University of Virginia Library

THREE NORTHERN LOVE STORIES AND OTHER TALES TRANSLATED FROM THE ICELANDIC BY EIRÍKR MAGNÚSSON AND WILLIAM MORRIS

THE STORY OF GUNNLAUG THE WORM-TONGUE AND RAVEN THE SKALD

EVEN AS ARI THORGILSON THE LEARNED, THE PRIEST, HATH TOLD IT, WHO WAS THE MAN OF ALL ICELAND MOST LEARNED IN TALES OF THE LAND'S INHABITING & IN LORE OF TIME AGONE

CHAPTER I. OF THORSTEIN EGILSON & HIS KIN.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Bade I the middling mighty]

[Gunnlaug.]
“Bade I the middling mighty
To have a mark of waves' flame;
Giver of grey seas' glitter,
This gift shalt thou make shift with.
If the elf-sun of the waters
From out of purse thou lettest,
O waster of the worm's bed,
A waits thee sorrow later.”

CHAPTER VII. OF GUNNLAUG IN THE EAST AND THE WEST.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“A courtman there is]

[Gunnlaug.]
“A courtman there is
Full evil I wis,
A bad man and black
Belief let him lack.”

[“As God are all folk fearing]

[Gunnlaug.]
“As God are all folk fearing
The free lord King of England,
Kin of all kings and all folk,
To Ethelred the head bow.”

[“Evil counselled art thou]

[Gunnlaug.]
“Evil counselled art thou,
Gold from us withholding;
The reddener of the edges,
Pricking on with tricking.
Wot ye what? they called me,
Worm-tongue, yet a youngling;
Nor for nought so hight I;
Now is time to show it!”

[“My ways must I be wending]

[Gunnlaug.]
“My ways must I be wending
Three kings' walls to see yet,
And earls twain, as I promised
Erewhile to land-sharers.
Neither will I wend me
Back, the worms'-bed lacking,
By war-lord's son, the wealth-free,
For work done gift well given.”

CHAPTER VIII. OF GUNNLAUG IN IRELAND.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative]

[“Swaru's steed]

[Gunnlaug.]

And this is therein also:

[“Tell ye, staves of spear-din]

[Gunnlaug.]
“Tell ye, staves of spear-din,
How on sleek-side sea-horse
Oft this earl hath proven
Over-toppling billows;
But Eric, victory's ash-tree,
Oft hath seen in east-seas
More of high blue billows
Before the bows a-roaring.”

CHAPTER XI. OF HOW GUNNLAUG MUST NEEDS ABIDE AWAY FROM ICELAND.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Light the weather wafteth]

[Gunnlaug.]
“Light the weather wafteth;
But if this east wind drifted
Week-long, wild upon us,
Little were I recking;
More this word I mind of
Me with Raven mated,
Than gain for me the gold-foe
Of days to make me grey-haired.”

[“He who brand of battle]

[Gunnlaug.]
“He who brand of battle
Beareth over-wary,
Never love shall let him
Hold the linen-folded;
For we when we were younger
In many a way were playing
On the outward nesses
From golden land outstanding.”

CHAPTER XIII. OF THE WINTER-WEDDING AT SKANEY, AND HOW GUNNLAUG GAVE THE KING'S CLOAK TO HELGA.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[Raven.]

“In thine arms, so dreamed I,
Hewn was I, gold island!
Bride, in blood I bled there,
Bed of thine was reddened.
Never more then mightst thou,
Mead-bowls' pourer speedy,
Bind my gashes bloody—
Lind-leek-bough thou lik'st it.”

[Gunnlaug.]

And again he sang:

[“God of wound-flames' glitter]

[Raven.]
“God of wound-flames' glitter,
Glorier of fight-goddess,
Must we fall a-fighting
For fairest kirtle-bearer?
Death-staff, many such-like
Fair as she is are there
In south-lands o'er the sea-floods.
Sooth saith he who knoweth.”

