The Relation of the Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimur to Beowulf Part 5

II

FRoAaTTR

The first appearance of Hroar (Hrothgar) in literature is in _Widsith_ and _Beowulf_, where we become acquainted with him as the famous King of the Danes. Helgi (Halga) appears first in _Beowulf_, where he is scarcely more than mentioned. Hroar and Helgi belong to the most famous group of ancient kings in Denmark and appear repeatedly in old Scandinavian literature. The account of them in the _Froaattr_ which introduces the _Hrolfssaga_, is, briefly summarized, as follows.

Halfdan and Frothi were brothers, the sons of a king, and each was the ruler of a kingdom. Halfdan had two sons, Hroar and Helgi, and a daughter, Signy, the oldest of the three children, who was married to Earl Saevil while her brothers were still young. The boys' foster-father was Regin. Near Halfdan's capital was a wooded island, on which lived an old man, Vifil, a friend of Halfdan. Vifil had two dogs, called Hopp and Ho, and was skilled in soothsaying.

Frothi, envying his brother the crown of Denmark, attacked his capital with a large army, reduced it to ashes, and took Halfdan captive and put him to death. Regin took his foster-sons, Hroar and Helgi, to the island and placed them in the care of Vifil, in order that they might not fall into the hands of Frothi. Vifil took them to a cave (earth-hut), where they usually stayed at night; but in the daytime they sported in the grove. Frothi made every effort to locate them and make away with them, calling in witches and wise men from all over the land to tell him where they were, but in vain. Then he called in soothsayers, who told him the boys were not on the mainland, nor far from the court. The king mentioned Vifil's island, and they told him to look for the boys there.

Twice he sent men to search for them, but the men failed to find them.

Then the king went himself. Vifil, who knew the king was coming, met him on the strand as if by chance, pretending to be looking after his sheep; and when the king bade his men seize Vifil, the old man said, "Do not detain me, or the wolves will destroy my sheep," and cried out, "Hopp and Ho, guard my sheep." The king asked him to whom he was calling; he said, to his dogs. But he had told the boys before, that, when he called out the names of his dogs, they should hide in the cave. The king failed to find the boys and returned; but Vifil told the boys that it was not safe for them to remain on the island and sent them to their brother-in-law, Saevil, saying that they would some day be famous, unless, perchance, something prevented it.

Hroar was now twelve years old and Helgi ten. The boys returned to Saevil, but, calling themselves Hrani and Hamur, did not tell him who they were; and as they always wore masks, their ident.i.ty remained unknown to him.

Frothi invited Saevil to a feast. Hroar and Helgi expressed a wish to join him; but Saevil commanded them to remain at home. Nevertheless, when Saevil and his retinue had started off, Helgi got an untamed colt, and mounting it with his face toward the horse's tail, set out, acting all the while very foolishly. Hroar also mounted a colt, and joined him; and the two overtook the company. They galloped back and forth beside Saevil's retinue, until finally Helgi's mask fell off, and then Signy recognized him. She began to weep, and when Saevil asked her the cause of her distress, she informed him of her discovery. Saevil tried to get the boys to return home; but, though they now were on foot and remained in the rear, they persisted in accompanying him on his visit to Frothi.

When they arrived at Frothi's, Frothi began to hunt for the boys, and bade a witch, who had come to the hall, to try her skill in finding them. She told him that they were in the hall. Then Signy threw her a gold ring, and the witch said that what she had just stated was false.

Frothi threatened to torture her if she did not tell the truth; and she said that unless he soon prevented it, which he would not do, the boys would be his death. But the boys, terrified, fled to the wood. The king ordered his men to seize them; but Regin put out the lights in the hall, and, in the confusion that followed, those who were friendly to the boys used the opportunity to obstruct those who would pursue them. Frothi vowed that he would take vengeance at a more suitable time on those who had a.s.sisted the boys, but added, "Let us now drink and feast"; and this they did till the men lay in a drunken stupor in a heap on the floor.

Regin rode out to where the boy's were, but would not return their salutation. In fact, he pretended to be angry. They wondered what this meant, and followed him. Helgi thought that Regin wanted to help them, but without violating his oath to the king. Then Regin said to himself, so that the boys heard it, "If I had a matter to settle with the king, I would burn this grove." They took the hint and started a fire. Saevil came out with all his men and bade them aid the boys, and Regin took measures to get all his men and relatives out of the hall. The king awoke from a dream, in which the G.o.ddess of the nether world was summoning him. He discovered the fire, and learning who had set it, offered the boys peace on their own terms; but terms of peace were denied. Frothi then retired from the door of the hall, hoping to escape by an underground pa.s.sage; but at the entrance stood Regin, who blocked his progress, and he returned into the hall and perished in the flames.

