Six Sagas of Adventure (32 page)

“You’ve hit it on the head,” he said.

“Something’s amiss,” she said. “Will you make a deal with me?”

“What kind of deal do you want?” he said.

“I want for you to bring Hrolf Nose to me, so that I may see the shape of his body and his face, because much has been said to me about his fair appearance. I will give you this treasure that I have in my hand. It’s a thrusting-spear.”

Sturlaug said, “What’s so fine about this treasure that you’re offering me?”

She said, “It cuts everything that it hits. It can become so little that you can pin it in your clothes, like a needle. You will never find a place where it won’t be easy for you to succeed with it, whatever you may want or need.”

Sturlaug said, “Then we’ll make a deal.”

Sturlaug now went to his sworn brothers and woke up Hrolf Nose and asked him to go with him. They went off to a cliff, where the woman was down below. Hrolf sat on the edge of the cliff and let his legs dangle over. He was outfitted in a hairy goatskin coat, with a thick calfskin on his head, and the tail stuck up out of the middle of his head. Soot from a kettle was smeared all over his face, and he had a stick shoved into his mouth, so that his cheeks were puffed out like huge balls. He had an ox-horn in his hand
and pigskins on each foot. He was decked out so that he didn’t appear handsome at all, where he sat on the cliff and gawked at the moon because it was shining brightly.
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After that, Sturlaug went to meet Hornnefja. She greeted him and asked, “Where is Hrolf Nose?”

Sturlaug said, “Look up on the cliff and see where he’s sitting.”

She turned around fast and saw where he was. Then she held her hand above her eye and examined him carefully, and said, “It’s true to say that the man is most handsome. It’s no exaggeration what has been said about him, that he’s so noble.”

Now the crone swelled up enormously and stretched herself right up the cliff. She thought that she could never manage to see him clearly where he was. “All I can say is that the woman who had this man would seem lucky to me.”
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Then Sturlaug saw that she would get a grip on Hrolf’s feet, and he didn’t want to wait for that. He leaped out of the boat onto a rock and stabbed her with the thrusting-spear, so that it ran her through. She fell on him. He jumped into the water and swam out from under her, but the boat capsized. She lost her life there, and he righted the boat. With matters as they stood, they went back to their fellows and told them how things had gone. They approved.
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CHAPTER XVII

After that, a favorable wind always blew for them, and they sailed until they saw land. It was heavily overgrown with forest. There was one hidden fjord that they came to, and they sailed into this fjord and laid up in a hidden bay and dropped the anchors. The sun was in the south, and they went onto land. Sturlaug asked, “What land do you suppose this is, that we’ve come to?”

Framar said, “The land of the Hundings, according to my brother Kol’s account. Three of us will go onto land: Sturlaug, Aki and myself. You all must wait for us here until the third sun has set. If we don’t come back, you’ll have to decide for yourselves what to do.”

Now they went ashore and entered a thick forest, and they carved on the oak trees to show where they had been. After a while, they came out of the forest and saw many large estates, forts, and castles. They saw one fortress and hall much larger than the others. That’s where they went. Men were standing in the doorways, and their chins were grown down to their chests, and they barked like dogs.
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Now they realized where they were. The guards barred their entry. Sturlaug drew the spear Hornnefja’s Gift and chopped the door guardian in two, and his sworn brothers killed the other.

After that, they went into the hall and stood on the outer edge of the hall floor. Aki saw women sitting on a dais. One of them was noteworthy because she was much more beautiful than the others. Aki recognized this woman from his mother’s stories. He went to the dais and laid both arms on her neck and said, “Greetings, kinswoman.” She accepted his greeting and turned to him. King Hundolf saw this and didn’t take it well, because he could not bear to see that men were looking at his queen. Now you may imagine how angry he felt, that an outlander should fling himself onto her neck and kiss her before his eyes and do such a monstrous thing. He pushed the tables away and called for his guards, and trumpets sounded through all the streets.

Aki said, “I have come here to find you, kinswoman. I want you to tell me about the aurochs horn, and where to look for it.”

She said, “Who are these men?”

They said their names.

She said, “It’s too bad that you’ve come here, because death awaits you all, so there’s no need to tell you about the aurochs horn.”

Aki said, “Even if we’re to be killed on the spot, it’s better that we know the truth of what you can tell us about the horn.”