[“The fair-hued golden goddess]

[Gunnlaug.]
“The fair-hued golden goddess
For gold to Raven sold they,
(Raven my match as men say)
While the mighty isle-king,
Ethelred, in England
From eastward way delayed me,
Wherefore to gold-waster
Waneth tongue's speech-hunger.”

CHAPTER XIV. OF THE HOLMGANG AT THE ALTHING.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[Gunnlaug.]

“Out to isle of eel-field
Dight am I to hie me:
Give, O God, thy singer
With glaive to end the striving.
Here shall I the head cleave
Of Helga's love's devourer,
At last my bright sword bringeth
Sundering of head and body.”

[“Thou, singer, knowest not surely]

[Raven.]
“Thou, singer, knowest not surely
Which of us twain shall gain it;
With edge for leg-swathe eager,
Here are the wound-scythes bare now.
In whatso-wise we wound us,
The tidings from the Thing here,
And fame of thanes' fair doings,
The fair young maid shall hear it.”

[“Born was she for men's bickering]

[Gunnlaug.]
“Born was she for men's bickering:
Sore bale hath wrought the war-stem,
And I yearned ever madly
To hold that oak-tree golden.
To me then, me destroyer
Of swan-mead's flame, unneedful
This looking on the dark-eyed,
This golden land's beholding.”

[“Moon of linen-lapped one]

[Gunnlaug.]
“Moon of linen-lapped one,
Leek-sea-bearing goddess,
Hawk-keen out of heaven
Shone all bright upon me;
But that eyelid's moonbeam
Of gold-necklaced goddess
Her hath all undoing
Wrought, and me made nought of.”

CHAP. XVI. HOW THE TWO FOES MET AND FOUGHT AT DINGNESS.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Grim and Olaf, great-hearts]

“Grim and Olaf, great-hearts
In Gondul's din, with thin sword
First did Gunnlaug fell there
Ere at Raven fared he;
Bold, with blood be-drifted
Bane of three the thane was;
War-lord of the wave-horse
Wrought for men folks' slaughter.”

[“O thou sword-storm stirrer]

[Gunnlaug.]
“O thou sword-storm stirrer,
Raven, stem of battle
Famous, fared against me
Fiercely in the spear din.
Many a flight of metal
Was borne on me this morning,
By the spear-walls' builder,
Ring-bearer, on hard Dingness.”

CHAPTER XVII. THE NEWS OF THE FIGHT BROUGHT TO ICELAND.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Knew I of the hewing]

[Illugi.]
“Knew I of the hewing
Of Raven's hilt-finned steel-fish
Byrny-shearing—sword-edge
Sharp clave leg of Raven.—
Of warm wounds drank the eagle,
When the war-rod slender,
Cleaver of the corpses,
Clave the head of Gunnlaug.”

[“Red is the sword, but I now]

[Raven.]
“Red is the sword, but I now
Am undone by Sword-Odin.
'Gainst shields beyond the sea-flood
The ruin of shields was wielded.
Methinks the blood-fowl blood-stained
In blood o'er men's heads stood there,
The wound-erne yet wound-eager
Trod over wounded bodies.”

CHAPTER XVIII. THE DEATH OF HELGA THE FAIR.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Dead in mine arms she droopeth]

[Thorkel.]
“Dead in mine arms she droopeth,
My dear one, gold-rings' bearer,
For God hath changed the life-days
Of this Lady of the linen.
Weary pain hath pined her,
But unto me, the seeker
Of hoard of fishes' highway,
Abiding here is wearier.”

THE STORY OF FRITHIOF THE BOLD

CHAPTER V. THOSE BRETHREN COME HOME AGAIN.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Now must I tell]

[Frithiof.]
“Now must I tell
To our good men
That over and done
Are our fair journeys;
No more a-shipboard
Shall we be going,
For there are the sheets
Spread out a-bleaching.”

