The Guests of Odin (10 page)

Halfdan was the son of Frodi who took the Danish throne after his father’s death. He had several children, including a daughter, Signy, who married Saevil, an important earl in his kingdom, and two sons, Hroar and Helgi, who were fostered by a man named Regin.

A man named Frodi the Brave gathered a large group of warriors and sailed for the Danes. On reaching the kingdom in the middle of the night, he laid waste to everything he could find.
He took Halfdan prisoner and killed him, but some of the king’s men escaped. Regin helped Helgi and Hroar get away, and took them to stay with a wizard named Vifil, an old friend of Halfdan’s, who lived alone on an island.

Meanwhile, Frodi lorded it over the kingdom, but he could not enjoy his conquest because Hroar and Helgi had vanished, and he feared their revenge. His spies searched for them throughout the kingdom and he offered a reward for information about them. Then he commanded witches and wizards to find them, and they suggested that the boys might be on Vifil’s island. Frodi sent his men to search the place.

Vifil foretold the coming of Frodi’s men and he hid the two boys before they came to the island. They searched as hard as they could but they found no sign of the boys. When the men returned to the king, he told them: “Vifil hid the boys with his magic.” He sent them back again. Once more, Vifil foretold their coming and hid the boys so Frodi’s men could not find them. When they returned to King Frodi, he decided that he would search the place himself.

He came to Vifil’s island the next day and Vifil met the king on the shore while he was herding his sheep. The king demanded he give up the boys but with his usual cunning Vifil ensured that the boys were not found and Frodi left, defeated. Now Vifil sent the boys to stay with Earl Saevil, their sister’s husband.

Although Hroar was eldest, Helgi was the bravest of the brothers. Now they left Vifil’s island, going under the names Ham and Hrani. They came to Earl Saevil’s lands, and after a week asked the earl for permission to remain. He agreed to give them food although he expected little in return from them. They wore hooded cloaks and some men mocked them, saying they had scurvy. They stayed there three years, mocked and ignored.

King Frodi invited Earl Saevil to a feast. He thought the earl might be hiding the boys, and when Earl Saevil started out, he refused to bring Ham and Hrani along with him. However, they followed on unbroken colts, with Ham (Helgi) riding backwards. They spoke to their sister
Signy in riddles from which she learnt their true nature, and she communicated it to Earl Saevil, who was delighted but said, “You should keep out of sight.”

At Frodi’s hall, a seeress named Heid spoke concerning the boys. When she tried to tell Frodi where they were, Signy gave her a gold ring to buy her silence. Frodi demanded Heid speak or be tortured and she gave the boys away, whereupon they fled from the hall. Regin recognised them and when Frodi ordered his men to pursue the boys, he extinguished the lights in the hall. The king realised that men had been plotting against him.

Meanwhile the boys hid in the woods. Regin rode out and found them but did not speak to them, riding back to the hall. He did not want to violate his oaths to the king. They followed him, and heard him say, “If I wanted vengeance against the king he would burn down the king’s trees.” Then Earl Saevil emerged with all his men. The earl decided to help the boys by burning the hall down around Frodi’s ears.

King Frodi awoke after ominous dreams and found the hall burning. He went to the doors and discovered that Helgi and Hroar had lit the fire. When they turned down his proposals for a truce, Frodi tried to escape through an underground passage but found Regin guarding it. Then he returned to the hall, where he was burnt to death. His son Ingjald succeeded him.

3.
Helgi

Hroar and Helgi now took over the kingdom, Hroar ruling the land and Helgi being a sea king, roaming the waves with a fleet of longships and living by plunder. Hroar established Roskilde and married a woman from England named Ogn. Meanwhile, Helgi heard of Thora, queen of Thorey, a beautiful but cruel and arrogant woman, and decided to make her his wife. Landing his ship on the coast of her island, he went to her hall before she had time to gather her forces. She prepared a feast in his honour during which Helgi proposed to her. Queen Thora seemed agreeably, but she ensured he grew very drunk and when they retired to her bower, he fell asleep. Now she shaved off all his hair and covered him in tar, then had him taken down to his ship.