     She said, “First of all, it is said that a temple stands in Bjarmaland.
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It is hallowed to Thor and Odin, Frigg and Freyja, and skillfully made from the costliest wood.
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One set of doors faces to the northwest, and the other faces southwest. Inside, there is only a statue of Thor. The aurochs horn is there on a table before him, as fair to see as gold. But only Sturlaug must enter the temple, because luck will hold out for him alone. Yet he must not pick up the horn with bare hands, for it is full of venom and sorcery. But it will come to nothing for you, because you are all certain to die, and it’s a great shame to lose men as brave as you sworn brothers.”

Sturlaug said, “When we are all fallen, these Hundings will find that they’ll have bloody noses, even though we’re few.”

And at that, the Hundings charged into the hall, fully armed, and attacked them fiercely. They defended themselves well and bravely and killed thirty men before they were captured. They were stripped of all their clothes except for their linen underpants, and herded out of the hall with whips and prodded with spear-points and driven out to the forest. They came into a clearing where there were two stones, hollow inside. They were put inside the smaller stone, and covered over with the larger stone. The intention was that they should starve to death there. These stones stood on a certain hill.
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Now the Hundings went away, and thought that they had well avenged their disgrace.

Now it’s time to tell of Sturlaug and his men inside the stones. Sturlaug said, “How do you like this?”

They said they were fine, as long as they were all quite healthy.

Sturlaug said, “What did I stick myself with in the back of my calf, a moment ago, when we were stripped of our clothes?”

He reached out with his hand and found a piece of iron as small as a needle. It was his thrusting-spear. He said that it had to become so large that it would be easy for him to succeed in what he needed to do. It quickly became so large that he chopped at the stone until he and all his men got out. Now they hurried to their companions, and there was a joyous reunion.

CHAPTER XVIII

Now they prepared to depart, and they sailed out of the fjord. Aki said, “I suppose that I’ll never be in greater need of favorable winds than now.”
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At once a wind sprang up, and they sailed until they came to Bjarmaland, to the mouth of the Dvina River. They saw that the land west of the river was a level field, and there was a temple, shining so brightly that it seemed to light up all the field, because it was built with gold and precious stones.

     Sturlaug said, “Now we must turn the ship about, and the stern must face the land. We’ll tie up with only one rope, in case we need to make a fast start. Have poles
ready for pushing off, and let’s be prepared for anything. Framar and I will go onto land.”

     Now they went onto land, along with Hrolf Nose, and they went to the temple. And when they came to the temple, the doors were arranged as they had been told. They went to the doors on the northwest side of the temple, because they alone were open. They saw that inside the threshold there was a pit full of venom, and next to it a large crossbeam fitted over the entrance, and inside the doors the pit was walled all around, so that the furniture wouldn’t be damaged by the venom spilling out. As soon as they reached the temple doors, Hrolf Nose came up. Sturlaug asked why he had come. He said, “I don’t want to begrudge myself the honor of going into the temple with you.”

“There’s no chance of that,” said Sturlaug. “I alone must enter the temple.”

“You want to deprive me of the honor,” said Hrolf.

“That’s not my intent,” said Sturlaug.

He looked inside the temple and saw an enormous idol of Thor sitting on the high seat. In front of him was a splendid table, covered with silver. There he saw the aurochs horn, standing right before Thor on the table. It was as lovely as if it were made of gold, and filled with venom. He saw a game board and pieces standing there, both of them made of brilliant gold. Shining hangings and gold rings were fastened up on poles. Sixty women were in the temple, and there was one who stood out from all the rest. She was as huge as a giant and as black as Hel, but as fat as a mare, with dark eyes and an evil expression. All the same, this woman was well dressed. She served at the table. The women recited this little ditty when they saw Sturlaug:

Here comes Sturlaug

the Hard-Working

to seek the horn

and stores of rings;

here is the horn

and holy offerings

of gold and treasures.

Grim are our hearts.

Then the temple’s high priestess responded and said, “He shall never escape with his life if I may prevail, either by my faith or my curses.” She said:

He shall relish

his rest in Hel,

once he’s suffered

all sorts of torture.

Then hero Sturlaug,

the Hard-Working man,

will be butchered to bits

by blades of the gums.   [
blades of the gums:
teeth]

After that, Sturlaug prepared himself to go in, forbidding his sworn brothers to follow him. In the temple there stood three slabs of stone, so high that they reached to his breastbone, and there were deep pits full of venom in between them. He had to leap over them before he could get to where the aurochs horn stood. Sturlaug pulled himself up and leaped over all the slabs, skillfully and boldly, hastily grabbing the horn from the table without any hindrance. He turned and headed back the way that he’d come. The temple-priestess stood nearby, swollen with rage and holding a double-edged knife. It seemed as if flames were blazing from the edges. She howled at him horribly and gnashed her teeth at him most ferociously, yet she lacked the courage to to attack him.