CHAPTER VI. FRITHIOF SAILS FOR THE ORKNEYS.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Oft let I swim from Sogn]

[Frithiof.]
“Oft let I swim from Sogn
My tarred ship sooty-sided,
When maids sat o'er the mead-horn
Amidst of Baldur's Meadows;
Now while the storm is wailing
Farewell I bid you maidens,
Still shall ye love us, sweet ones,
Though Ellidi the sea fill.”

[“Now is the sea a-swelling]

[Frithiof.]
“Now is the sea a-swelling,
And sweepeth the rack on ward;
Spells of old days cast o'er us
Make ocean all unquiet;
No more shall we be striving
Mid storm with wash of billows,
But Solundir shall shelter
Our ship with ice-beat rock-walls.”

[“In days foredone]

[Frithiof.]
“In days foredone
From Foreness strand
I rowed to meet
Maid Ingibiorg;
But now I sail
Through chilly storm
And wide away
My long-worm driveth.”

[“The salt waves see we nought]

[Frithiof.]
“The salt waves see we nought
As seaward drive we ever
Before the witch-wrought weather,
We well-famed kings'-defenders:
Here are we all a-standing,
With all Solundir hull-down,
Eighteen brave lads a-baling
Black Ellidi to bring home.”

[“Helgi it is that helpeth]

[Frithiof.]
“Helgi it is that helpeth
The white-head billows' waxing;
Cold time unlike the kissing
In the close of Baldur's Meadow!
So is the hate of Helgi
To that heart's love she giveth.
O would that here I held her,
Gift high above all giving!”

[“So come in the West-sea]

[Frithiof.]
“So come in the West-sea,
Nought see I the billows,
The sea-water seemeth
As sweeping of wild-fire.
Topple the rollers,
Toss the hills swan-white,
Ellidi wallows
O'er steep of the wave-hills.”

[“With love-moved mouth the maiden]

[Frithiof.]
“With love-moved mouth the maiden
Me pledgeth though I founder.
Ah! bright sheets lay a-bleaching,
East there on brents the swan loves.”

[“No widow, methinks]

[Biorn.]
“No widow, methinks,
To thee or me drinks:
No ring-bearer fair
Biddeth draw near;
Salt are our eyne
Soaked in the brine;
Strong our arms are no more,
And our eyelids smart sore.”

[“Sharp work about the sail was]

[Asmund.]
“Sharp work about the sail was
When o'er the ship seas tumbled,
And there was I a-working
Within-board 'gainst eight balers;
Better it was to bower,
Bringing the women breakfast,
Than here to be 'mid billows
Black Ellidi a-baling.”

[“On bolster I sat]

[Frithiof.]
“On bolster I sat
In Baldur's Mead erst,
And all songs that I could
To the king's daughter sang;
Now on Ran's bed belike
Must I soon be a-lying,
And another shall be
By Ingibiorg's side.”

[“Yet one gain have I gotten]

[Biorn.]
“Yet one gain have I gotten
Thou gatst not 'mid thy fortune,
For meet play did I make me
With Ingibiorg's eight maidens;
Red rings we laid together
Aright in Baldur's Meadow,
When far off was the warder
Of the wide land of Halfdan.”

[“Both sheets are bursten]

[Frithiof.]
“Both sheets are bursten
Amid the great billows,
Four swains are sunk
In the fathomless sea.”

[“The red ring here I hew me]

[Frithiof.]
“The red ring here I hew me
Once owned of Halfdan's father,
The wealthy lord of erewhile,
Or the sea waves undo us,
So on the guests shall gold be,
If we have need of guesting;
Meet so for mighty men-folk
Amid Ran's hall to hold them.”

[“See I troll women]

[Frithiof.]
“See I troll women
Twain on the billows,
E'en they whom Helgi
Hither hath sent.
Ellidi now
Or ever her way stop
Shall smite the backs
Of these asunder.”

[“Ellidi, hail!]