His wife, Sigrith (now mentioned for the first time), the mother of Hroar and Helgi, refused to leave the hall and perished also.

The boys thanked their brother-in-law, Saevil, and their foster-father, Regin, and all the others who had helped them, and gave the men rich gifts. The boys subdued the whole land and seized the late king's possessions; and for a while the time pa.s.sed without the occurrence of anything worthy of special mention.

At this time there was a king by the name of Northri, who ruled over a part of England. Hroar often pa.s.sed long intervals at the court of Northri, supporting him against his enemies and defending his land.

Hroar married ogn, the daughter of Northri, shared the royal power with his father-in-law, and after Northri's death succeeded to the throne of Northumberland. Helgi remained at home, and, by agreement with Hroar, became sole King of Denmark.

In Saxo's seventh book, there is another version of the same story. The features in which it chiefly varies from the version in the _Hrolfssaga_ are as follows.

Halfdan's name has become Harald; Hroar's and Helgi's names have become Harald and Halfdan; Earl Saevil has become Siward, King of Sweden; Signy has become a daughter of Karl, governor of Gautland, and wife of Harald (Frothi's brother). Envy and the quarrelsomeness of Frothi's wife and Harald's wife cause Frothi to engage men to murder Harald. Frothi tries to avoid suspicion of being the author of the crime, but in vain; the people believe he is guilty. When he seeks the boys of the murdered king, to put them out of the way, their foster-parents bind the claws of wolves under the boys' feet and let them run about and fill a neighboring mora.s.s and the snow-covered ground with their tracks, whereupon the children of bond-women are put to death and the children's bodies torn to pieces and strewn about. This is done to give the impression that the boys have been torn to pieces by wolves. Then the boys are concealed in a large hollow oak, where food is brought them under the pretence that they are dogs. Dogs' names are also applied to them. The episode with the witch is present, but other men and women with superhuman power are not introduced. The whereabouts of the boys begins to be bruited about, and Ragnar, their foster-father, flees with them to Fyen. He is captured and admits that he has the boys in his protection; but he begs the king not to injure them, calls attention to the foulness of doing them harm, and promises, in case they make any disturbance in the kingdom, to report the matter to the king. Frothi, whose severity Ragnar thus transforms into mildness, spares the boys, and for many years they live in security. When they are grown up, they go to Seeland. Their friends urge them to avenge their father's death, and this they promise to do. Ragnar, when he hears of this, reports it to the king in accordance with his promise, whereupon the king proceeds against them with an army. In desperation, the boys pretend insanity; and, as it is considered shameful to attack people who are insane, the king again spares them. But in the night the boys set fire to his hall, after having stoned the queen to death; and Frothi, having hid himself in a secret underground pa.s.sage, perishes from the effects of smoke and gas. The boys share the crown, ruling the kingdom by turns.

Before proceeding further, it would be well to have a summary of the relations of the Danish kings concerned, up to the last stage of development, the stage with which we are dealing; and this summary is best supplied by quoting the following from Olrik's _Danmarks Heltedigtning:[127]--

"Der er en fortaelling, som bar banet Skjoldungsagnene vej til manges hjaerter, i vort rhundrede ikke mindre end p selve sagafortaellingens tid: sagnene om de to unge kongesonner Hroar og Helge, der m skjule sig for deres faders morder og tronraner, farbroderen Frode, men som efter en raekke aeventyrlige oplevelser p den enlige holm og i selve kongsgrden ser lejlighed til at fuldfore haevnen og haeve sig p, tronen. En strlende begyndelse p den navnkundige kongeaets mange skaebner! Det er denne fortaellings udspring, vi nu skal soge.

"Tidligst foreligger den i en norsk saga fra 12te rh., der bner Sakses 7de bog; men smukkest er den islandske _Hrolfssaga_. Desuden foreligger den kort og kronikeagtig i den islandske _Skj?ldungasaga_, som lader brodermorderen hedde Ingjald og ikke Frode.

"Med disse kilder nr vi dog kun til det egenlige sagamands-omrde, Norge og Island. I Danmark er fortaellingen ukendt; og Sakse og Svend geson er enige on den lige modsatte overlevering: det er Halvdan, der slr sin broder Frode eller begge sine brodre ihjel for at vinde herredommet alene. Det er ikke rimeligt, at den danske overlevering skulde have dels forvansket, dels tabt den mere aegte norske; ti fortaellingen om de forfulgte kongesonner er s let at huske som et aeventyr og vil vanskelig g i glemme, naar den forst er hort.

