17, 62, 230, 250,
253, 280. See Germans
Tew, Ixiii, cxv
Thengel, Thengil, at Bravalla, 312
Thengil, -illus, K. of Finmark, 203
Theseus, xxxv
Thiodwulf, XXV
Thoke (Thore?), Thoki, of More, at Brav-
alla, 312
Thole, Thola, son of Atyl, 305, 322-3
Thomas of Ercildourie, Ixviii, Ixxii, Ixxv
Thor, god, lix, Ixi-lxiii, cxvi, 53, 88, 225
(Thor'sday, 225), 265, 349
Thora, mother of Urse, 62-3
Thora, d. of Cuse, 87, 89
Thora, d. of Herodd, 364, 368, 372
Thorbiorn, robber, 213
Thord, "Stumbler", at Bravalla, 312
Thore, Tfioro, champion, 264-5
Thore, Thoro, chief, 306-7
Thorey, "Thoro near Taasinge" (H.),
" Thora's Isle', 62
Thorgny, Thorny, at Bravalla, 310
Thorhild, Thorilda, wife of Hunding, 50,
Thorhild, Thorilda, d. of Hather, 269-70
Thorias {?), soldier of Rusla, 323
Thorkill, Torillus, orator with Frode,
his speech, 56-8
Thorkill, -us, the Goth, at Bravalla, 312
Thorkill, -us, of Tellemark, 316
Thorkill, -us, with Gudmund, xxiii, Ixix-
Ixxvi, 344-357
Thorkill, 418
Thorkill, -us, earl of Sweden, 374
Thorleif, Thorleuar, the Stubborn, at
Bravalla, 312
Thorolf, -us, the Thick, at Bravalla, 312
Thorstan Shiver, 417-21
Thorwald, Thoraldus, son of Hunding,
Thorwil, Thoruillus, sea-king, 307
Thorwing, Thoruingus, at Bravalla, 310
Thotn, Thotni vicus, " Toten near Lake
Mosen in Norway" (H.), 312
Thott, -us, 319
Thrand, Thronder, at Bravalla, 312
Thririkar (Erik?), it., 314
Thrond, -us, brother of Rusla, 322
Throndar, "Big-nose", at Bravalla, 312
Thronds, -i, xxiv-v, 300, 317
Thrygir (Tryggve), at Bravalla, cvii(?), 314
Thule, see Iceland
Thuriswend, xxxv
Thyra, "Danebod", d. of Ethelred, x,
cxiv, 386-90
Toke, Toko, rover, 266
Toke, Toko, Gunn's servant, 302
Toke of the Arrows, Toko, "Palnatoke",
xlvii, xcvi, 391-2
Toki, from Wollin, at Bravalla, 311
Tolkar, Tolcar, at Bravalla, 311
Toll, 310
Torwil, 314
Toste, Tosto, "the Wicked", Ivi, 40-2
Toste, Tosto Victimarius, " Sacrificer",
Tovi, 312
Trannon, K. of Russians, 47
Tristram, xlvi
Tummi, "Sailmaker", 311
Tyle, Tylenses, see Iceland, Icelanders
Tyrfing, Tiruingar, son of Arngrim, 204
Tyrfing, sword, xlvi n.
U. Y.
Ubbe, Vbbo, brother-in-law of Hadding,
Ubbe, Vibo, servant of Rorik, 103
Ubbe, Vbbo, Frisian champion, 300, 310,
INDEX.
Ubbe, ydio, son of Ragnar Lodbrog, 371,
374-5. 377
Uffe, pyb, K. of Swedes, son of Asmund,
Ixvi, 33, 35, 38, 39
Uffe, F/o, K. of Denmark, son of Wer-
mund, 130, 139-143
Ygg, Vggenis, name of Odin, 195
Ymi, at Bravalla, 311
Ulf, 312
Ulf, Vluo, Gotrik's courtier, 357
Undensakre, "acre of the not-dead", Ixvii
sq., 129 and n.
Ung, -0, at Bravalla, 314
Yngw'in, Vnguinus, K. of Goths, 270
Upsala, Vpsala, Ivii, Ix, Ixi, Ixvi, cxxi, 30,
33. 39. 90. 228, 239, 313
Urne, Bishop Lave [Lago], xi, xii, xvii,
xxi
Urse, Vrsa, d. of Thora, 62-67
Utgard, Vtgarthia, 377 and n.
