The Saga Of King Hrolf Kraki Part 5

Hott screamed loudly and then said, 'You are acting as though you want me dead, since I had prepared my defences so well. Now you have broken my s.h.i.+eld wall into pieces even though I had built it so high around me that it protected me against all your blows. No blow has reached me now for some time, yet the wall was not as complete as I had intended it to be.'

Bodvar said, 'You will no longer build your s.h.i.+eld wall.'

Hott replied, 'Are you going to kill me now, kind sir?'

Bodvar, telling Hott to be quiet, picked him up and carried him from the hall to a nearby lake. Few paid attention to this. Bodvar washed Hott completely and then returned to the same place on the bench where he had sat previously. He led Hott there and sat him down beside himself. Hott was so scared that all his limbs and joints trembled, although he seemed to understand that this man wanted to help him.

Later in the evening men crowded into the hall. Hrolf's champions saw that Hott had been seated on one of the benches, and it seemed to them that the man who had undertaken to do that was indeed brave. Hott cast a fearful glance in the direction of his old acquaintances, for he had received only harm from them. Afraid for his life, he tried to get back to his bone pile, but Bodvar held on to Hott and he was unable to get away. Hott thought that, if he could manage to get to the heap of bones, he would not be so exposed to the men's blows.

The king's men now took up their old habits. At first they threw small bones across the floor at Bodvar and Hott. Bodvar acted as if he saw nothing. Hott was so frightened that he took neither food nor drink, expecting to be struck at any moment.

Then Hott said to Bodvar, 'Kind sir, here comes a large knuckle bone, which is intended to do us much harm.'

Bodvar told Hott to be quiet. He cupped his hand and caught the knuckle bone, which included the attached leg bone. Bodvar threw the knuckle back, and it smashed with such force into the man who had thrown it that he was killed.55 The king's men were struck with fear.

King Hrolf and his champions up in the fortress were now told that an imposing man had arrived in the hall and had killed one of the king's retainers. The other retainers wanted to have the man put to death.

The king asked whether his follower had been killed without cause.

'Almost,' they said.

Then the full truth came out. King Hrolf said that by no means should this man be killed: 'It is a bad habit that you have adopted, throwing bones at innocent men. It brings dishonour to me and shame to you. I have repeatedly spoken to you about this matter, but you have paid no attention. I suspect that this man, whom you have now attacked, is no weakling. Summon him to me, so that I can find out who he is.'

Bodvar went before the king and greeted him artfully. The king asked for his name.

'Your retainers call me Hott's protector, but my name is Bodvar.'

The king said, 'What compensation are you prepared to offer me for my man?'

Bodvar replied, 'He got what he deserved.'

The king said, 'Do you want to be my man and occupy his place?'

Bodvar answered, 'I will not refuse to become your man, but Hott and I will not, as matters stand, be separated. We will both sit closer to you on the benches than that man did, or else we both leave.'

The king said, 'I see no honour in him, but I will not begrudge him food.'

Bodvar now chose a seat that pleased him, not bothering to sit in the place the other man had occupied. At one point he pulled three men up out of their seats, and then he and Hott sat down in their places. They had now moved much farther into the hall than earlier. Men thought Bodvar difficult to deal with, and there was strong resentment against him.

As Yuletime drew near, gloom settled over the men. Bodvar asked Hott what caused their dejection. Hott told him that a huge, monstrous beast had come there the past two winters. 'The creature has wings on its back and it usually flies. For two autumns now it has come here, causing much damage. No weapon can bite into it,56 and the king's champions, even the greatest among them, do not return home.'57 Bodvar said, 'The hall is not so well manned as I had thought, if one animal alone could destroy the king's lands and his livestock.'

Hott said, 'It is not an animal, rather it is the greatest of trolls.'58 Then came Yule eve, and the king said, 'It is my wish that tonight men remain calm, making no noise, and I forbid any of my men to put themselves in danger with the beast. The livestock will be left to their fate, because I do not want to lose any of my men.' Everyone faithfully promised the king to do as he asked.

Bodvar stole away in the night and took Hott with him. Hott went only after being forced to do so, declaring that he was being steered straight toward death. Bodvar said, 'Things will turn out for the better.'