"Ogs den aeldste sagnform, Beovulfkvadets, kender kampen om herredommet imellem Halvdan og Frode; men der er den forskel, at den ene er konge over Danerne, den anden over Had-Barderne, og det er imellem disse to folkestammer, striden udkaempes. Det synes snarest, som om Frode er falden i kampen (flere forskere opfatter stedet sledes); i hvert fald tillader sammenhaengen naeppe, at Halvdan kan vaere falden imod Frode. For s vidt str denne aeldste form naermest ved den senere danske overlevering, fjaernere fra den norske.

"Som Halvdans broderdrab fortaelles hos Sakse og Svend geson, str det losrevet, vi kan G.o.dt sige meningslost. Det over ingen episk indflydelse p, Skjoldungernes liv, og der rammer h.e.l.ler ikke Halvdan eller hans aet nogen moralsk gengaeldelse. Med G.o.d grund undrer Sakse sig over denne livsskaebne, at den grumme drabsmand kan do en fredelig dod i sin alderdom; ti det er ganske mod heltedigtningens nd. Forklaringen derp har vi til dels i den aeldre sagnform: broderkampen er opstet af den gamle folkekamp, hvor Had-Barderne l, under for Danerne; men tillige m der vaere bristet en episk sammenknytning. I naeste slaegtled af Skjoldungaetten er det et ret gammelt sagnmotiv, at Hrorik overfalder og faelder Hroar; ban har sikkert vaeret opfattet som Frodes son og haevner, ikke blot i norsk men ogs i gammel dansk overlevering.

"Den saerlig norske form er da bleven til, ved at man vendte broderdrabet om. Det er en sagndannelse af ganske samme art som den, der gjorde Hrorik til Hroars drabsmand; helteaetten kom til at st skyldfri. Det naeste trin var at udvikle denne ny situation med Halvdansonnernes fredloshed og deres faderhaevn. Vi har en gammel kilde, der viser, at udviklingen virkelig er get i disse to trin.

_Grottesangen_ s.l.u.tter med spdom on, at 'Yrsas son [Rolf] skal haevne Halvdans drab p, Frode.' Da kvadet synes digtet af en Nordmand i 10de rh., har vi i alt fire tidsfaestede udviklingstrin af sagnet:

"1. Danekongen Halvdan kaemper med Hadbardekongen Frode og bar formodenlig faeldet ham (_Beovulf_).

"2. Skjoldungen Halvdan kaemper med sin broder Frode on riget og faelder ham (danske sagn).

"3. Skjoldungen Frode draeber (sin broder) Halvdan, sonnesonnen Rolf haevner det (_Grottesangen_, 10de rh., norsk).

"4. Skjoldungen Frode overfalder sin broder Halvdan og draeber ham; sonnerne Hroar og Helge redder livet og haevner siden deres faders dod (norsk og islandsk saga, 12te, 13de, 14de rh.).

"Ifolge dette m sagaen om Helges og Hroars barndom vaere opstet mellem r 1000 (950) og r 1100, snarest naer ved den forste tid.[128]

"Langt vigtigere end tids.p.u.n.ktet er dog _arten af denne omdannelse_. Vi str her foran det storste skel, der forekommer i heltedigtningens levnedslob: overgangen fra den lose skare af smsagn, der s.l.u.tter sig forklarende og udfyldende omkring kvadene, til _sagaen_, der selvstaendig og i lobende sammenhaeng gor rede for heltenes liv. Netop ved Skjoldungsagnene mtte denne overgang blive afgorende. Nr Halvdans mord var det forste punkt i slaegtens historie, kunde man umulig unddrage sig fra klart og alsidig at belyse dets folger. Det var selvfolgeligt, at Frode ogs straebte at rydde Halvdans to sonner af vejen; sledes fremkom sagnene om fosterfaedre og venner, der sogte at skjule dem. For Helge og Hroar mtte den eneste vej til deres faedrene trone g gennem kamp; deraf opstod da sagnet on haevn over Frode.

"Enkeite traek i denne digtning bar sagamanden naturligvis hentet fra den overleverede rigdom af sagn. Det er allerede forlaengst indset, at vaesenlige traek skyldes ln fra sagnet on _Amled_, den unge kongeson, der redder sit liv ved foregivet vanvid, da hans farbroder bar haevet sig p tronen ved mord p hans fader."