Utgarda-Lok, Vgarthilocus, Outgarth-
Loke, monster-god, Ixxi, 352-6
V. W.
Varnsland, Verundia,'\n Smaaland, 9,314
Waere (Vagrebro), bridge in Zealand
"between Roskilde and Slangerup"
(Grundtvig), 211
Wagnhofde, Vagnophthus, Vagn[h)cft(hy
wj, Wain-Head, giant, Ixv, cxix, 24, 25,
Walbrunna, Cadaverujn puteus, " Well
of Carcases," "near Sigersted in Zea-
land" (H.), 286
Waldemar I, Voldemarus, xi, 9
Waldemar II, Voldemarus, ^
Walstein, Walsten, of Wik, 312
Vanderdecken, Ixxix
Waske or Wilske, or Waza, champion,
230, 328
Webiorg, Wegthbiorg, Wigbiorg, Iv,
310, 316
Wecha (Wacr), alias of Odin, 97
Weland, xxviii
Wemund, -us, son of Siward, 274
Wermland, Wermia, in Sweden, 199
Wermlanders, Wermi, 19B, 304
Wermund, -us, K. of D., son of Wiglek,
130-3. 138-143
Wesete, Wesetus, champion, 296
Vespasias, K. of Paltisca, 49
W'estmar, -^ls, teacher of Frode III, 139-
152 ; his speech, 152 ; 169, 172
Whiteby, Hvitaby in Skaane, 364
Wienie Mere, Wienica Palus, 312
Wife of Usher's Well, Ixviii
Vifil, 403
Wigfus, cvi
Wig, Wigo, son of Frowin, 131, 135, 137
Wigar, WigeruS, 285
Wigg, Viggo, servant of Rolf, 69-70
Wiglek, Vigletus, K. ofD., 128-30
Wik, Wic, in S. Gothland, 314
Wik, Wig, Vigen in N. Norway, xli, 199,
Wikar, -us, K. of Norway, xxv-xxvi,
226-7
Wikars, Wicari, dwellers in ^^'ik, 297
"William Riley," xliii
William the Conqueror, xlv, Ixxvii, Ixxix
William the Little, ci
William, abbot, cvii
William of Palerne, 412
Windar (Eywind?), 312
Win, Winus, Sklav, 229 ( = Rin?)
Virgil, xxi, 30
Wisin, Wisinnus, champion, 230, 328
Wisna, amazon, Iv, 310, 315, 316
Withne, Vithn, 319
Witolf, Vitolfus, 264
Witthe, Vittho, Frisian rover, 55
Vitus, St., 394
Wivil, Wiuillus, 314
Woden, xxxiii sq. SeeQ^\x\
Wollin, lulinensis proviiicia , sland, 311
Wolsungs, xxxi, cv
Voltaire, xxix
Xerxes, xlviii
Zealand, Sialandia, D. Sa^lland, xi, xxv,
xc, 8, 90, 129, 146, 161, 2n, 238, 263,
273, 288, 296, 311, 319, 375
Zealanders, Sialandi, -enses, Syelandici,
xi, 23, 82, i6i, 319, 361, 362, 364
n._NORSE POEMS CITED.
AtlakviSa, old Lay of Attila, xxvi, Iviii,
lix, Ixxix, civ
Atla-mal, lix
Bedwulf's Lay, xxvi, xxvii, xxix, xxxii,
XXXV, xxxviii, xl, xlvii, xlix, Ivii, Iviii,
Ixvi, Ixxx, xc, xcii, ciii, civ, cvii, cxvii,
cxx, 80
Biarka-mAl, xxv, xlvii, cii, civ
Bragi's Shield-Song, ciii
Brunhild Lay (C. P. B. i. 308), xxxiii ;
Long B, 's Lay, Ixvii
Corpus Poeiicum Boreale{C. P. B.), xxxii,
xxxiii, XXXV, xxxvi, xxxviii, xlvi-vii, liii,
Ivi, Ivii, lix, Ixiv, Ixv, Ixvii, Ixxix, Ixxx,
F F
INDEX,
Ixxxiii, Ixxxv, xcvi, ciii, civ, cxiii, 31, 37,
66, 78, 204, 223, 293, 297, 307, 309, 337,
344, 361-2, 367, 402
Grimm's Centenary Papers {G. C. P.),
xxxi, Ixxix
Darrada-li6^, Ixv, civ
Finn's Lay, xxv, Ixv
Gripe's Lay, civ
Gudrun's Lay, Ixix, Ixxix
Guest's Wisdom, Ixxxviii
Hamdis-mil, ciii
Heidrec's Riddles, cxvii
Helgi and Cara's Lay, liii
Helge I^ay, civ, cxiii
Hyndla Lay, lix, xc
Loka-senna [C. P. B. i. 102), xxxiii
Niord and Scathe's Lay, cvi
Old Wolsung Play, Ixxxvi ; W. Wolsung
Lay, Ixxxviii
Ravensong, xlvi, 1
Rigs-mdl, xxxi, Iv
Sigrun's Lay, civ
Skaldskapa-mAl, ciii
Skfda-Rfma, Ix, Ixxv, Ixxvi
Skirnis-mal, ciii, cxviii
Sna2biorn's poem, 402, 408, 409, 410
Starkad's Lay, cii, civ, cv
Swipdag's Lay, Ixvii
Thor's Lay, Ixxii
Thulor, Ixv
Wafthrudner's Lay, Ixvii
Wanderer's Lay, xxvii
Western Aristophanes, Ixxvl; Loka-senna,
cxxii
Widsith's Lay, ciii
Wolospa, Ixxxiii, cxxii
Ynglinga-Saga, 228
Ynglingatai, xxv, xxxv, Ixvi, cxiv
in.— SAGAS, Etc., CITED.
