18.
| I do not relish
|
the company of men
|
though each of them might
|
live in peace with me:
|
my wife’s son
|
has come in search
|
of friendship
|
to One-Eye’s hall.
| One-Eye
: Odin; his
hall
: Valhalla
|
19.
| But the lord of the sea,
|
brewer of storms,
|
seems to oppose me,
|
his mind set.
|
I cannot hold
|
my head upright,
|
the ground of my face,
|
my thoughts’ steed
|
20.
| ever since the raging
|
surf of heat
| surf of heat
: fever
|
snatched from the world
|
that son of mine
|
whom I knew
|
to shun disgrace,
|
avoid words
|
of ill repute.
|
21.
| I remember still
|
when the Gauts’ friend
| Gauts’ friend
: Odin
|
raised high
|
to the gods’ world
|
the ash that grew
|
from my stock,
|
the tree bearing
|
my wife’s kin.
|
22.
| I was in league
|
with the lord of spears,
| lord of spears
: Odin
|
pledged myself loyal
|
to believe in him,
|
before he broke off
|
his friendship with me,
|
the guardian of chariots,
|
architect of victory.
|
23.
| I do not worship
|
Vilir’s brother,
| Vilir
: one of Odin’s two brothers who were minor deities
|
guardian of the gods,
|
through my own longing,
|
though in good ways too
|
the friend of wisdom
|
has granted me
|
redress for affliction.
|
24.
| He who does battle
| hell-wolf
: Fenrir, the wolf that kills Odin in the Doom of the Gods
|
and tackles the hell-wolf
|
gave me the craft
| craft
: poetry
|
that is beyond reproach,
|
and the nature
|
that I could reveal
|
those who plotted against me
|
as my true enemies.
|
25.
| Now my course is tough:
|
Death, close sister
|
of Odin’s enemy,
| sister of Odin’s enemy
: Death (Hel) was the sister of the wolf Fenrir, whom Odin fought; their father was Loki, the treacherous god
|
stands on the ness:
|
with resolution
|
and without remorse
|
I will gladly
|
await my own.
|
Egil began to recover his spirits as he proceeded to compose the poem, and when it was finished, he delivered it to Asgerd and Thorgerd and his farmhands, left his bed and sat down in the high seat. He called the poem The Loss of My Sons. After that, Egil held a funeral feast according to ancient custom. When Thorgerd went home, Egil presented her with parting gifts.
80
Egil lived at Borg for a long time and grew to an old age. He is not said to have been involved in disputes with anyone in Iceland. Nor is anything told about him duelling or killing anyone after he settled down in Iceland.
People also say that Egil did not leave Iceland after the incidents that were described earlier, the main reason being that he could not stay in Norway because of the wrongs that the king felt he had done him, as narrated before. Egil lived lavishly, for he did not lack the means to do so, and he had the temperament as well.
King Hakon, King Athelstan’s foster-son, ruled Norway for a long while. In Hakon’s later years, King Eirik’s sons went to Norway and disputed the control of the realm with him. They fought several battles and Hakon invariably won. Their last battle was in Hordaland, at Stord in Fitjar. King Hakon won the battle, but was fatally wounded, and Eirik’s sons took over the kingdom afterwards.
Arinbjorn the Hersir was with Eirik’s son Harald, and became his counsellor and was granted great revenues by him. He was in charge of his forces and defences. Arinbjorn was an outstanding and victorious warrior. He lived on the revenues from the Fjordane province.
Egil Skallagrimsson received word that there was a new king in Norway and that Arinbjorn had returned to his lands there and was held in high respect. Then Egil composed a poem in Arinbjorn’s praise and sent it to him in Norway, and this is the beginning of it:
1.
| I am quick to sing
|
a noble man’s praises.
|
but stumble for words
|
about misers;
|
freely I speak
|
of a king’s deeds,
|
but stay silent
|
about the people’s lies.
|
2.
| Replete with taunts
|
for bearers of lies,
|
I sing the favours
|
of my friends;
|
I have visited many
|
seats of mild kings,
|
with the ingenuous
|
intent of a poet.
|
3.
| Once I had
|
incurred the wrath
|
of a mighty king
|
of Yngling’s line;
| Yngling
: ancestor of the kings of Norway
|
I drew a bold hat
|
over my black hair,
|
paid a visit
|
to the war-lord
|
4.
| where that mighty
|
maker of men
|
ruled the land from beneath
|
his helmet of terror;
|
In York
|
the king reigned,
|
rigid of mind,
|
over rainy shores.
|
5.
| The shining glare
|
from Eirik’s brow
|
was not safe to behold
|
nor free from terror;
|
when the moons
| moons of
…
face
: eyes
|
of that tyrant’s face
|
shone, serpent-like,
|
with their awesome glow.
