Six Sagas of Adventure (23 page)

[1]
   A hersir was a local military leader who owed allegiance to a jarl or king.

[2]
   Kalinké (
Bridal-Quest Romance
, p. 74, n10) suggests that a similar apple-tree motif in a different saga is derived from the Biblical
Song of Solomon
2:3: “As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.” (KJV) But comparing men to trees is a common metaphor in Eddic poetry (e.g.
brynþings apaldr
, “mailcoat-assembly’s apple tree”, i.e. “apple tree of battle”, applied to Sigurðr in
Sigrdrífumál
; or
rógapaldr
, “apple tree of strife”, applied to Helgi in
Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
).

[3]
   As discussed in the Introduction, the theme of the maiden who chooses an older but more accomplished suitor over a younger man was probably based on
Völsunga saga
ch. 11, in which Hjordis chooses the aged but famous Sigmund over the young but less accomplished Lyngvi. In both sagas, the rejected younger king returns with an army and attacks his older rival; however, Hrolf kills Olaf in
Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar
, while Lyngvi vanquishes Sigurd and takes Hjordis (thanks to the god Odin’s intervention) in
Völsunga saga.
(Kalinké,
Bridal-Quest Romance
, pp. 26-29)

[4]
   In the old Norse rite of naming a child, a baby was brought to its father, who acknowledged his paternity, sprinkled the baby with water, and gave it its name. The entire rite was called
ausa vatni
, “to sprinkle water.”
Despite outward similarity with the rite of Christian baptism (which is never called
ausa vatni
in the sagas, but always
skírn
, literally “cleansing; purification”), the rite seems to go back to pre-Christian times; it is well attested in sagas and Eddic poems.

[5]
  
Ullarakr
(modern Swedish Ulleråker) is a district near Uppsala. The name probably means “Field of Wool”—it appears in Saxo’s Latin
Danish History
as Campus Laneus—but it could also mean “Field of Ullr,” referring to the Norse god of hunting and archery. Jóhanna Friðriksdóttir points out that in
Heimskringla
(
Óláfs saga helga
ch. 78, transl. Hollander, pp. 316-317), Princess Ingigerd of Sweden has an estate in her own right at Ullarakr, where she negotiates whether she should be betrothed to King Olaf of Norway to make peace between Norway and Sweden (
Women in Old Norse Literature
,
p. 87,
p. 161 n43).

[6]
   The rule of primogeniture, under which the oldest son of a king is automatically heir to the throne, did not become established until the late 13
th
century (Jochens,
Women in Old Norse Society
, pp. 94-97). This “law” is an anachronism in the saga’s setting, but it probably reflects the royal ideology that had been introduced to Iceland after its union with Norway.

[7]
   This is also said of both the legendary Hrolf Sturlaugson, known as
Göngu-Hrólfr
or “Hrolf the Walker”, in
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
(ch. 4), and also the historical Hrolf who conquered Normandy, also known as Rollo or Rolf the Ganger (
Historia Norvegiae
, transl. Kunin,
History of Norway
, pp. 8-9).

[8]
   The fetch (
fylgja
, etymologically “follower” or “one that accompanies”) is a spirit being that accompanies a person; it is usually invisible, but often appears in dreams. It usually takes the form of an animal whose assumed nature is like its person’s: kings have “noble beasts” like lions or stags, warriors have bears or wolves or other fierce beasts, treacherous sorcerors have foxes, and so on. (Turville-Petre, “Dreams in Icelandic Tradition,” pp. 36-39)

[9]
   Noble antagonists in the legendary sagas often hold some of their ships back in battle, in order to even the odds; e.g.
Þórsteins saga Víkingssonar
ch. 7,
Örvar-Odds saga
ch. 9.

[10]
   White “peace-shields” were used to signal peaceful intent, while red “war-shields” signaled hostile intentions; see
Eiríks saga rauða
(chs. 10-11).

[11]
   The word
klámhögg
, “foul blow” or “shaming-stroke”, was the legal term for a strike on the buttocks. It was disgraceful for a man to receive one, because it symbolically “womanized” him; law codes ranked it alongside castration (Meulengracht Sørensen,
The Unmanly Man
, pp. 68-70).
Lendakláði
, literally “loin-itching”, implies sexual wantonness, and the sword may be understood as a metaphorical penis (Heide, “Spinning
Seiðr
”, p. 168). Ketil is thus simultaneously insulting Thorberg’s masculinity and femininity.