The next morning she awoke his men telling him that their king was already down at his ship, and they departed. Meanwhile Thora gathered her forces. When Helgi’s men found their king and he awoke, they went to gain vengeance but found themselves outnumbered, and instead Helgi had to sail away, dishonoured and shamed.

Helgi was determined to take revenge. Some time later, he sailed his fleet back to Thorey and anchored them in a secluded inlet. He went inland dressed as a beggar but carrying two chests filled with gold and silver, which he hid in the woods. Then he made his way to the queen’s hall. On the way, he met one of the queen’s thralls. He told the thrall of a treasure he had found and bribed the thrall to convince the queen to accompany him to the woods in search of the treasure.

When the queen did so, she found Helgi, who forced her to admit that she had ill-treated him. He had his way with her and they parted, Thora returning abashed to her hall and Helgi returning to the sea.

Nine months later Thora gave birth to a girl, who she named Yrsa after a dog she owned. The queen had this girl brought up in the family of a herder. When she was thirteen, King Helgi returned to Thorey, once again disguised as a beggar. As he was passing through the woods he found a girl with a flock of goats, and she seemed lovely to the king. She said she was a poor man’s daughter, and Helgi took her back to his ships and sailed away. They married and later had a son named Hrolf.

When Thora heard this, and heard that Helgi had married Yrsa, she was overjoyed. She sent word to Yrsa, and the two queens met, but at the meeting Yrsa learnt the terrible truth, that Thora was her mother and Helgi, her husband, was also her father. Yrsa told Helgi, and she departed from him, first staying with her mother and then going to marry Adils, the king of the Swedes. When Helgi heard of this, he took to living in a small hut, away from anyone else.

One winter, at Yule Eve, a beggar woman came to Helgi’s hut seeking shelter. He did as she asked, and even let her sleep in his own bed after she had begged him. When he did as she asked, he was amazed to see her turn into a beautiful elf-woman. She had been under a curse, laid on her by her stepmother, to wander the land until she found a king who would let her share his bed. Now that she had accomplished this, she was free. But Helgi insisted she pay him back by spending the night with him. That morning she told him that they would have a child, and that he should wait for her down at his boatsheds next winter.

Helgi forgot about this until three years later when three riders came to him, one being the elf
-woman, who carried a girl child. She said, “Because you did not keep the agreement, your kin will suffer.” She left the girl, whose name was Skuld, to stay with her father.

Helgi returned to the life of a sea king, leaving Hrolf and Skuld behind in Hroar’s care. One year Helgi sailed to Sweden, where King Adils reigned with Yrsa as his queen. Adils invited Helgi and his men to a feast, and Helgi accepted, arriving with a hundred of his warriors. When Helgi saw Yrsa again, he was so happy he thought of nothing else. The queen herself hoped to make peace between her husband and her father. But Adils plotted with twelve berserks to ambush Helgi on his return to his ships.

After the banquet Helgi parted company with Yrsa and her husband, and he and his men headed back to where they had laid anchor. But Adils’ men attacked from one side and his berserks from the other, and Helgi and his men were caught between the hammer and the anvil, and they fell there, and Adils took all Helgi’s wealth and treasure. Queen Yrsa knew nothing of this until her father was dead. The rest of Helgi’s men returned to the Danes with the news.

4.
Hroar’s Hall

While Helgi was living as a sea king, Hroar had been ruling the land. He built for himself a great hall, which was named Hart, a great building with which he hoped to celebrate his power. But the first morning after it had been built, when Hroar’s bodyguard had spent the night in it, morning showed a grisly scene. All thirty-two men had vanished, and all that remained to explain their disappearance were giant blood-stained footsteps that led from the hall to the waters of a mere on the nearby moor.