[Biorn.]
“Ellidi, hail!
Leap high o'er the billows!
Break of the troll wives
Brow or teeth now!
Break cheek or jaw
Of the cursed woman,
One foot or twain
Of the ogress filthy.”

[“No need, fair fellows]

[Frithiof.]
“No need, fair fellows,
To fear the death-day;
Rather be glad,
Good men of mine:
For if dreams wot aught
All nights they say
I yet shall have
My Ingibiorg.”

[“Fast bare I up]

[Frithiof.]
“Fast bare I up
To the fire-lit house
My men all dazed
With the drift of the storm:
And the sail moreover
To the sand I carried;
With the might of the sea
Is there no more to do.”

CHAPTER VII. FRITHIOF AT THE ORKNEYS.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Men see I a-baling]

[Frithiof.]
“Men see I a-baling
Amid the storm's might;
Six bale on Ellidi
Seven are a-rowing;
Like is he in the stem,
Straining hard at the oars,
To Frithiof the Bold,
The brisk in the battle.”

[“Take up from the floor]

[Frithiof.]
“Take up from the floor,
O fair-going woman,
The horn cast adown
Drunk out to the end!
I behold men at sea
Who, storm-beaten, shall need
Help at our hands
Ere the haven they make.”

[“Nay, nay, in nought]

[Frithiof.]
“Nay, nay, in nought
Now shall ye cow us.
Blenching hearts
Isle-abiders!
Alone with you ten
The fight will I try,
Rather than pray
For peace at your hands.”

[“There baled we, wight fellows]

[Biorn.]
“There baled we, wight fellows,
Washed over and over
On both boards
By billows;
For ten days we baled there,
And eight thereunto.”

CHAP. IX. FRITHIOF BRINGS THE TRIBUTE TO THE KINGS.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Frank and free]

[Frithiof.]
“Frank and free,
With my father dead,
In Foreness old
We drank aforetime.
Now my abode
Behold I burned;
For many ill deeds
The kings must I pay.”

[“All alone go I]

[Frithiof.]
“All alone go I
Unto the stead;
No folk I need
For the finding of kings;
But cast ye the fire
O'er the kings' dwelling,
If I come not again
In the cool of the even.”

[“Have here thy scat]

[Frithiof.]
“Have here thy scat,
High lord of the warriors!
Heed that and thy teeth,
Lest all tumble about thee!
Lo the silver abideth
At the bight of this bag here,
That Biorn and I
Betwixt us have borne thee.”

[“The heavy purse smote Helgi]

[Frithiof.]

Men say that Frithiof cast a firebrand up on to the roof, so that the hall was all ablaze, and therewith sang a stave:

CHAPTER X. FRITHIOF MADE AN OUTLAW.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Young Ingibiorg]

[Frithiof.]
“Young Ingibiorg
Kissed I aforetime,
Kissed Beli's daughter
In Baldur's Meadow.
So shall the oars
Of Ellidi
Break both together
As Helgi's bow breaks.”

[“Sail we away from Sogn]

[Frithiof.]
“Sail we away from Sogn,
E'en as we sailed aforetime,
When flared the fire all over
The house that was my fathers'.
Now is the bale a-burning
Amidst of Baldur's Meadow:
But wend I as a wild-wolf,
Well wot I they have sworn it.”

CHAPTER XI. FRITHIOF FARETH TO SEE KING RING AND INGIBIORG.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Peace-thief they called me]

[Cowl-bearer.]
“Peace-thief they called me
On the prow with the Vikings;
But War-thief whenas
I set widows a-weeping;
Spear-thief when I
Sent forth the barbed shafts;
Battle-thief when I
Burst forth on the king;
Hel-thief when I
Tossed up the small babies:
Isle-thief when I
In the outer isles harried;
Slains-thief when I
Sat aloft over men:
Yet since have I drifted
With salt-boiling carls,
Needy of help
Ere hither I came.”