[12]
   The text just says that she struck him with the axe, but since Ketil survives, she presumably struck with the hammer-like back of the axehead. In the sagas, striking with the back of the axehead is sometimes done to humiliate opponents; the implication is they are not worth killing with the blade (
Völsunga saga
35;
Þórðar saga hreðu
ch. 9; see
Viking Weapons and Combat Techniques
, p. 84).

[13]
   Eating raw meat is typical of berserks, trolls, and other not-wholly-human villains (e.g. Grim Ægir in
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
ch. 2) It is specifically forbidden in
Örvar-odds saga
ch. 9, as
líkari. . . vörgum en mönnum
, “more suitable for wolves than for men.”

[14]
   In the legendary sagas, huge clubs are “standard operating procedure” for dealing with berserks or enchanted enemies that cannot be harmed with bladed weapons. (Beard, “Á Þá Bitu Engi Járn,” pp. 16-17; see note 22 to
Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
)

[15]
   A similar brilliantly colored ship, which the hero sees and instantly desires to own regardless of the cost, appears in
Sörla saga sterka
ch. 11.

[16]
   Basins and towels for washing the hands were traditionally offered to guests at feasts; e.g.
Hávamál
4 (transl. Orchard,
The Elder Edda
, p. 15).

[17]
   In a number of sagas, the sword used to kill a giant or other monster—sometimes the only sword that can kill it—is kept in the monster’s own lair (e.g.
Hjálmþers saga ok Ölvis
ch. 9;
Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana
ch. 15;
Fljótsdæla saga
ch. 5;
Þorsteins saga uxafóts
ch. 9; cf. G519.2, “Ogre killed with his own iron bar”; Thompson,
Motif-Index of Folk Loterature
, vol. 3, p. 360). The same motif appears in folktales such as the Norwegian tale “Soria Moria Castle,” but its oldest appearance seems to be Beowulf’s encounter with Grendel’s mother (
Beowulf
1557-1569).

[18]
   This is a reworking of the “Polyphemus motif” familiar from the
Odyssey
; the same motif turns up in the legendary
Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabani
(ch. 10). Hollander points out a number of similarities with an episode in chapter 5 of
Vatnsdælasaga
, a “saga of Icelanders,” in which Thorstein kills a robber named Jokul in his hut (“The Gautland Cycle of Sagas I”, pp. 65-72). He also points out links with the
fornaldarsaga Þórsteins saga Víkingssonar
, in which, for example, the evil giant Harek is also armed with a forked iron poker and skewers two men at a time. (“The Gautland Cycle of Sagas I”, pp. 72-77)

[19]
   Hollander points out that in both
Beowulf
and
Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar
, the monster-slaying sword is said to be so heavy that only the hero can wield it. (“The Gautland Cycle of Sagas I”, pp. 70-71)

[20]
   This type of insult was defined in law as
ýki
, “exaggeration”; the old Norwegian law code
Gulaþingslög
defines
ýki
as “if a man says about another that which cannot be nor come to be, and has not been.” Insults equating a man with a mare itself, implying that the man has sought out sexual penetration, are more common in the sagas; accusations of bestiality with a passive animal partner are rarer (Meulengracht Sørensen,
The Unmanly Man
, pp. 15-17; Finlay, “Monstrous Allegations,” pp. 38-42).

[21]
   All the names in this story are derived from horses:
Hrosskell
“horse-kettle” (short for
Hross-ketill
);
Hrossþjóf
“horse-thief”;
Hesthofði
“horse-head”. Boyer (
Les Sagas Légendaires
, pp. 143-145) suggests that a distant remembrance of totemism may be behind this story, pointing out that a number of legendary families are named for animals (
Ylfingar
from wolves,
Hundingjar
from dogs, and so on).

[22]
   The Eddic poem
Hyndluljóð
22 (Orchard,
The Elder Edda
, p. 253) mentions Thorir Ironshield. He is associated with “Hrolf the Old”, who is presumably Hrolf Gautreksson (who is said to have lived to an old age in ch. 37 of this saga).

