The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue Read online

by the tempest, has seen

  more blue breakers back in the east.

  Both sides, but particularly the Norwegians, were pleased with this assessment. After Yule, the messengers left with splendid gifts from Earl Sigurd to Earl Eirik. They told Earl Eirik about Gunnlaug’s assessment. The earl thought that Gunnlaug had shown him both fairness and friendliness, and spread the word that Gunnlaug would find a safe haven in his domain. Gunnlaug later heard what the earl had had to say about the matter. Gunnlaug had asked Earl Sigurd for a guide to take him east into Tiundaland in Sweden, and the earl found him one.

  9

  In those days, Sweden was ruled by King Olaf the Swede, the son of King Eirik the Victorious and Sigrid the Ambitious, daughter of Tosti the Warlike. He was a powerful and illustrious king, and was very keen to make his mark.

  Gunnlaug arrived in Uppsala around the time of the Swedes’ Spring Assembly. When he managed to get an audience, he greeted the king, who welcomed him warmly and asked him who he was. He said that he was an Icelander. Now Hrafn Onundarson was with the king at the time.

  ‘Hrafn,’ the king said, ‘what family does this fellow come from in Iceland?’

  A big, dashing man stood up from the lower bench, came before the king and said, ‘My lord, he comes from the finest of families and is the noblest of men in his own right.’

  ‘Then let him go and sit next to you,’ the king said.

  ‘I have a poem to present to you,’ Gunnlaug said, ‘and I should like you to listen to it properly.’

  ‘First go and sit yourselves down,’ the king commanded. ‘There is no time now to sit and listen to poems.’

  And so they did. Gunnlaug and Hrafn started to chat, telling one another about their travels. Hrafn said that he had left Iceland for Norway the previous summer, and had come east to Sweden early that winter. They were soon good friends.

  One day when the assembly was over, Hrafn and Gunnlaug were both there with the king.

  ‘Now, my lord,’ Gunnlaug said, ‘I should like you to hear my poem.’

  ‘I could do that now,’ the king replied.

  ‘I want to recite my poem now, my lord,’ Hrafn said.

  ‘I could listen to that, too,’ he replied.

  ‘I want to recite my poem first,’ Gunnlaug said, ‘if you please.’

  ‘I should go first, my lord,’ Hrafn said, ‘since I came to your court first.’

  ‘Where did our ancestors ever go with mine trailing in the wake of yours?’ Gunnlaug asked. ‘Nowhere, that’s where! And that’s how it’s going to be with us, too!’

  ‘Let’s be polite enough not to fight over this,’ Hrafn replied. ‘Let’s ask the king to decide.’

  ‘Gunnlaug had better recite his poem first,’ the king declared, ‘since he takes it badly if he doesn’t get his own way.’

  Then Gunnlaug recited the drapa he had composed about King Olaf, and when he had finished, the king said, ‘How well is the poem composed, Hrafn?’

  ‘Quite well, my lord,’ he answered. ‘It is an ostentatious poem, but is ungainly and rather stilted, just like Gunnlaug himself is in temperament.’

  ‘Now you must recite your poem, Hrafn,’ the king said.

  He did so, and when he had finished, the king asked: ‘How well is the poem put together, Gunnlaug?’

  ‘Quite well, my lord,’ he replied. ‘It is a handsome poem, just like Hrafn himself is, but there’s not much to either of them. And,’ he continued, ‘why did you compose only a flokk for the king, Hrafn? Did you not think he merited a drapa?’

  ‘Let’s not talk about this any farther,’ Hrafn said. ‘It might well crop up again later.’ And with that they parted.

  A little while later, Hrafn was made one of King Olaf’s followers. He asked for permission to leave, which the king granted.

  Now when Hrafn was ready to leave, he said to Gunnlaug, ‘From now on, our friendship is over, since you tried to do me down in front of the court. Sometime soon, I will cause you no less shame than you tried to heap on me here.’

  ‘Your threats don’t scare me,’ Gunnlaug replied, ‘and I won’t be thought a lesser man than you anywhere.’

  King Olaf gave Hrafn valuable gifts when they parted, and then Hrafn went away.

  Hrafn left the east that spring and went to Trondheim, where he fitted out his ship. He sailed to Iceland during the summer, and brought his ship into Leiruvog, south of Mosfell heath. His family and friends were glad to see him, and he stayed at home with his father over the winter.

  Now at the Althing that summer, Hrafn the Poet met his kinsman Skafti the Lawspeaker.

  ‘I should like you to help me ask Thorstein Egilsson for permission to marry his daughter Helga,’ Hrafn said.

  ‘Hasn’t she already been promised to Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue?’ Skafti answered.

  ‘Hasn’t the time they agreed passed by now?’ Hrafn countered. ‘Besides, Gunnlaug’s so proud these days that he won’t take any notice of this or care about it all.’

  ‘We’ll do as you please,’ Skafti replied.

  Then they went over to Thorstein Egilsson’s booth with several other men. Thorstein gave them a warm welcome.

  ‘My kinsman Hrafn wants to ask for the hand of your daughter Helga,’ Skafti explained. ‘You know about his family background, his wealth and good breeding, and that he has numerous relatives and friends.’

  ‘She is already promised to Gunnlaug,’ Thorstein answered, ‘and I want to stick to every detail of the agreement I made with him.’

  ‘Haven’t the three winters you agreed between yourselves passed by now?’ Skafti asked.

  ‘Yes,’ said Thorstein, ‘but the summer isn’t gone, and he might yet come back during the summer.’

  ‘But if he hasn’t come back at the end of the summer, then what hope will we have in the matter?’ Skafti asked.