It became known that the killer of the warriors was Grendel, a monstrous troll who lived in the mere with his ancient mother. Hroar said that he would reward any man who could free the kingdom of this scourge but none could until Beowulf came, the nephew of Hygelac, king of Gautland. He came to Hroar with fourteen men and offered to kill the monster. He had already become famous for his heroic deeds, killing giants and sea monsters. Hroar welcomed him and that night Beowulf and his men spent the night in the hall. Again, Grendel came to the hall in the middle of the night but although he killed Hondscio, one of Beowulf’s men, Beowulf himself sprang up and seized him by the arm, and tore it from its roots. Grendel fled from the hall mortally wounded.

That morning Hroar and his people were amazed by the sight of the monster’s arm, which Beowulf hung from the roof of the hall. That night there was a feast and again the warriors slept in the hall but Hroar and his men joined them. Then Grendel’s mother came to the hall and she bore off Grendel’s claw and the head of Hroar’s counsellor Aeschere. In the morning, the bloody work was revealed, and Hroar realised the truth. Beowulf offered to hunt down Grendel’s mother and he and Hroar and their men followed the blood trail down to the mere, where they found Aeschere’s head lying beside the water.

Beowulf dived into the mere and found a cave in which he saw Grendel’s corpse and a giant sword. Then Grendel’s mother attacked him and they fought. At last, Beowulf triumphed and he cut off the monstrous woman’s head with the giant sword. He cut off Grendel’s head with the sword and took it away as a trophy, although the blood melted the blade as if it was ice.

Hroar had seen the blood of the two monsters in the mere’s water and he led his men away, despairing for Beowulf’s life. Only Beowulf’s own loyal retainers remained, but they despaired. At last, however, Beowulf reappeared, and together they all went back to Hroar’s hall, where the king gave the hero many gifts before he departed for his own kingdom.

5.
Ingjald

Frodi had a son named Ingjald, who became king after his father was killed. In order to strengthen the uneasy peace, Hroar proposed a marriage between his daughter Freyvar and Ingjald. All went well until the wedding feast when Starkad the Old, who had been one of Frodi’s warriors, expressed his anger at Ingjald welcoming the killers of his own father. His words resulted in a fight between the rival peoples, after which Hroar took Freyvar back to the Danes and war broke out afresh between the two nations. After two previous battles, Ingjald and his warriors reached Hroar’s hall where Hroar and his nephew Hrolf fought them. In the fight, the hall burned to the ground and Hroar was killed, but as it also mentions in the chapter on Starkad, Ingjald was slain and Hrolf defeated his warriors. Hrolf became king of the Danes.

Hrolf soon gained a reputation for modesty and generosity. One day a boy named Vogg came to Hrolf’s hall at Lejre and looked at the king. Hrolf asked him, “What do you want to say?” Vogg said, “I heard that King Hrolf is the greatest man in the North, but now I have seen him I see that he is nothing more than a pole,” – a
kraki
. King Hrolf said, “Now you have given me a nickname I should give you a gift,” since that was customary, and he took a gold ring from his arm and handed it to Vogg. Vogg was amazed by the king’s generosity. He solemnly vowed to avenge Hrolf Kraki if anyone killed him.

A group of twelve berserks joined Hrolf’s court, and they soon became troublesome. As the years went by, other warriors came to Hrolf, including Svipdag and his brothers, Beigad and Hvitserk. They came from Sweden and had formerly been at the court of Adils, where Svipdag had made a name for himself. When Svipdag first joined Hrolf’s court the berserks tried to pick a fight with him but Hrolf made peace between them.

Hrolf’s sister Skuld had married King Hjorvard, a mighty king who Hrolf made his under-king by a trick. When Hjorvard came to Lejre for a feast, they were standing outside, Hrolf took off his sword belt, and he handed Hjorvard his sword to hold while he did so. It was the custom that a man who submitted to another would hold his sword as token of fealty. Hrolf said that this meant that Hjorvard was now his subordinate. Hjorvard was angry but he accepted grudgingly.