When Sturlaug came to the slabs, he saw that Hrolf Nose was leaping in over the slabs. Hrolf turned to the space in front of Thor and Odin, grabbed the game-board and threw it into the front of his tunic, and dashed back through the temple. But he saw the temple-priestess leaping after him, gnashing her teeth. He leaped onto the slabs and tried to get out over them, but the temple-priestess seized him by the tunic and swung him aloft and threw him down on the slabs, so that his back was broken at once. Hrolf Nose laid down his life there, with great valor.

After that, the temple-priestess rushed outside and screamed with such dreadful madness and frenzy and menace that it echoed from every crag and mound in the area. She saw now where Sturlaug had gone, and she rushed at him and stabbed at him. He defended himself well, with great valor and skill. Just then Sturlaug saw a man coming out of the woods, and then another and a third, and then men were coming from all directions. Sturlaug turned and fled, but the more men she saw crowding in, the more viciously she attacked. He charged at her with Hornnefja’s Gift and drove it into her midriff, so that the point stuck out between her shoulders. She spun away so fast that he let go of the spear, and that delayed him, but she was killed at once.

Sturlaug now leaped onto the ship and immediately cut the rope, but the Bjarmians attacked Sturlaug’s ship in force with their own ships. Then Framar said, “I now pronounce that the favorable wind should come, which fierce Hild promised me.” And at once, such a wind sprang up that it strained every rope, and they sailed away. The Bjarmians pursued them as long as they could; some were driven off by the gale, but some perished by weapons. Those who managed to come back thought themselves fortunate.

CHAPTER XIX

Sturlaug and his men sailed out into the ocean. Nothing is said about their journey until they came to Värmland. They landed and asked for news. They were told that Jarl Hring had left his country for Sweden. Right away, they went to meet King Harald. They entered the hall and went before the king and greeted him. Sturlaug stood before the king and held the aurochs horn. The king sat in his high seat, so swollen with rage that he could not speak a word.

Sturlaug said, “Now I have returned from this quest, king, though you didn’t mean for that to happen. You must admit this. Accept this horn which I have brought.”

The king didn’t answer and kept his hands close to his sides. Then Sturlaug threw the horn at the king’s nose, so that blood gushed from his nose and four teeth were knocked out of his head.

After that, Sturlaug went east to Sweden and found Hring his father-in-law, and Asa his wife, and his own father. At that time, the king in Sweden was named Ingvi-Frey.
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Sturlaug took charge of the defenses of his land, as did all his sworn brothers, and they raided lands far and wide and always had victory, wherever they went. That went on for twelve years. Then King Ingvi-Frey gave the title of king to Sturlaug, and a large kingdom along with it, and the sworn brothers took charge of its defenses.

CHAPTER XX

On one occasion, Sturlaug let it be known that he wanted to go to Bjarmaland. He summoned a great host, and his sworn brothers came to him. Nothing is said about that journey until they came to Bjarmaland and set fire to everything there and burned as much as they could. They did one wicked deed after another. Rondolf, King of Bjarmaland, found out about this and summoned his forces right away, but he was very short of men. And as soon as they met, the fiercest battle broke out. There one might see many stout shields cloven, mailcoats sliced through, hewing-spears broken from their shafts, swords shattered asunder, and many headless men collapsing to the ground. And the battle ended this way: King Rondolf fell there, and many of his men with him.
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After that great deed, Sturlaug subjected all Bjarmaland to his own rule. He recovered and brought back the spear Hornnefja’s Gift, and many more fine treasures.

When this great and mighty deed was done, he intended to invade the Hundings’ country, against the king of the Hundings. Sturlaug made fresh preparations for an expedition with his forces, and nothing is told of it until they came to the Hundings’ country. They killed men and seized riches, burning farms and all dwellings wherever they went. King Hundolf heard of this and summoned his forces and moved out against Sturlaug at once. As soon as they met, battle broke out, with fierce attacks and mighty blows. Sturlaug often broke through their ranks. He had both arms bloody to the shoulders, dealing them mighty blows, sweeping many of them to the ground headless, and the devil took them.

It is said that King Hundolf made an advance in force. Sturlaug saw the king cut his banner down. This displeased him, and he pressed forward at King Hundolf with the short sword Vefreyja’s Gift drawn. He struck him on the helmet with the sword and cleaved him completely, splitting his skull and body and mailcoat and horse down the middle. The sword plunged down into the ground. Sturlaug and his sworn brothers killed countless Hundings, and King Sturlaug won a fine victory. Then they turned back, and Snaelaug went with them. Nothing is said of their journey until they came home to Sweden.
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