Adam of Bremen, xcviii, Ixxxii, 384
Arabales Saga, 404, 409
Aml<5^a Saga, 404
Annales Esromenses, xxv
Asmund Cappabana Saga, civ, cxxiii
Bede, Church History, xli, xci, xcviii, 15
Cormac's Saga, xxxvi, xxxvii
Dudo, Norman History, xci, xcviii, 15
and n.
Egil's Saga, xlv, xlvii, xlix, lix, Ixxxv, xc
Life of Elf heah, Ivii
Flatey-book, Ix
Fornaldar Sogur, xcix
Fostbr^e^ra Saga, xxxiii
Frithiof s Saga, liii
Gisli's Saga, xxxiii
Gregory's Handbook, xxxix
Gretter's Saga, Ixxx, Ixxxv, 403
Harald Hardrede's I.ife, xliii, xlvii
Heims-cringla, xxiv
Holmveria Saga, xcvii
Hr61f's Saga, Ivii
Isfirdinga Saga, Ixvi
Jomsvikinga Saga, xli, Ivii, civ
Jordanis, De Rebus Geticis, 338, 411
Landndma-b6c, xxix, xxxv, xxxvi, xlvi,
Ixxvi, xc
Langfe'5ga-tal, c, cvi, cxii
N Jal's Saga, xxx, xlix, Ixxxv, Ixxxvi ,
1 xxxvii, 279
O. E. Chronicle, xxxvi, xxxvii, 377
Orkney Saga, xxxiv
Orwar-Odd's Saga, Ixxxvii
Paul the Deacon, History of the Lombards,
xxxv, Ivii, xcv, 343
Olaf Tryggwesson's Life, xxxv
Olaf s Life, xxvi
Sigurd the Crusader's Life, Ivi
Snorre, li n. ; Prose Edda, Ixiii, Ixvii, xciv
Sorla Jjdttr, ciii
Thidrek's Saga, Ixxx
Vatzdsela Saga, xxxvi, xlii
Walter Saga, xxxvi
IV.— MODERN STUDENTS CITED.
Arnason, J,, 405
Bruun, Dr. Chr., xvii, xx
Detter, Dr. F. , 402, 404, 409
Fiddes, E. , suggestions, 11, 12, 333
Grundtvig,Dr. N. F. S.^ xix, 428, 431, 433
Holder, Dr. A,, xx, xxi, 12, '^y, 64, 76,
122, 171, 181, 217, 231, 233, 360, etc.
Horn, History of Literature of Scand.
North, ix
Jiriczek, Dr., 404
Jorgensen, A. D., xv
Langebek, Serif tores Rerum Danicaruin,
ix, xi, xxv
Latham, Dr., 410
Maurer, K., Island, 83
Mogk, Dr. E., 51, 223
Miiller, P. E. ^"M." in notes), xi, xiii,
xviii, 2, 3, 8, 10, 12, 13, 20, 64, 77, 80,
83, 89, 91, 94, 98, 107, 129, 145, 146,
149, 151, 156, 166, 178, 188, 193, 199,
213, 219, 233, 235, 285, 286, 287, 299,
302, 309, 310, 312, 313, 327, 328, 364,
368, 375, 376, 381,382,402. 5eeVel-
schow
Olrik, Dr. Axel, ci-ciii, cxii foil., 410
Paludan-MUUer, C, xiii, xv
INDEX.
Rhys, Prof., 411
Rydberg, Teutonic Mythology^ Ixii, Ixiii,
Ixiv, Ixv, Ixii, Ixxii, Ixxx, xcvii, cxvi,
cxxiii, cxxvii, 15, 30, 64, 129, 411
SchousboUe, Seier, xix, 7, 13, 32, 312
Sleenstrup, Normanncrne, xlix, Iv
Stephanius, xviii, 11, 27, 47, 64, 66, 80,
148, 163, 167, 170, 171, 201, 233, 306,
327, 360, 376
Uhland, 400
Vedel, translalor of Saxo, xviii, xix,
Velschow, Miiller andV.'s, ed. of Saxo,
xi, xiii, xviii. The notes are cited
indifferently as from " M."
