Stories and Ballads of the Far Past Part 11

The greatest charm of the poem, however, lies in the sympathetic treatment of Hervor. The Hervor of the prose narrative is perfectly consistent with the Hervor of the poem, but at the same time the poem--which is probably more than a century older than the saga--would lead us to conclude that her character was not correctly understood by the writer of the saga. Obviously unsympathetic, he denounces her with an indignation which would have made the writer of the poem smile.

"She grew up to be a beautiful girl ... but as soon as she could do anything it was oftener harm than good; and when she had been checked she escaped to the woods.... And when the Earl heard of it he had her caught and brought home."

The picture which the poem presents to us is that of a high-spirited girl, headstrong and impulsive, not unlike Brynhild in the Volsung story. When she goes to the barrows, every nerve is strung up to gain the treasure that has fired her imagination:

What care I though the death-fires blaze, They sink and tremble before my gaze, They quiver out and die!

But a reaction comes when she holds the sword in her hands at last:

Surely in terror I drew my breath Between the worlds of life and death When the grave fires girt me round.

Surveying the saga as a whole, perhaps the most striking feature is its extraordinary diversity of interest. It would be difficult to find elsewhere in Norse literature--or indeed perhaps in any literature--so great a variety of subjects and of literary forms brought together within such narrow limits.

Of the poems contained in the saga, the first is romantic, the second gnomic, the third heroic--and the prose narrative itself is not less varied in character. The conclusion of the saga appears to be purely historical; indeed it is generally regarded as one of the most important authorities for early Swedish history. Elsewhere also historical elements are probably not wanting, but they are interwoven in a network of romance and folklore. Thus whoever King Heithrek may have been, the part which he has come to play in the saga is chiefly that of linking together a number of folk-tales and ill.u.s.trating popular saws. As regards chronology, the war described in ch. 12-15 must belong to a period nearly seven centuries before the incidents related at the close of the saga. Still more strange is the fact that the victor in this war, the younger Angantyr, would seem to have lived some four or five centuries before his great grandfather and namesake who perished at Sams--if indeed the latter story rests on any genuine tradition. In spite of these and similar inconsistencies, however, the saga is on the whole perhaps the most attractive of all the _Fornaldarsogur_.

[Footnote 1: This MS. is identical with the one referred to as _A_ in the Introduction to the _Thattr of Nornagest_ (cf. p.

11 above).]

[Footnote 2: Quoted by Heusler, _Eddica Minora_ (Dortmund, 1903), p. vii.]

[Footnote 3: _Fornaldarsogur Northrlanda_ (Copenhagen, 1829), Vol. I; _Antiquites russes_ etc. (Copenhagen, 1850-2), Vol.

I.]

[Footnote 4: _Oldnorske og Oldislandske Litteraturs Historie_, Vol. II, p. 839 f.]

[Footnote 5: _Eddica Minora_, pp. 106-120.]

[Footnote 6: Cf. _Forord_ to N. M. Petersen's edition of _Hervarar Saga ok Heithreks Konungs_ (published by the 'Nordiske Literatur-Samfund,' Copenhagen, 1847).]

[Footnote 7: See _Fornaldarsogur Northrlanda_ (Reykjavik, 1891), Vol. I, pp. 309-360.]

[Footnote 8: Copenhagen, 4th edition, 1889.]

[Footnote 9: _Oldnorske og Oldislandske Litteraturs Historie_, Vol. I, p. 201.]

[Footnote 10: _Geschichte der Norwegisch-Islandischen Literatur_ (Stra.s.sburg, 1904), p. 605.]

THE SAGA OF HERVoR AND HEITHREK

Here begins the Saga of King Heithrek the Wise.

I. It is said that in the days of old the northern part of Finnmark was called Jotunheimar, and that there was a country called Ymisland to the south between it and Halogaland. These lands were then the home of many giants and half-giants; for there was a great intermixture of races at that time, because the giants took wives from among the people of Ymisland.

There was a king in Jotunheimar called Guthmund. He was a mighty man among the heathen. He dwelt at a place called Grund in the region of Glasisvellir. He was wise and mighty. He and his men lived for many generations, and so heathen men believed that the fields of immortality lay in his realm; and whoever went there cast off sickness or old age and became immortal.

After Guthmund's death, people worshipped him and called him their G.o.d. His son's name was Hofund. He had second sight and was wise of understanding, and was judge of all suits throughout the neighbouring kingdoms. He never gave an unjust judgment, and no-one dared violate his decision.

There was a man called Hergrim who was a giant dwelling in the rocks.

He carried off from Ymisland Ama the daughter of Ymir, and afterwards married her. Their son Thorgrim Halftroll took from Jotunheimar ogn Alfasprengi, and afterwards married her. Their son was called Grim.

She had been betrothed to Starkath Aludreng, who had eight hands; but she was carried off while he was away to the north of Elivagar. When he came home he slew Hergrim in single combat; but ogn ran herself through with a sword rather than marry Starkath. After that Starkath carried off Alfhild the daughter of King Alf from Alfheimar, but he was afterwards slain by Thor.