They now left the hall behind them, with Bodvar carrying Hott because he was so frightened. They saw the creature, and immediately Hott started to scream as loudly as he could, crying that the beast would swallow him. Bodvar told the dog to be quiet and threw him down on the moor. There he lay, not a little scared, at the same time not daring to go home.

Bodvar now went against the beast. He was hampered by his sword, which, as he tried to draw it, stuck fast in its scabbard. Determined, Bodvar urged the sword out until the scabbard squeaked. Then he grasped the scabbard and the sword came out of the sheath. Immediately he thrust it up under the beast's shoulder, striking so hard that the blade reached quickly into the heart. Then the beast fell dead to the ground.

After this encounter Bodvar went to the place where Hott was lying. He picked up Hott and carried him to where the beast lay dead. Hott was trembling violently.

Bodvar said, 'Now you will drink the beast's blood.' For a while Hott was unwilling, although certainly he dared do nothing else. Bodvar made him drink two large mouthfuls as well as eat some of the beast's heart.59 After that Bodvar seized Hott, and they fought each other for a long time.

Bodvar said, 'You have now become remarkably strong, and I expect that from this day forward you will have no fear of King Hrolf's retainers.'

Hott replied, 'From now on, I will fear neither them nor you.'

'Then, Hott, my friend,' said Bodvar, 'things have turned out well. Let us now go back to the beast, raising him up in such a way that men will think the creature must be alive.'

They did just that and afterward went home. They kept these events to themselves, and so no one knew what they had done.

In the morning, the king asked what was known about the beast, whether it had visited them in the night. He was told that all the livestock were safe in the pens, unharmed. The king ordered men to inquire if there were any indications that the beast had visited them. The guards went out but quickly returned. They told the king that the beast was coming toward them, furiously advancing on the stronghold. The king ordered his retainers to be valiant. Each was to do his best according to his courage, so that they might overcome this monster. Obeying the king's command, the men prepared themselves.

The king looked toward the beast, saying finally, 'I see no movement in it, but which one of you will now seize the opportunity to go against it?'

Bodvar said, 'That would likely satisfy the curiosity of the bravest man. Hott, my friend, throw off the slander that men have laid on you, claiming that you have neither spirit nor courage. Go and kill the beast. You can see that no one else is too eager to do so.'

'Right,' said Hott, 'I will set myself to that task.'

The king said, 'I do not know where your courage has come from, Hott, but much has changed about you in a short time.'

Hott said, 'For this task, give me the sword Golden Hilt, the one that you are holding, and then I will either kill the beast or find my own death.'60 King Hrolf said, 'That sword is not to be carried except by a man who is both strong in body and n.o.ble in spirit.'

Hott replied, 'a.s.sume, Sire, that I am made from such a mould.'

The king retorted, 'How can one tell? Perhaps more has changed about you than is evident. Few would think that you are the same person. Take the sword, for it will serve you well if my instincts about you turn out to be correct.'

Then Hott went boldly against the beast, thrusting at it as soon as he was within striking distance. The beast fell down dead.

Bodvar said, 'See, Sire, what he has now accomplished.'

The king answered, 'Certainly he has changed greatly, but Hott alone did not kill the beast; rather you did it.'

Bodvar said, 'That may be.'

The king said, 'I knew when you came here that few would be your equal, but it seems to me that your finest achievement is that you have made Hott into another champion. He was previously thought to be a man in whom there was little probability of much luck. I do not want him called Hott any longer; instead, from now on he will be called Hjalti.61 You will now be called after the sword Golden Hilt.'

And here ends this tale of Bodvar and his brothers.

24. King Hrolf's Champions Now the winter pa.s.sed until the time when the king's berserkers were expected home. Bodvar asked Hjalti about the berserkers' habits, and Hjalti replied that, 'Upon returning to the king's guard, it was their custom to challenge each and every man. They begin with the king, asking him if he considers himself their equal. The king answers, "That is difficult to say with men who are as valiant as you are. You have distinguished yourselves in battles and bloodlettings with many peoples in the southern regions of the world as well as here in the North." The king answers in this way, more from courage than from fear, because he knows their minds, and they have won great victories for him. Next they ask every man in the hall the same question, but no one reckons himself their equal.'

Bodvar replied, 'King Hrolf's choice of warriors is limited if everyone turns cowardly because of the berserkers.' After this remark, they stopped talking.

