Stories and Ballads of the Far Past Part 4

Then Guest was asked if Brynhild had chanted a lay after she was dead.

He replied that she had, and they asked him to recite it if he could.

Then Guest said: "As Brynhild was being driven to the pyre on the way to h.e.l.l, she was brought near some cliffs where an ogress dwelt. The ogress was standing outside the doors of her cave and wore a skin kirtle and was of a blackish hue. She carried a long f.a.ggot in her hand and cried:

'This will I contribute to your burning, Brynhild. It would have been better if you had been burned while you were still alive, before you were guilty of getting such a splendid man as Sigurth Fafnisbani slain. I was always friendly to him and therefore I shall attack you in a reproachful song which will make you hated by everybody who hears what you have done.'

After that Brynhild and the ogress chanted to one another.

The ogress sang as follows:

Thou shalt not be suffered to pa.s.s through my courts With their pillars of stone in my mansion drear,-- Better far wert thou busied at home with thy needle!

Not thine is the husband thou followest here.

Inconstant soul, why comest thou hither?

From the land of the Romans why visit'st thou me?

Full many a wolf hast thou made be partaker Of the life-blood of men who were butchered by thee!

Then cried Brynhild:

Upbraid me no more from thy rock bound dwelling For battles I fought in the days of old.-- Thou wilt not be deemed to be n.o.bler of nature Than I, wheresoever our story is told!

The Ogress:

In an evil hour, O Buthli's daughter, In an evil hour wert thou brought to birth.-- The Sons of Gjuki thou gavest to slaughter, Their n.o.ble dwellings thou rased'st to earth.

Brynhild:

A true account, if thou carest to hearken, O thou lying soul, will I tell to thee;-- How empty of love and o'ershadowed by falsehood The life that the Gjukings had destined for me!

Atli's daughter was I, yet the monarch bold-hearted a.s.signed me a home neath the shade of the oak.

But twelve summers old, if thou carest to hearken, Was this maid when her vows to the hero she spoke.

Hjalmgunnar the Old, of the Gothic nation, Great chief, on the pathway to h.e.l.l did I speed; And victory granted to Auth's young brother; Then Othin's dread fury was roused at my deed.

Then a phalanx of bucklers did Othin set round me On Skatalund's heights, shields crimson and white,-- Bade only that prince break the slumber that bound me Who knew naught of terror, nor shrank from the fight.

And flames high towering and fiercely raging Round my Southern hall did he set in a ring: None other was destined to pa.s.s through in safety Save the hero who treasure of Fafnir should bring.

The generous hero with treasure a-gleaming, The Danish viking on Grani rode,-- Foremost champion in deeds of valour-- Where my foster-father had his abode.

As brother with sister we slept together; Eight nights' s.p.a.ce he lay at my side.

There were we happy and slumbered idly, Nor loving caresses did ever betide.

Yet Guthrun the daughter of Gjuki reviled me, That I in the arms of her lover had slept.

O then was I 'ware of the thing I desired not-- The truth of my marriage from me had they kept.

All too long against storms of adversity struggling Both women and men seek their fortunes to right; But I with my Sigurth shall end my life's battle At last. Now depart from me, daughter of Night!

Then the ogress gave a horrible shriek and leapt into the cliff."

Then the King's followers cried: "That's fine! Go on and tell us some more!"

But the King said: "You need not tell us any more about things of that kind." Then he continued: "Were you ever with the sons of Lothbrok?"

Guest replied: "I was only with them for a short time; I joined them when they were making an expedition to the south in the neighbourhood of the Alps, and when they destroyed Vifilsborg. Panic spread everywhere at their approach, for they were victorious wherever they went. They were intending at the time to go to Rome. It chanced one day that a certain man came up to King Bjorn Ironside and saluted him.

The King received him in a friendly way and asked him whence he came.

He said that he had come from the south, from Rome.

The King asked him: 'How long is the journey there?'

He replied: 'You can see here, O King, the shoes which I am wearing.'

Then he took iron-bound shoes from his feet, and the tops of them were very thick, but underneath they were all torn.

'You can see now how severely my shoes have suffered,' said he, 'and tell by that what a long way it is from here to Rome.'

'It must be a very long way,' said the King; 'I shall turn back and give up the idea of attacking the territories of Rome.'

And the result was that they went no further on their way; and everyone thought it extraordinary that they should change their minds so suddenly at the word of one man, when they had all their plans laid. So after this the sons of Lothbrok went back to their homes in the north, and made no further raids in the south."

The King said: "It is clear that the saints in Rome would not allow them to make their way there. The man you spoke of must have been a Spirit sent from G.o.d to make them change their minds so quickly, so as not to bring destruction on Rome, the most holy place of Jesus Christ."

X. Then the King asked Guest: "Amongst the kings whom you have visited, whose was the court that you liked best?"

Guest replied: "I enjoyed most being with Sigurth and the sons of Gjuki; but the sons of Lothbrok were those who allowed most freedom to their followers to live as they liked. Then again the richest place was that of Eric at Upsala; but King Harold the Fairhaired was more exacting than any of the kings I have mentioned in the duties that he imposed on his followers. I was with King Hlothver too in the land of the Saxons, and there I was prime-signed; for it was not possible to remain with him otherwise, because the Christian religion was carefully observed there. That was the place I liked best on the whole."

The King said: "You can give us a great deal of information whatever question we ask you."

The King then asked Guest many further questions, and Guest told him everything clearly, and finally he said:

"Now I must tell you why I am called Norna-gest."

The King said he would like to hear.

XI. Guest began: "I was brought up at my father's home at a place called Groening. My father was a wealthy man and kept house in great style. At that time wise women used to go about the country. They were called 'spae-wives,' and they foretold people's futures. For this reason people used to invite them to their houses and gave them hospitality and bestowed gifts on them at parting.

My father did the same, and they came to him with a great following to foretell my fate. I was lying in my cradle when the time came for them to prophesy about me, and two candles were burning above me. Then they foretold that I should be a favourite of Fortune, and a greater man than any of my kindred or forbears--greater even than the sons of the chief men in the land; and they said that all would come to pa.s.s just as it has done. But the youngest Norn thought that she was not receiving enough attention compared with the other two, since they were held in high account yet did not consult her about these prophecies. There was also a great crowd of roughs present, who pushed her off her seat, so that she fell to the ground. She was much vexed at this and called out loudly and angrily, telling them to stop prophesying such good things about me:

'For I ordain that the boy shall live no longer than that candle burns which is alight beside him.'

Then the eldest spae-wife took the candle and extinguished it and bade my mother take charge of it and not light it until the last day of my life. After that the spae-wives went away, and my father gave them good gifts at parting. When I was full-grown, my mother gave me the candle to take charge of: I have it with me now."

The King said: "Why have you come here to me now?"

Guest replied: "The idea that came into my mind was this: I expected that I should get good luck from you, because I have heard you highly praised by good and wise men."

The King said: "Will you receive holy baptism now?"

Guest replied: "Yes, I will, since you advise it."