Vigfusson, Dr. Gudbrand, xlvii, cxxiv
265, 408, 418
Zinzow, Dr., 410
v.— CLASSICS, Etc., CITED.
Caesar, Caius Julius, De B. G., Ixxxiii
Chanson de Roland, xxxiv
Cicero, 126
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 406-9
Ford, 389
Goethe, 398, 400
Homer, Odyssey, Ivii, Ixxi
Livy, 406-8
Milton, P. L., 354
Nibelungen Lied, xxvii
Ovid, 406
Shakspere, Hamlet, 398-401
Spenser, F. Quecne, Ixviii, Ixxiii
Tacitus, Germania, xxix
Valerius Maximus, xxii, li, xcvii, 176,
406, 409
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
PAGE
•am, for Pederson read Pedersen.
XXV, note,/o>-S. R. S. read%. R. D.
liii,/o?- Appendix III rearf Appendix I.
xcvi.^o?- Appendix III rsarf Appendix II.
cxxvii. Names. — In making the Index, I have found more variationsin the Englishing
of the names than could be wished. The reader must pardon several corrections ;
the sheets have been printed off, as the work has had to be done, at long intervals,
and some inconsistencies have crept in.
29, top, /or Vaarnsland read Varnsland.
30, line 2, for Handvan read Handwan.
58, 1. 7 from end, /or siezed read seized.
62, for Helgi read Helge.
68 and jZ,for Ingell read Ingild.
72 foil. , /or Bjarke, Hjalte, read Biarke, Hialte.
74,/or Skulde, Rute, read Skalds., Ruta.
78, note, for helmit read helmet.
St, for Cuse read Kuse.
^s^,for Hrossthiolf read Hrossthiof.
95, after Hrosstheow add Hr6ptr.
104 foil, ./or KoU read KoUer.
112, last line, for knotted tapestry read woven knots.
126, line II, for women read woman.
135,/or Vermund read Wermund.
171, note, /or Gotvar read Gotv/ar.
192, /or Rutenians read Ruthenians [Hs],
194, /or Olimar read Olmar.
196, after Esthonia and Kurland add with Oland.
199, for Aswit read Aswid.
202, for Wig readWik.
208, for Kervil read Kerwil.
223, /?r Erode read Erode.
263, last line,/or nephew read grandson.
271-3. From E. Koeppel, Quellen und Forschungen, No. 70, Studienzur Geschichte der
italienischen Novelle in der eng. Lit. des idten Jakr. , 1892, p. 87, note [abridged] : —
The first translation of the Decameron (1620) into English, which is taken from the
bowdlerised Church-sanctioned versions, substitutes for Dec. iii. 10 the tale of
Syritha, taken from Belleforest, Hist. Tragiques, vol. iv. No. 75 : "The wonderful
and chaste resolved continency of faire Serichtha, daughter to Siwald, King of
Denmark, etc." Allusions in Robert Greene to the same story (from Belief, doubt-
less) : in Mamillia J1583I, " Sirichia, daughter of Smald {sic)," etc. [Grosart, ii.
52), and Gwydonius (1587), called Sirithia [the point emphasised being her mar-
riage to a peasant].
275 foil. , /or Blackmen read Blacmen.
288, 290, /or Regnald read Ragnald.
288, /7r Drott read Drota.
2q6,for Skane read Skaane.
343, /or Gotland rmrf Gothland.
349, line II from end, /or tossing . . . other, readwith mutual motion of goatish backs.
359, delete note 2.
^6, for Harald read Haeald.
368, line 6 from end, /or Helle read Ella.
370, line 12, for the succeeding king read the king chosen in his stead.
379, line 3 from end, /or he unhallowed .... shrines read he pulled down the shrines
that had been profaned by the error of misbelievers [omitting Holder's comma after
diruit and xe.&dmg frofanatd\.
398. Goethe and Saxo. — I owe to the kindness of Dr. A. W. Ward the following
reference. In Briefwechsel zwischen Schiller und Goethe, ed. 1856, i. 316,
Goethe writes : ' ' This morning I turned to \or, went at] the Amlet of Saxo
Grammaticus ; unluckily, the story, -without being put vigorously through a purify-
ing fire, does not admit of being used; but, if one can master it, the result will be
by no means unpleasing, and will be noticeable by way of comparison" [with
Shakspere's ?].
Piinted by Chas. J. Clark, 4, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.
t
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