Viking Tales of the North
Saga of Fridthjof the Bold
When king Helge had come to his senses he gave orders to follow quickly after Fridthjof and kill him and all his companions. That man, said he, has forfeited his life, as he has spared no Place of Peace. Now the trumpet was blown, and all the king’s men came together; and when they came out to the hall, they saw that it stood in flames. King Halfdan and some of his men went to the fire, but king Helge followed after Fridthjof and his men. The latter had already got on board their ships and were lying on their oars. Helge and his men found that all their ships had been damaged, so they were forced to row ashore again, and lost some men. (1) then king Helge grew angry that the became stark mad. Thereupon, with an arrow on the string, he stretched his bow with so much force that both ends of it suddenly snapped off. When Fridthjof saw this, he seized two of Ellide’s oars and plied them so mightily that both of them broke. Said he then this stave:
Kissed I the young
Ingeborg,
Bele’s daughter,
In Baldershage.
This shall the oars
Of Ellide
Both be broken
Like Helge’s bows.
After this the wind began to blow out of the inner part of the fjord, so they hoisted the sails and sailed on. Fridthjof said to his men that they might busk themselves not to stay there very long. Afterward they sailed out of Sogn. Sang Fridthjof then this stave:
Sailed we out of Sogn,
Here sailed we a short time ago;
When flames consumed the byre
My father left to me.
But now in the midst of Baldershage
The flames have begun to blaze.
I now am an outlaw for sooth
I know that it has been sworn.
Said Bjorn to Fridthjof: What shall we do now? Foster-brother, said Fridthjof, I shall not remain here in Norway; I will try the life of warriors, and go on viking expeditions. Then they explored islands and skerries during the summer, and thus gained for themselves free and fame; but in the fall they repaired to the Orkneys, where they were heartily welcomed by Angantyr, and they spent the winter there. But when Fridthjof had left Norway the kings held a thing, and declared Fridthjof an outlaw in all their realms, and made all his possessions their own. King Halfdan settled at Framness, and rebuilt the byre which had been burnt down; and likewise they restored the whole Baldershage, but it took a long time before the fire was put out. That which most touched the heart of Helge was that the gods had been burnt up, and it cost much to build Baldershage up again as it had been before. Sat king Helge now at Syrstrand.
ENDNOTES:
1. Hallvard, Asmund and the other men had scuttle all the ships of king Helge while Fridthjof went to Baldershage. See pp. 96 and 97 (Chapter IX). [Back]
<< Previous Page Next Page >>
© 2004-2007 Northvegr.
Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation.
|