The chapter from which the above is taken contains about a page more.

Olrik says, "Sagnet om Helge og Hroar er dog som helhed noget ganske andet end den specielle Amledtype." He refers by way of comparison to the life of Sigurd the Volsung, to the myth of Romulus and Remus, and the corresponding myth of the Greek twins of Thebes, Thessaly, and Arcadia; and concludes thus: "Er der fremmed indflydelse ved dens fodsel [i.e., the story of Hroar's and Helgi's childhood], m den vaere svag og let strejfende. Snarere m man opfatte sagnet sledes, at dette aemne har en livskraft til stadig at fodes p ny, hver gang den unge belt vokser op efter faderens drab. Motivet er s naerliggende, s ubetinget heltegyldigt, at da Skjoldungsagaerne voksede frem p folkemunde, mtte de bnes med denne digtning; den var stadig--s at sige--lige nodvendig for at stemple den store helteskikkelse."

The story about the Scylding kings in its various phases (except the first, in _Beowulf_) is found in Denmark and in the Old Norse. Among the Danes and Norwegians (including Icelanders), therefore, we must look for an explanation of this last stage of development. But in the north of England were many Danes and Norwegians, and, as has already been pointed out, the story about Bothvar Bjarki was known in England and acquired distinct features there.[129] To England, then, we turn for an explanation of the main features of the Hroar-Helgi story.

Furthermore, the story is due to a combination of influences. Evidence of this is the fact that it shows unmistakable influence of the Hamlet story, which, however, does not furnish an explanation of the story as a whole. And the fact that the story about Hroar and Helgi was not a native product of England and had no roots in the soil of the country, so to speak, which tended to hold it within bounds, but was an imported story circulating rather loosely, far from the scene of the supposed events related, would make it peculiarly susceptible to extraneous influences adapted to aid in its development.

The first influence to which the Hroar-Helgi story was subjected was plainly the "exile-return" type of story, whose general characteristics are stated by Deutschbein as follows:--

"Das Reich eines Konigs, der nur einen jungen unerwachsenen Sohn hat, wird eines Tages vom Feinde uberfallen. Der Vater fallt im blutigen Kampfe. Die Rettung des jungen Thronerben ist mit Schwierigkeiten verbunden--haufig steht dem jungen Furstensohn in der aussersten Not ein getreuer Eckhart zur Seite, eine feststehende Figur in unserm Typus. Der Konigssohn wird in Sicherheit gebracht, in der Fremde zunachst in niedriger Stellung, meist unter angenommenem Namen, wachst er zu einem tuchtigen Recken heran, bis zuletzt die Zeit der Heimkehr gekommen ist. Er nimmt furchtbare Rache an den Mordern seines Vaters und gewinnt sein Erbe zuruck; wesentliche Dienste leistet ihm dabei ein oder mehrere treue Anhanger seines Vaters, die in der Heimat zuruckgeblieben sind.

"Eine Abart dieses Typus weist einen anderen Eingang auf: statt ausserer Feinde sind es nahe Verwandte (Oheim, Stiefvater, Stiefbruder), die den jungen Prinzen seines Vaters berauben und ihm selbst nachstellen. Diese Form bezeichnen wir mit B, die Hauptform mit A."[130]

The Hroar-Helgi story has two young princes; otherwise, it conforms exactly to type B.

Frothi, Halfdan's brother (_Hrolfssaga_ version), attacks him with an army and defeats and slays him. The boys are taken by Regin, their foster-father, to a neighboring island for safety (this, however, is being sent abroad with a limited application of the term), where they live with a shepherd in a cave, responding, when necessary, to the names of dogs. There they remain until they are twelve and ten years old respectively, when they return to their sister and brother-in-law, who, together with Regin, render the boys valuable a.s.sistance. They take frightful vengeance on their father's slayer by setting fire to his hall and forcing him to perish in the flames.

The third stage having been reached in the development of the Hroar-Helgi story, in which the brother who is slain is avenged by one of his descendants, it was easy and natural for it to fall in with the "exile-return" type. The type is not an artificial type, it is founded on human nature. The guileless and weak must yield to the designing and strong. History teems with ill.u.s.trations of the fact that he wears the crown who can win it and hold it. Where a kingdom is the prize, a man is under a mighty temptation when he sees that he can seize it by brushing aside a weak ruler and a still weaker heir, or, the ruler being out of the way, the young heir only. And it is natural that, the young heir surviving, he should avenge a murdered parent, regain the crown, and not permit the usurper to enjoy the fruits of his crime unmolested. Friends each party would also have, actuated, if by nothing else, by self-interest, which is bound up in the success of their chief. What the Hroar-Helgi story in its third stage of development may have been we do not know. We are only told that "Yrsa's son will avenge Frothi's murder of Halfdan." But the story was well prepared for the type it was to a.s.sume.

