The Guests of Odin (9 page)

When Sval felled Gellir, he called upon the troll woman who had fostered him. She came invisibly and dragged Sval away, whereupon Gellir leapt upon Sval. But then Hogni regained his senses and he cut Gellir in two with Dainsleif. Then King Harald struck Hogni across the shoulders so that he was almost slain. Hogni turned on Harald and split him in half with a single blow of Dainsleif. Then he attacked Sigvald, decapitating him with one blow. The remaining Norwegians now retreated to the town where they told the queen what had happened.

The next day Hogni entered the town and he went to the king’s hall but found it deserted except for thralls.

He asked, “Where is the queen?”

‘She has gone to her daughter’s bower,” the thralls told him.

When he reached the plank wall that surrounded the bower, a mist came down and he and his men could see neither the fence nor the bower. They found a river before them and tried to cross it and climb up the cliffs on the far side, which took them all night. But when morning came, they saw that there was no river and they had been clawing at the fence. Hogni told them to break down the gate and when it was done he entered to find no one in there, he had the treasure chests broken into and took away all the treasure and fine clothes and went away.

Looking back as he did so, he saw an old woman and a fair maiden standing on the walls. Sval thought that it was Erling’s daughter Ingibjorg and her foster mother but he advised against return after the trouble they had had already. They returned to the tents and broke camp, embarking their ships, including Skrauti and sailed away to Rugen.

Sorli sent messengers to the hall in Rugen and Sverri led them. They offered a settlement for Halfdan’s death, along with friendship and sworn brotherhood. When Hakon heard this, he was angry and told Sverri to prepare for war. Sorli readied his forces and faced Hakon and Thorir as they rode out from the town. Battle broke out and Sorli
repeatedly broke Hakon’s ranks. Hakon encountered two of Sorli’s men, Fal and Frodel, both Finns. He cut at Frodel who vanished into the earth. When Hakon tried to drag Frodel back out Fal came up behind him, stabbed him in the belly, and slew him. Thorir saw this and retreated into the town with his surviving men.

Sorli moved his camp closer to the
town and tried to break down the walls but Thorir’s men poured boiling pitch and brimstone down on them. Then Sorli moved his lines farther away from the town. Meanwhile Duke Astro came from England with a vast force and attacked Sorli. The battle went on for two days and neither side gained the upper hand.

On the third day, more ships were sighted
. Leading them was the dragonship Skrauti, and men guessed that these were the forces of Hogni. Sorli realised what must have happened and grieved for the fate of his people in Norway. Hogni weighed anchor and pitched his tents. When Duke Astro and Thorir saw this, they rode to his camp and greeted him joyfully. They told Hogni all that had happened, including Hakon’s death, then rode to the town and remained there.

The next day Hogni sent men to Sorli’s camp, told him to ready himself for further fighting, and assured him that it would mark the end of their contest. Sorli led his army forth and a fierce battle ensued, during which Thorir slew Karmon and Sorli pursued him. He encountered Hogni who said it would be better for them to fight single combat.

They rode against each other and fought fiercely but both wore excellent armour and they barely wounded each other. Then Sorli flung away his sword and grappled Hogni. They wrestled and Sorli tried to fling Hogni into a nearby brook, but Hogni escaped this trick and pinned Sorli.

Hogni observed, “Dainsleif lies somewhere on the battlefield and if you are a courageous man you would lie here until I return with my sword.”

Sorli did so and when Hogni returned with Dainsleif, he was so impressed that he offered Sorli life, friendship, and sworn brotherhood. Sorli accepted and they made a firm pact.

Sorli sailed away. He
later died while fighting Vikings in the Baltic. When Hogni heard of this he sailed to the Baltic and harried widely, laying the kings of its shores under tribute, until twenty kings accepted him as their overlord. Later Hogni married Hervor the daughter of Hiarvard, and they had a daughter named Hild.

A king of Glommen in Norway named Hiarrandi had a son called Hedin who lived the life of a Viking, raiding widely until twenty kings paid him tribute. One winter, when Hedin was at home in the land of Glommen, he went into the forest with his retainers, and it happened that in a clearing he found a woman sitting on a chair. He asked her name and she said she was called Gondul. She asked him about his achievements and he told her of all his battles and raids. She told him that he had no equal except Hogni, king of Rugen. Hedin resolved to go and test which of them was the greater.

That spring he set out in a dragon ship with three hundred men. When he reached Rugen, King Hogni welcomed him and arranged a feast. He asked Hedin why he had come, and Hedin replied
, “I think that we should test ourselves against each other.”