CHAP. XIV. KING RING'S GIFT TO FRITHIOF.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Have great thanks for the guesting]

[Frithiof.]
“Have great thanks for the guesting
Thou gavest with all bounty;
Dight fully for wayfaring
Is the feeder of the eagle;
But, Ingibiorg, I mind thee
While yet on earth we tarry;
Live gloriously! I give thee
This gift for many kisses.”

[“Oh, live, King Ring]

[Frithiof.]
“Oh, live, King Ring,
Both long and hale!
The highest king
'Neath heaven's skirt!
Ward well, O king,
Thy wife and land,
For Ingibiorg now
Never more shall I meet.”

[“Fare not away]

[King Ring.]

And again he sang:

[“Nay, how from thine hands]

[Frithiof.]
“Nay, how from thine hands
These gifts may I have,
But if thou hast fared
By the last way of fate?”

THE STORY OF VIGLUND THE FAIR

CHAPTER V. THE WEDDING OF OLOF SUNBEAM.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Sure glad ring-warder singeth]

[Ketil.]
“Sure glad ring-warder singeth
Sweeter than any other;
O Voice amid Earth's voices
Henceforth but woe unto me!
No ring-warder so white is
That he may win look from me:
One man have I made oath for,
And well-beloved is he.”

CHAPTER XI. THE BREWING OF A WITCH-STORM

[No more now may my eyen meet the sea ungreeting]

[Ketilrid.]
No more now may my eyen meet the sea ungreeting,
Since the day my speech-friend sank below the sea banks.
I loathe the sea-flood's swartness and the swallowing billow,
Full sore for me the sorrow born in sea-wave's burden.

CHAPTER XII. OF HAKON THE EAST-MAN.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Young now I shall not ever]

[Viglund.]
“Young now I shall not ever
Love any silken goddess,
That son of man shall say it,
Save thee alone, O Sweetling!
Therefore fair maid, remember
The oath we swore aforetime,
Howso that woman wilful
Would waste the love between us.”

CHAPTER XIV. KETILRID BETROTHED TO HAKON.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Stem where the gathered gold meets]

[Viglund.]
“Stem where the gathered gold meets,
All trust I gave unto thee:
Last thought of all thoughts was it
That thou couldst wed another.
But now no oaths avail us,
Nought are our many kisses;
Late learn we of women:
Her word to me is broken.”

[“I would abide the bale-fire]

[Viglund.]
“I would abide the bale-fire,
Or bear the steel-tree's smiting,
As other men may bear it;
But heavy maidens' redes are:
Sorely to me it seemeth,
Gold spoilers' shoulder-branches,
The sweet that was my maiden
Other than mine entwining.”

CHAPTER XVII. THE PARTING OF VIGLUND AND KETILRID.

Songs extracted from the prose narrative.

[“Maiden, my songs remember]

[Viglund.]

But when they were come a little way from the garth Viglund sang another stave.

[“A little way I led him]

[Ketilrid.]
“A little way I led him,
The lord of sheen, from green garth;
But farther than all faring,
My heart it followeth after.
Yea, longer had I led him,
If land lay off the haven,
And all the waste of Ægir
Were into green meads waxen.”

XXX. CHAPTER XX. VIGLUND COMES OUT TO ICELAND AGAIN.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“The linen-oak bath-lovely]

[Viglund.]
“The linen-oak bath-lovely
Laid last on me the lather:
So nought have I to hurry
Unto another head-bath.
And me no more shall any
Gold-glittering of the maidens
Henceforth, in all my life-days,
In ashen bath bewash me.”

[“Behold the hill whereunder]

[Viglund.]

And again he sang:

[“Ketilrid her carle bade]

[Viglund.]
“Ketilrid her carle bade
Quail not mid swift sailing,
Though the beat of billows
Overbore the foredeck.
Still her word is with me,
Be we wight now, Trusty!
Stormy heart of sorrow
I have for Ketilrid.”