Bodvar had now been with King Hrolf a year when the second Yule arrived. As the king sat at the table, all at once the doors of the hall burst open and twelve berserkers rushed into the hall. With all the iron in their equipment, they were as grey as broken ice. Bodvar quietly asked Hjalti if he dared to pit himself against one of them.

'Yes,' answered Hjalti, 'not against one, but rather against all. I now have no fear even when I face overwhelming odds, and one of them alone does not set me to trembling.'

The berserkers, advancing into the hall, saw that the number of King Hrolf's champions had increased since their departure. They studied the newcomers carefully, noting that one especially was no weakling. It is said that they were a little taken aback by what they found in front of them. The berserkers went, as was their custom, before King Hrolf. They questioned him, as usual, with the same words. The king answered them, as usual, in words that seemed best to him, offering his usual reply. Then they went up to each man in the hall, coming at last to the two companions. The leader of the berserkers asked Bodvar whether he considered himself an equal.

Bodvar answered that he did not regard himself as equally able, but rather as abler. He added that this difference would be found in whatever way that they might test themselves, and that the berserker a stinking son of a mare ought not to come sidling up to him like a common sow. Bodvar lunged at the berserker, seizing him and then heaving him up in the air in his full armour. He then threw the berserker to the ground with such force that the man lay there as if his bones had been broken.

Elsewhere in the hall, Hjalti played much the same game.

Now there was a great disturbance in the hall, and the king, sensing the danger of the situation, realized that his men might start to fight among themselves. Quickly leaving his high seat, he approached Bodvar, asking him to help calm the men and return the hall to good order. But Bodvar said that the berserker would lose his life unless he declared himself the lesser man. King Hrolf said that this could easily be accomplished, and Bodvar let the man stand up. Hjalti did the same, in accordance with the king's command. The men now returned to their seats. The berserkers, too, took their places, although they had much on their minds.

King Hrolf began a persuasive speech. He explained to them that they could now see that nothing existed so famous, so strong, or so big that an equal could not be found. 'I forbid you to awaken any animosity in my hall. If you defy me in this matter, you will pay with your lives. Be as savage as you like when I have dealings with my enemies and thus win honour and renown. Now, however, I have so choice a selection of champions that I do not need to depend upon you beserkers.'

The king's speech was well received, and the men were fully reconciled with one another.

The hall was now arranged in the following manner: Bodvar, who had become the most esteemed and the highest valued, sat at the king's right. Then came Hjalti the Magnanimous; it was the king himself who gave him that name. Hjalti was called the Magnanimous for this reason: he spent every day with the king's retainers, the same ones who had treated him so badly, as has been told earlier, yet Hjalti did them no injury, although he had now become a man far greater than they. The king would have thought it excusable had Hjalti given them some reminder, even killing one or another of them. On the king's left hand sat the three brothersSvipdag, Hvitserk and Beygadso important had they become. Next came the twelve berserkers. All the other heroes were then seated on both sides the length of the stronghold, but they are not named here.

The king arranged that his men take part in all kinds of sports and refinements, as well as amus.e.m.e.nts and pleasures of every kind. In whatever contests were tried, Bodvar proved the foremost of all the king's champions. He came to be held in so much esteem by King Hrolf that the king gave to him in marriage Drifa, his only daughter.62 And so time pa.s.sed for a while. They sat at home in the kingdom and were the most famous of men.

25. Bodvar Encourages King Hrolf to Recover His Inheritance It is said that one day King Hrolf sat in his royal hall. He was holding a costly feast in company with all his champions and his great men and, as the king looked to both sides, he said, 'Overwhelming strength has been a.s.sembled here in this hall.'

Next King Hrolf asked Bodvar whether he knew of any king his equal, or of one who commanded such champions. Bodvar replied that he did not, but added 'to my mind there is one thing that diminishes your royal status'.

King Hrolf asked what that might be. Bodvar said, 'It is a shortcoming, Sire, that you have not yet recovered from Uppsala your father's inheritance, the one that King Adils, your in-law, unjustly withholds.'63 King Hrolf said it would be difficult to seek that wealth, 'because King Adils is not a simple man. Rather, he is skilled in the black arts; a crafty, guileful, cunning and cruel-hearted man who is the worst to contend against.'

Bodvar said, 'Nevertheless, it would be fitting for you, Sire, to seek your allotted share, meeting once with King Adils in order to learn how he would answer such a claim.'