Hogni agreed, and the next day they went against each other in swimming matches and archery and other feats of prowess, and soon saw that they were equally matched. They swore brotherhood.

Shortly afterwards, Hogni went out raiding and he left Hedin behind as his landwarden. One day, Hedin and his men were out hunting in the woods when Hedin met Gondul again in a clearing. She gave him a drink from a horn she bore, and he drank it. As soon as he had done so, he forgot their first meeting. They talked, and she asked if he had tried himself against Hogni.

Hedin said, “I have, and we are equal in all things.”

“Not so,” Gondul said, ‘since Hogni has a queen and you are unmarried.”

Hedin said, “Hogni would give him his daughter if I was to ask.”

Gondul said, “It is not the way of a man as mighty as you to beg for favours.”

She added that he should take the girl without asking, and that he should sacrifice Hogni’s queen while he did so.

Hedin returned to his men and they went to prepare Hogni’s ship Skrauti, since he said he was going home. Then Hedin went to the bower where Hild and her mother were, and he carried them off.

Hild told him, “If you were to ask my father for my hand then he would gladly grant it,” but Hedin said, “I will not beg for you.”

Then Hild said, “If you bear me away, my father will come after me and you will fight and kill each other, and yet that will not be the worst of your fate.”

Then Hedin took Hervor, and placed her beneath the keel of his ship and launched it, killing her as they launched. They sailed across the sea and later Hedin went ashore alone, and in the forest, he met Gondul again, and she cast a spell over him so he fell asleep. When he awoke, he realised the shamefulness of his deeds and he sailed away hastily.

When Hogni returned, he learnt the truth and he sailed angrily after Hedin. When Hedin was aware of this, he dropped anchor after the island that was later called Hedinsey (Hedin’s Isle). He spoke with Hogni when the king reached him, and told him how Gondul had bewitched him, but now he only wanted to return Hogni’s daughter and his ship.

However, Hogni still wanted revenge for the killing of his queen, and he had drawn his sword Dainsleif and it thirsted for blood. So they went ashore with all their men and fought each other, and that was the beginning of the everlasting Battle of the Hiadningar. At the end of the first day, the two kings went back to their ships but Hild used witchcraft to revive the dead and they fought again in the morning. The battle went on day after day, and all who fell turned to stone. But the next day they rose and fought again.

It is said that this battle will continue until the twilight of the gods.

Hrolf Kraki

1.
Frodi and his Mill

Odin’s son Skjold ruled over the Danes, and the family that descended from him was called the Skjoldung dynasty. Skjold’s son Fridleif succeeded to the throne, and in turn was succeeded by his own son Frodi.

A man named Hengkjopt gave Frodi a hand-mill named Grotti, whose millstones were so huge no one could
use them, although it was known that they would grind anything the miller wanted. At that time, Fjolnir, son of Frey, ruled Sweden. There was great friendship between the two kings and they often visited each other.

Fjolnir invited Frodi to a feast, and while he was there Frodi bought two huge bondmaids named Fenja and Menja, whom he took home with him and set to work the mill Grotti, grinding out peace and prosperity. He would not let them stop milling but forced them to work. Due to this, there was peace throughout the North during Frodi’s reign, so no man fought another and a gold ring could lie upon the ground at Jelling Heath without being stolen. Because of this, he was called Frid-Frodi, Peace-Frodi.

Fjolnir visited Frodi in Denmark and there was a great feast. Frodi’s house was large, and in it he had a great barrel many feet high, standing in a lower room. Above the great barrel was a loft, which contained an opening through which mead was poured into the vessel. That night, Fjolnir and his retinue were taken to sleep in the loft nearby. During the night, Fjolnir felt the need to ease himself in the privy and he went outside to the gallery that led there. He was sleepy and had had much to drink. On the way back, he mistakenly went into the wrong loft, fell into the mead, and drowned.

Meanwhile, Fenja and Menja continued to work at the mill. As they did so, they revealed themselves to be kin to the giant Thjazi who the gods killed. In revenge for Frodi’s treatment of them, they began to grind out war, and prophesied grim times for the Danes. That night a sea-king named Mysing came and attacked the Danes, killing Frodi and taking much plunder, including Fenja and Menja and the mill Grotti. He set them to grind salt. When midnight came, and they were off the shore, they asked him if he was not tired of salt, but he commanded them to continue their work. Shortly after, the ship sank, and where the sea poured into the centre of the mill there is now a whirlpool called the Maelstrom. That is how the sea became salt.