[“The fight-grove of Van's fire]

[Ketilrid.]
“The fight-grove of Van's fire,
The fair, I knew at even—
Marvel that he would meet me!
I knew gold-master Trusty.
The ship of gold all slender
To such an one is wedded,
That ne'er another older
In all the world one findeth.”

CHAPTER XXI. GUESTING AT GAUTWICK.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[“Nought shall I say thee lie now]

[Viglund.]
“Nought shall I say thee lie now:
Ne'er saw I eyen sweeter
Since when we twain were sundered,
O sweet one of the worm-lair.
This craven carle her clippeth;
Shall I not carve from off him
His head? all grief go with him!—
Grief from the gold one gat I.”

[“Never, burnt-rings' breaker]

[Viglund.]
“Never, burnt-rings' breaker,
Shall ye be brought together,
If felon's deed thou doest
On Fafnir's-land's good dealer.
Not ever, nor in all things,
Availeth shielded onset;
Aright must we arede us,
O brother wise in trials.”

[“My friend, mind here the maiden]

[Viglund.]
“My friend, mind here the maiden
Who murdereth all thy gladness;
See there thy fair fame's furtherer,
Who seemeth fain of saying:
Though one, the lovely woman,
Hath wasted all thy life-joy,
Yet keep it close within thee,
Nor cry aloud thereover.”

[“The white hands' ice-hill's wearer]

[Viglund.]
“The white hands' ice-hill's wearer
Hath wasted all my joyance:
O strong against me straineth
The stream of heaped-up waters!
This sapling oak thy wife here
From out my heart ne'er goeth;
Well of tormenting wotteth
The woman mid her playing.”

[“O battles' thunder-bearer]

[The mistress.]
“O battles' thunder-bearer
Be glad and shift thy board-piece
On to this square thou seest;
So saith the staff of hangings.”

[“Again to-day gold-goddess]

[The master.]
“Again to-day gold-goddess
Against her husband turneth,
Though I the wealth-god owe thee
For nought but eld meseemeth.”

[“O slender sweet, O fair-browed]

[Viglund.]
“O slender sweet, O fair-browed,
Meseemeth this thy husband
As ferry-boat all foredone
Amid the Skerries floating.
But thee, when I behold thee
Go forth so mighty waxen,
'Tis as a ship all stately
O'er sea-mews' pasture sweeping.”

[“Friend, watch and ward now hold thou]

[Erne.]

And another stave he sang:

[“Another man's wife love I]

[Erne.]
“Another man's wife love I,
Unmanly am I holden,
Though old, and on her beam-ends,
Fallen is the fallow oak-keel.
I wot not if another,
At any time hereafter,
Shall be as sweet unto me—
The ship drave out of peril.”

[“Sweet linen-bride, full seldom]

[Erne.]
“Sweet linen-bride, full seldom
In such wise would I find thee,
An hoary dotard's hand-claws
Hanging about thee, bright one.
Rather, O wristfires' lady,
Would I around thy midmost
Cast as my longing led me,
These lands of gold light-shining.”

CHAPTER XXII. A WEDDING AT GAUTWICK.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[Whoso thinketh this good game]

Whoso thinketh this good game,
God keep us all from hurt and grame;
And may all things have such an end
That all we unto God may wend.
He who to tell this tale hath will,
He needeth no long time be still;
For here we cast off pain and woe,
Here noble deeds may Champions know,
Manners and tales and glorious lore,
And truth withal that shall endure,
Thanks to him who hearkened it,
Yea and unto him who writ,
And Thorgeir that engrossed it fair.
God's and Mary's grace be here!

THE TALE OF HOGNI AND HEDINN

CHAP.IV. SORLI SLAYETH KING HALFDAN.

[Songs extracted from the prose narrative.]

[[The Sorli-Song]]

“Fell there the fight-greedy,
Foremost of war-host,
Eager in East-seas,
All on Hells' hall-floor;
Died there the doughty
In dale-fishes joy-tide,
With byrny-rod biting
The vikings in brand-thing.”