|
6.
| Yet I ventured
|
my poem to the king,
|
the bed-prize that Odin
| bed-prize… slithered
: Odin stole the mead of poetry after entering the giantess Gunnlod’s chamber in the guise of a serpent;
frothing horn
: mead of poetry
|
had slithered to claim,
|
his frothing horn
|
passed around
|
to quench
|
all men’s ears.
|
7.
| No one praised
|
the beauty of the prize
|
my poetry earned
|
in that lavish house
|
when I accepted from the king
|
in reward for my verse
|
my own sable head
|
to stand my hat on.
|
8.
| My head I won
|
and with it the two
|
dark jewels
| jewels
: i.e. eyes
|
of my beetling brow,
|
and the mouth
|
that had delivered
|
my head’s ransom
|
at the king’s knee.
|
9.
| A field of teeth there
|
and my tongue I took back,
|
and my flapping ears
|
endowed with sound;
|
such a gift
|
was prized higher
|
than earning gold
|
from a famous king.
|
10.
| By my side, better
|
than every other
|
spreader of treasure,
|
stood my loyal friend
|
whom I truly trusted,
|
growing in stature
|
with his every deed.
|
11.
| Arinbjorn,
|
paragon of men,
|
who lifted me alone
|
above the king’s anger:
|
the king’s friend,
|
who never told untruth
|
in the warlike
|
ruler’s hall.
|
12.
| And…
| [defective verse]
|
... the pillar,
|
glorifier
|
of my deeds,
|
which…
|
…
|
... the scourge
|
of Halfdan’s line.
|
13.
| I would be deemed
|
a thief from my friend
|
and undeserving
|
of Odin’s horn,
|
unworthy of praise
|
and a breaker of oaths
|
if I omitted
|
to repay his favour.
|
14
| Now it is clear
|
where to present
|
my praise of the mighty
|
leader of men
|
before the people,
|
to their many eyes,
|
the tortuous path
|
that my verse treads.
|
15.
| The stuff of my praise
|
is soon honed
|
by my voice’s plane
|
for my friend,
|
Thorir’s kinsman,
|
for double, triple
|
choices lie
|
upon my tongue.
|
16.
| First I will name –
|
as most men know
|
and is ever borne
|
to people’s ears –
|
how generous
|
he always seemed,
|
the bear whose land
|
the birch fears.
| land the birch fears
: fire, hearth; the name
Arinbjorn
means ‘hearth-bear’
|
17.
| All people
|
watch in marvel
|
how he sates
|
men with riches;
|
Frey and Njord
|
have endowed
|
rock-bear
|
with wealth’s force.
|
18.
| Endless wealth
|
flows to the hands
|
of the chosen son
|
of Hroald’s line
|
his friends ride
|
from far around
|
where the world lies beneath
|
the sky’s cup of winds.
|
19.
| Crowned from ear
|
to ear like a king
|
he owned
|
a drawn line,
| (defective and cryptic verse, a conjectural reading.
drawn line
: the sword Dragvandil, ‘Slicer’?)
|
dear to the gods
|
with his flock of men,
|
friend of the sacred
|
and pillar of the poor.
|
20.
| His deeds will
|
outlast most men’s
|
even those who are
|
blessed with wealth;
|
givers’ houses are
|
few and far between,
|
a legion’s spears
| a legion’s spears need many shafts
: it is not easy to tend to every man’s problem
|
need many shafts.
|
21.
| No man went
|
to the longboat
| longboat
: house
|
where Arinbjorn’s
|
bed lay at rest
|
led by mockery
|
or bitter words,
|
or his spear’s
|
grip empty.
| spears grip
: hands
|
22.
| The man in Fjordane
|
shows money no love:
|
he banishes rings
|
that drip like fruit,
| drip like fruit
: Draupnir, Odin’s ring, dripped eight identical rings every ninth night;
verse-brews thief
: Odin, who stole the mead of poetry
|
defies the ring-clad
|
verse-brew’s thief,
|
hacks treasures in half,
|
imperils brooches.
|
23.
| The acre
|
of his ample life
|
was much sown
|
with the seeds of war.
|
…
| [defective verse]
|
24.
| It would be unjust
|
if that spreader of wealth
|
had cast overboard
|
on to the course
|
where the sea-god’s steeds
| sea-gods steeds
: ships; their
course
: sea
|
trample and race
|
the many favours
|
he has done for me.
|
25.
| I awoke early
|
to stack my words
|
as my speech’s slave
| speech’s slave
: tongue
|
did its morning’s work.
|
I have piled a mound
|
of praise that long
|
will stand without crumbling
|
in poetry’s field.
|