The next famous warrior to join Hrolf’s warband was Bodvar Bjarki, who came from the Uppdales in Norway. A witch cursed his father Bjorn to take on the form of a bear and his eldest sons were Frodi, who had the hooves of an elk, and Thorir, who had the feet of a dog. Bodvar came to the Danes after adventures in Norway and Sweden, and was close to Lejre he stayed the night with a peasant and his wife. They told him of their son Hott, who was at Lejre where Hrolf’s berserks used to ill-treat and torment him. They asked Bodvar to do something about it.

Bodvar went to Lejre where he found Hott hiding in a pile of bones, which he said was his shield wall against the bones the berserks threw at him. Bodvar dragged the boy from his bone pile and washed him in a nearby lake. Then they returned to the hall and Hott sat nervously next to Bodvar. When Hrolf’s men returned that evening, they saw where Hott was sitting and they began throwing bones at Hott and Bodvar. Bodvar acted as if nothing was happening until he seized a large knucklebone and flung it back at the man who had thrown it, killing him outright.

There was uproar about this, and Bodvar was dragged before King Hrolf, who demanded to know what had happened. Hrolf had spoken to his men repeatedly about their ways but they had not listened. Now he asked Bodvar how he would compensate him for this killing, and offered to take him on as a replacement for the man he had killed. Bodvar agreed, but insisted Hott join him as well. Hrolf saw little honour in the boy but said he would not grudge him food. Bodvar went to find a seat for him and Hott. Rather than sit where the man he had killed had sat, he dragged three men of a bench and sat himself and Hott down there.

As it came close to Yule, Bodvar noticed people seeming unhappy. He discovered that a dragon had been terrorising the hall for the last two years, devouring cattle and killing men, and they were afraid it would come back. After losing several champions, Hrolf forbade his men to go against the creature.

Bodvar went out into the night, taking with him an unwilling Hott. When the creature appeared, Bodvar tried to draw his sword but it stuck in the scabbard. Finally, he managed to draw it and he thrust it into the scaly hide of the creature.

Now that he had killed it, he forced Hott to drink the creature’s blood. When he did so, a change came over Hott and he became strong and brave, and he wrestled with Bodvar for a long time. Then they raised the creature up so it seemed to be still alive, and went away again.

Next morning Hrolf asked, “Does anyone know if the beast visited in the night?” His men told them that the cattle were safe and secure in their shippons. The king sent some men out to scout the area, and they returned hastily, saying, “We saw the creature out on the plain, heading straight for the hall!”

The king went to look at it and noticed that the creature was not moving. He asked his men who would go against it. To everyone’s surprise, Bodvar suggested Hott attack it. Hott agreed, and asked the king to give him the sword Gullinhjalti. The king did so, and Hott went and struck down the beast. Hrolf said, “I think that Bodvar is behind this,” but he let Hott keep the sword, and added, “From now on he will be called Hjalti” – meaning hilt.

Winter passed, and it was soon time for Hrolf’s berserks to return from their travels. Hjalti told Bodvar, “It is their habit to demand of each man who they think is bravest in Hrolf’s retinue, and no one is brave enough to say anything other than that the berserks are.” Bodvar was unimpressed by this. When the berserks came back to Hrolf’s hall, Bodvar asked Hjalti if he was willing to take them on. Hjalti said, “I will fight no more than one of them.”

A berserk came up to Bodvar and asked him, “Who do you think is the bravest in Hrolf’s retinue?” Bodvar insulted the man and knocked him down. Hjalti did the same with another. King Hrolf tried to calm things down. He persuaded the berserks to sit down, and told them to be less haughty in future, since he had greater champions than they did. Now Bodvar and Hjalti, and Svipdag and his brothers, became Hrolf’s greatest champions, and with them were many more: Hromund the Hard and Hrolf the Swift-handed, Haklang, Hardrefil, Haki the Bold, Vott the Mighty and Starolf.

Bodvar performed such deeds that Hrolf gave him his sister’s hand in marriage.