King Hrolf replied, 'It is a grave action that you are proposing. Wherever King Adils, the ambitious and the guileful is, we have a debt of vengeance for my father. All the same, we will risk it.'

Bodvar said, 'Just this once I would like to find out what King Adils is made of.'64 26. Three Strange Nights with Hrani King Hrolf prepared himself for his journey, a.s.sembling a hundred men in addition to his twelve champions and his twelve berserkers. Nothing is told of their travels until they came upon a farmer, who was standing outside as they rode up. He invited all the king's men to stay at his house. The king answered, 'You are a bold man, but do you have the means for this? We are not so few, and more than a small farmer is needed to take care of all of us.'

The farmer laughed, saying, 'Yes, Sire, I have at times seen no fewer men come to where I have been. You will lack neither drink nor anything else that you might need during the night.'

The king said, 'Then we will risk it.' The farmer was pleased with this decision. The newcomers' horses were taken care of and shown proper treatment.

'What is your name, farmer?' asked the king.

'Some men call me Hrani,' he answered.65 The hospitality was so good at Hrani's that the king felt he had rarely been received with so much generosity. The farmer was full of cheer, and there was no question to which he did not have an answer. They found him to be no fool.

They now went to sleep, but they awoke to such extreme cold that their teeth were chattering. They all got up together, dressed and covered themselves with whatever they could find. All, that is, except for the king's champions, who were content with the clothing they already were wearing. Everyone felt the cold throughout the night.

The farmer asked, 'How have you slept?'

'Well,' replied Bodvar.

Then the farmer spoke to the king, 'I know that your retainers found it cold in the hall during the night, and so it was. They cannot be expected to withstand the hards.h.i.+ps that King Adils will try on you in Uppsala, if they thought this trial was so difficult. Send home half your company, Sire, if you want to stay alive, because it is not with a large force that you will overcome King Adils.'

'You are an impressive man, farmer,' said the king. 'And I will adopt the counsel that you offer.'

When they had prepared themselves they set out, wis.h.i.+ng the farmer well. The king sent home half his force. The rest rode on their way, and at once another small farm appeared in their path. They thought they recognized the same farmer with whom they had just stayed. Matters now seemed to them to be taking a strange turn.

The farmer greeted them well, asking why they came so often. The king replied, 'We hardly know what tricks we are facing. You might be called a truly crafty fellow.'

The farmer said, 'Again you will not be poorly received.'

They were there another night and were shown fine hospitality. They fell asleep but were awakened by a thirst they found almost unbearable. They could hardly move their tongues in their mouths, so they got up and went to a vat filled with wine and drank from it.

In the morning farmer Hrani spoke, 'Once again, Sire, matters are such that you might well listen to me. I think that there is little endurance in the men who drank during the night. You will have to endure trials more difficult than that when you visit King Adils.'

Suddenly a fierce storm struck, so the men remained there that day and the third night came. Again a fire was built for them in the evening, and those who sat near the fire felt the heat on their hands. Most of the men quickly abandoned the places on the benches that farmer Hrani had allotted them, with everyone moving back from the flame except King Hrolf and his champions.

The farmer said, 'Yet again Sire, you can cull from your company, and it is my counsel that no one should go except you and your twelve champions. Then there would be some hope that you will return, but otherwise there is none.'

King Hrolf replied, 'You impress me, farmer, as so sensible that we will take your advice.' They stayed there three nights.

The king rode out with twelve men, sending back the rest of his company. King Adils learned of Hrolf's progress and said that it was well that King Hrolf had chosen to visit him, 'because, before we part, he will surely have an errand here, and the stories about it will be thought well worth the telling.'

27. King Adils' Deceitful Welcome King Hrolf and his champions rode up to King Adils' hall. All the townsfolk crowded into the highest towers of the stronghold to see the splendour of King Hrolf and his champions, they were equipped so handsomely. Many of the townsfolk admired such chivalrous knights.66 At first the men rode slowly and grandly, but when they were a short distance from the hall they let the horses feel the spurs. They raced onward to the hall and all in their path, both man and beast, leapt out of the way.

King Adils had his men receive the arrivals with graciousness and ordered that their horses be attended to. Bodvar said, 'Pay attention, boys, not to tangle either the forelock or the tail. Tend them well, watching carefully that they do not soil themselves.'