Then Alfhild went to her kinsfolk, and Grim was with her there till he went raiding and became a great warrior. He married Bauggerth the daughter of Starkath Aludreng and set up his dwelling on an island off Halogaland called Bolm. He was called Ey-grim Bolm. His son by Bauggerth was called Arngrim the Berserk, who afterwards lived in Bolm and was a very famous man.

II. There was a King called Sigrlami who was said to be a son of Othin. His son Svafrlami succeeded to the kingdom after his father and was a very great warrior. One day as the King rode a-hunting he got separated from his men, and at sunset he came upon a big stone and two dwarfs beside it. The King banned them with his graven sword from entering the stone. The dwarfs begged him to spare their lives.

The King said: "What are your names?"

One of them said his name was Dvalin and the other Dulin.

The King said: "As you are the most cunning of all dwarfs you must make me a sword, the best you can. The hilt and the grip must be of gold, and it must cut iron as easily as if it were cloth and never rust; and it must bring victory to whoever uses it in battle and single combat."

They agreed to this, and the King rode away home.

And when the appointed day came, the King rode to the stone. The dwarfs were outside, and they handed to the King a sword which was very beautiful.

But as Dvalin was standing in the doorway of the stone he said:

"Your sword, Svafrlami, will be the death of a man every time it is drawn; and moreover it will be the instrument of three pieces of villainy; and to you yourself also it shall bring death."

Then the King struck at the dwarfs with the sword. But they sprang into the stone, and the sword came down on it--sinking so deep that both the ridges of the blade were hidden; for the door into the stone closed as they disappeared. The King called the sword 'Tyrfing,' and ever afterwards he carried it in battle and single combat, and was always victorious.

The King had a daughter who was called Eyfura, an exceedingly beautiful and clever girl.

At that time Arngrim was raiding among the Perms in the Baltic. He raided the Kingdom of King Svafrlami and fought against him. They met face to face, and King Svafrlami struck at Arngrim who parried the blow with his shield; but the lower part of the shield was cut away and the sword plunged into the earth. Then Arngrim struck off the King's hand, so that he had to let Tyrfing fall. Arngrim caught up Tyrfing and cut down first the King, and then many others. He took great booty there, and carried off Eyfura, the King's daughter and took her to his home in Bolm.

By her he had twelve sons. The eldest was Angantyr, then Hervarth, then Hjorvarth, Saeming and Hrani, Brami, Barri, Reifnir, Tind and Bui, and the two Haddings who only did one man's work between them, because they were twins and the youngest of the family; whereas Angantyr, who was a head taller than other men, did the work of two. They were all berserks, and were unequalled in strength and courage. Even when they went marauding there were never more than just the twelve brothers on one ship. They raided far and wide in many lands, and had much success and won great renown. Angantyr had Tyrfing, and Saeming Mistletoe, Hervarth had Hrotti, and each of the others possessed a sword famous in single combat. And it was their custom when they had only their own men with them, to land when they felt the berserks' fury coming upon them, and wrestle with trees or great rocks; for they had been known to slay their own men and disable their ship. Great tales were told about them and they became very famous.

III. One Yule Eve at Bolm, Angantyr made a vow over the pledge cup, as the custom then was, that he would wed Ingibjorg the daughter of King Yngvi of Upsala--the cleverest and most beautiful maiden in all the Northlands--or perish in the attempt and marry no-one else. No more of their vows are recorded.

Tyrfing had this characteristic, that whenever it was unsheathed it shone like a sunbeam, even in the dark, and could only be sheathed with human blood still warm upon it. Never did he whose blood was shed by Tyrfing live to see another day. It is very famous in all stories of the olden days.

Next summer the brothers went to Upsala in Sweden, and when they had entered the hall, Angantyr told the King his vow and that he intended to wed his daughter.

Everybody in the hall listened. Angantyr asked the King to declare what was to be the result of their errand, whereupon Hjalmar the stout-hearted rose from the table, and addressed the King:

"Call to mind, Sire, how much honour I have won for you since I came into your kingdom, and how many times I have risked my life for you.

In return for these my services I beg that you will give me your daughter in marriage. And moreover I consider myself more deserving a favourable answer than these berserks, who do harm to everyone."

The King pondered over the matter, and found it difficult to decide the question in such a way as to give rise to as little trouble as possible; and he answered at last:

"My wish is that Ingibjorg should choose for herself the husband she prefers."

She replied: "If you want to marry me to anyone, then I would rather have a man whose good qualities I know already than one of whom I have only known by hearsay, and nothing but evil at that."

Angantyr said: "I will not bandy words with you; for I can see that you love Hjalmar. But as for you, Hjalmar, come south to Sams and meet me in single combat. If you do not appear next midsummer you will be a coward in the eyes of all men."

Hjalmar said that he would not fail to come and fight, and the sons of Arngrim went home to their father and told him what had happened. He replied that this was the first time he had ever felt any anxiety on their behalf.