That the story was clearly regarded as one of this type is evident from the fact that in Johannes Bramis' _Historia Regis Waldei_ Frodas is the usurper of the throne which by right belongs to Waldef.[131] It is not necessary to repeat the story; it has all the characteristics of the "exile-return" type. As a whole, it has no connection with the Hroar-Helgi story; and it contains the only instance known of the use of Frothi outside the story where he originally belongs. But he is so typically the same person, with the same unlovable characteristics, that he can be none other than the Frothi who plays such a conspicuous part in the history of the Scylding kings.

The use of Frothi as a typical usurper in the English Waldef story is also a very strong indication that the story in which he has his proper setting was current in England; otherwise, by what channel did he get into the Waldef story?[132]

Our next question is, What stories of the "exile-return" type were current in the portions of England in which the Hroar-Helgi story would naturally circulate? We think, of course, immediately of _Havelok the Dane_. Deutschbein has shown that _Havelok_ is founded on historical events that occurred in the first half of the tenth century.[133] The gist of the story is that an heir to the Danish throne is deprived of his heritage, suffers deep humiliation, but finally regains his heritage and, through marriage, the crown of Norfolk in England in addition. The story was of a nature to make a strong appeal to the Scandinavians, especially the Danes, in England. It achieved, in fiction, the ambition which the Danes realized under Swen and Canute, when these sovereigns governed both Denmark and England. It was a Danish story; it was developed after 950, which was about the time the third stage in the development of the Hroar-Helgi story had been reached; and it was a creation of the Scandinavians in England, among whom the story circulated.

Closely connected with the Havelok story is the Meriadoc story, the first part of which, as Deutschbein has shown,[134] and in regard to which J.D. Bruce agrees with him,[135] is based on the Havelok story.

These stories Deutschbein calls "cymrisch-skandinavische Sage" and says, "Wir sehen, da.s.s den Cymren und den Skandinaviern in England der wesentliche Anteil an der Entwicklung unserer Sage zukommt."[136]

It is evident that in the Havelok and Meriadoc stories we have every condition present for contact between them and the Hroar-Helgi story, namely: time (after 950); place (England); people among whom all the stories would circulate (Scandinavians, coming in contact with the Welsh); and, in the case of the Havelok and Hroar-Helgi stories, a popular theme dealing with Danish princes who regain a lost kingdom. The theme would be all the more popular as the time when the Havelok story was developed was a period of struggle on the part of the Scandinavians in the British Isles to gain and maintain supremacy.[137] Again, the nature of the Hroar-Helgi story was such that its development depended wholly on invention or on contact with other stories.

The first part of the Meriadoc story, with which a comparison will be made, is summarized by J.D. Bruce as follows:--

"In the time of Uther Pendragon, Caradoc ruled over Wales. He had a son and a daughter by his wife, a princess of Ireland, which country he had conquered. As old age approaches, he turns over the government of his kingdom to his brother Griffith and devotes himself to hunting and amus.e.m.e.nt. Wicked men persuade Griffith to slay his brother and seize the throne. Despite the warning of a dream, Caradoc goes hunting and is slain by hired a.s.sa.s.sins in the forest.

"The queen dies of grief, and, to turn suspicion from himself, Griffith has the a.s.sa.s.sins put to death. Before their execution, however, they revealed Griffith's guilt. Caradoc's friends among the n.o.bles wish to get out of Griffith's power their late master's children, who had been committed to the charge of Ivor and Morwen, the royal huntsman and his wife. Griffith determines to kill the children, but, touched in a measure by their appeal, does not have them executed on the spot. He has them taken to the forest of Arglud, where they are to be hanged. The executioners, however, feel compa.s.sion and tie them by a slender rope, easily broken, so that they may fall to the ground unharmed. Hearing of the children's disappearance, Ivor sets out for the forest, accompanied by his wife and his dog, Dolfin. To frighten the executioners away, he kindles fires in the four quarters of the forest and throws flesh into these fires to attract the wolves. He then hides himself in a tree. The wolves gather and the men, afraid, conceal themselves in the hollow of the tree to which the children had been hanged. Ivor drives away the wolves and then begins to smoke out the men. They promise to give up the children, if he will let them come forth. He consents, but kills them one by one, as they are crawling out.