King Adils was told immediately of the care they showed concerning the stabling of their horses. He said, 'Their insolence and arrogance are vast. Follow my counsel and do as I order. Cut off the tails of the horses up to the rump, and cut the forelocks in such a way that the skin on the forehead peels off. Treat them in all ways with as much ridicule as you can. Just leave them barely alive.'

Then the newcomers were led to the doors of the hall, but King Adils was nowhere in sight. 'I am,' said Svipdag, 'familiar with this place from before. I will go in first, because I am suspicious about what the manner of our reception will be and what is in store for us. We must give no indication as to which of us is King Hrolf, making King Adils unable to recognize him in our company.'

Then Svipdag placed himself in front of the group, followed by his brothers, Hvitserk and Beygad. Next came King Hrolf and Bodvar, and then all the champions one after the other. There was no one to take their measure, because Adils' men, who had escorted them to the hall, had disappeared. Hrolf's company had their hawks on their shoulders, which at that time was considered a display of gallantry. King Hrolf's hawk was called Habrok.

Svipdag led the way. He carefully examined everything, noting the many changes that had been made. Hrolf's company made its way past so many obstacles set in its path that it is not easy to record them all. The further the men went into the hall, the more difficult the going became. This continued all the way until they saw where King Adils, bloated with pride, sat on his high seat. When the one side saw the other, each realized that an important moment had come. Hrolf's company understood that it still would be difficult to reach King Adils, even though they had come so close that they were within speaking distance.

Then King Adils began to speak, 'So, Svipdag my friend, you have now come. What might be the errand of the champion here? Or are these matters not as they appear to be: 9. A dent is in the back of his skull, the eye is out of the head, a scar is in the forehead, two blows on the hand.

Also his brother Beygad is all crippled.'

Svipdag now spoke in so loud a voice that all could hear: 'I ask at this time to receive from you, King Adils, safe-conduct for these twelve men who have come here. I make this request in accordance with the agreement that I earlier made with you.'

King Adils replied, 'I will agree to this. With a secure feeling go now quickly and bravely into the hall.'.

Within the hall they expected to find pits, dug as traps, but it proved difficult to ascertain what had been prepared to thwart them. It was so dim around King Adils that they could scarcely see his face. They could see that the ornamental wall hangings, which ringed the hall, had been broken from their mountings and moved forward, seeming to provide cover for armed men lying in wait. This a.s.sumption turned out to be correct, because a man in mail coat pushed forward from under each fold as King Hrolf and his champions made their way past the pits. King Hrolf and his champions found themselves engaged in a hard fight, and they cleaved their opponents as far down as their teeth. King Adils' men were piled in heaps, and still they were unable to determine which one was King Hrolf.

In his high seat, King Adils swelled with rage when he saw Hrolf's champions cutting down his troops like dogs. Realizing that the game could not go on in this way, he stood up and said, 'What is the meaning of this fighting? You are acting like scoundrels, attacking men of distinction who have visited us. Stop immediately and seat yourselves. Kinsman Hrolf, let us all set about greeting one other with good cheer.'

Svipdag said, 'You show little regard for the truce, King Adils, and you will find no renown in such conduct.' After that they sat down. Svipdag sat closest to the wall, next to Hjalti the Magnanimous, followed by Bodvar, who sat beside the king. They still wanted King Hrolf to remain unrecognized.

King Adils said, 'I see that you do not travel in a foreign land in a dignified manner, or why, kinsman Hrolf, do you not travel with a larger following?'

Svipdag replied, 'I see that you do not shrink from working treacherously against King Hrolf and his men; it is not your concern whether he rides here with few or with many men.'

And so they ended their talk.

28. King Adils Attempts to Defeat King Hrolf King Adils ordered the hall cleaned, and the dead were carried out. Many of his men had been killed and a large number were wounded.

King Adils said, 'Let us make fires the length of the hall for our friends and show genuine hospitality to these worldly guests so that everyone will be pleased.'

Men were then sent to light the fire. Meanwhile, King Hrolf and his men sat with their weapons, never letting them out of their reach. The flames increased quickly, as neither pitch nor dry wood was spared. King Adils and his retainers arranged themselves on one side of the fire, and King Hrolf and his champions were on the other side. Each group sat on a long bench, and they spoke graciously across to each other.