[23]
   “Ring Horn”. The god Baldr is said to have owned a ship by that name (Snorri Sturluson,
Gylfaginning
49, ed. Faulkes,
Edda
, vol. 1, p. 46); the connection, if any, is not clear. Drinking horns that can provide omens appear in
Þórsteins saga bæjarmagns
(chs. 8-9), while weapons that give omens by making loud noises appear in
Göngu-Hrólfs saga
(ch. 1, note 8).

[24]
   In
Ragnarssona þáttr
(ch. 2), Ragnar Lodbrok gets much the same warning from his wife Aslaug when he plans to invade England: large ships are inadvisable because the island is surrounded by treacherous currents and sandbars.

[25]
   Kalinké (
Bridal-Guest Romance
, p. 58 n26) suggests that Thomas of Cantimpré’s
Liber de natura rerum
was the source for this beast-lore. Thomas states that elephants can be overcome by the grunting of pigs, and also that they are fond of wine. The saga author may have substituted a lion for the elephant, inspired by the “grateful lion” first found in
Ívens saga
(the Norse translation of Chrétien de Troyes’s
Yvain
) and appearing in several later sagas.

[26]
   “Grim the Hardy” is mentioned in
Hyndluljóð
alongside Thorir Ironshield (Orchard,
The Elder Edda
, p. 253), and may have been intended as a retainer of “Hrolf the Old”, probably Hrolf Gautreksson (see note 22 above).

[27]
   This is a possible reference to the “Loathly Lady” motif, in which a hero sleeps with (or just sleeps next to) an elderly and/or hideous woman, discovering the next morning that she has transformed into a young and beautiful woman. (D732 in Thompson,
Motif-Index
, vol. 2, p. 84; Z116 in Thompson, vol. 5, p. 560. For examples in the legendary sagas see
Hrólfs saga kraka
ch. 15,
Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar
ch. 19, and
Gríms saga loðinkinna
ch. 2)

[28]
  
Friðþjófs saga
(ch. 12) also features a king testing the hero’s loyalty by falling asleep, or pretending to fall asleep, to see whether the hero will try to kill him or not. The ultimate source might be the Biblical story of David, who has an opportunity to kill Saul but spares him (1 Samuel 24:1-22). See Kalinké,
Bridal-Quest Romance
, pp. 59-60, 117-118.

[29]
   Berserks are often depicted going around in groups of twelve in the sagas (this saga chs. 16, 20; also
Egils saga
ch. 9;
Örvar-Odds saga
ch. 14;
Hrólfs saga kraka
ch. 16, 37;
Gautreks saga
ch. 7). Harek’s eleven companions have no role in the story here; the saga writer may have included them solely to follow tradition.

[30]
   In formal legal duels (
holmganga
), the combatants stood on a cow hide or on a cloak; a man who stepped off the cloak or out of bounds had forfeited the duel. Each man’s “second” held a shield before him. (e.g.
Kormaks saga
ch. 10)

[31]
   Kalinké (
Bridal-Quest Romance
, pp. 61-62) suggests that the direct inspiration for this episode is an episode of
Egils saga
(ch. 64) in which Egil fights the berserk Ljot the Pale, who has challenged the unwarlike Fridgeir to a duel in order to take Fridgeir’s sister. Fridgeir’s mother and Thord’s sister both share the name Gyda. The
Egils saga
episode in turn may derive from an episode in Chrétien de Troyes’s
Yvain
(known in Norse translation as
Ívens saga
), in which Yvain saves a girl from the giant Harpin de la Montaigne, who has killed two of her brothers and is threatening to kill the other four.

[32]
   This is a widespread folk motif; in Saxo’s
Danish History
(IX.321; transl. Davidson and Fisher, p. 297), King Gorm of Denmark makes a similar promise to kill whoever tells him that his son is dead. Usually, the point is that the messenger has to come up with a creative way to make the king blurt out the bad news himself (J1675.2.1, “Tidings brought to the king”; Thompson,
Motif-Index of Folk Literature
, vol. 4, p. 136). 

[33]
   The realm of the dead in Norse mythology, but by the date of composition probably not sharply distinguished from the Christian Hell.