  ‘We’ll all come back here next summer,’ Thorstein replied, ‘and then we’ll be able to see what seems to be the best way forward, but there’s no point in talking about it any more at the moment.’

  With that they parted, and people rode home from the Althing. It was no secret that Hrafn had asked for Helga’s hand.

  Gunnlaug did not return that summer. At the Althing the next summer, Skafti and Hrafn argued their case vehemently, saying that Thorstein was now free of all his obligations to Gunnlaug.

  ‘I don’t have many daughters to look after,’ Thorstein said, ‘and I’m anxious that no one be provoked to violence on their account. Now I want to see Illugi the Black first.’

  And so he did.

  When Illugi and Thorstein met, Thorstein asked, ‘Do you consider me to be free of all obligation to your son Gunnlaug?’

  ‘Certainly,’ Illugi replied, ‘if that’s how you want it. I cannot add much to this now, because I don’t altogether know what Gunnlaug’s circumstances are.’

  Then Thorstein went back to Skafti. They settled matters by deciding that, if Gunnlaug did not come back that summer, Hrafn and Helga’s marriage should take place at Borg at the Winter Nights, but that Thorstein should be without obligation to Hrafn if Gunnlaug were to come back and go through with the wedding. After that, people rode home from the Althing. Gunnlaug’s return was still delayed, and Helga did not like the arrangement at all.

  10

  Now we return to Gunnlaug, who left Sweden for England in the same summer as Hrafn went back to Iceland. He received valuable gifts from King Olaf when he left. King Ethelred gave Gunnlaug a very warm welcome. He stayed with the king all winter, and was thought well of.

  In those days, the ruler of Denmark was Canute the Great, the son of Svein. He had recently come into his inheritance, and was continually threatening to lead an army against England, since his father, Svein, had gained considerable power in England before his death there in the west. Furthermore, there was a huge army of Danes in Britain at that time. Its leader was Heming, the son of Earl Strut-Harald and the brother of Earl Sigvaldi. Under King Canute, Heming was in
charge of the territory which King Svein had previously won.

  During the spring, Gunnlaug asked King Ethelred for permission to leave.

  ‘Since you are my follower,’ he replied, ‘it is not appropriate for you to leave me when such a war threatens England.’

  ‘That is for you to decide, my lord,’ Gunnlaug replied. ‘But give me permission to leave next summer, if the Danes don’t come.’

  ‘We’ll see about it then,’ the king answered.

  Now that summer and the following winter passed, and the Danes did not come. After midsummer, Gunnlaug obtained the king’s permission to leave, went east to Norway and visited Earl Eirik at Lade in Trondheim. The earl gave him a warm welcome this time, and invited him to stay with him. Gunnlaug thanked him for the offer, but said that he wanted to go back to Iceland first, to visit his intended.

  ‘All the ships prepared for Iceland are gone now,’ said the earl.

  Then a follower said, ‘Hallfred the Troublesome Poet was still anchored out under Agdenes yesterday.’

  ‘That might still be the case,’ the earl replied. ‘He sailed from here five nights ago.’

  Then Earl Eirik had Gunnlaug taken out to Hallfred, who was glad to see him. An offshore breeze began to blow, and they were very cheerful. It was late summer.

  ‘Have you heard about Hrafn Onundarson’s asking for permission to marry Helga the Fair?’ Hallfred asked Gunnlaug.

  Gunnlaug said that he had heard about it, but that he did not know the full story. Hallfred told him everything he knew about it, and added that many people said that Hrafn might well prove to be no less brave than Gunnlaug was. Then Gunnlaug spoke this verse:

  10. Though the east wind has toyed

  with the shore-ski this week

  I weigh that but little –

  the weather’s weaker now.

  I fear more being felt

  to fall short of Hrafn in courage

  than living on to become

  a grey-haired gold-breaker.

  Then Hallfred said, ‘You will need to have better dealings with Hrafn than I did. A few years ago, I brought my ship into Leiruvog, south of Mosfell heath. I ought to have paid Hrafn’s farmhand half a mark of silver, but I didn’t give it to him. Hrafn rode over to us with sixty men and cut our mooring ropes, and the ship drifted up on to the mud flats and looked as if it would be wrecked. I ended up granting Hrafn self-judgement, and paid him a mark. That is all I have to say about him.’

  From then on, they talked only about Helga. Hallfred heaped much praise on her beauty. Then Gunnlaug spoke:

  11. The slander-wary god

  of the sword-storm’s spark

  mustn’t court the cape of the earth

  with her cover of linen like snow.

  For when I was a lad,

  I played on the headlands

  of the forearm’s fire

  with that land-fishes’ bed-land.

  ‘That is well composed,’ Hallfred said.

  They came ashore at Hraunhofn on Melrakkasletta a fortnight before winter, and unloaded the ship.

  There was a man named Thord, who was the son of the farmer on Melrakkasletta. He was always challenging the merchants at wrestling, and they generally came off worse against him. Then a bout was arranged between him and Gunnlaug, and the night before, Thord called upon Thor to bring him victory. When they met the next day, they began to wrestle. Gunnlaug swept both Thord’s legs out from under him, and his opponent fell down hard, but Gunnlaug twisted his own ankle out of joint when he put his weight on that leg, and he fell down with Thord.

  ‘Maybe your next fight won’t go any better,’ Thord said.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Gunnlaug asked.

  ‘I’m talking about the quarrel you’ll be having with Hrafn when he marries Helga the Fair at the Winter Nights. I was there when it was arranged at the Althing this summer.’

  Gunnlaug did not reply. Then his foot was bandaged and the joint reset. It was badly swollen.

  Hallfred and Gunnlaug rode south with ten other men, and arrived at Gilsbakki in Borgarfjord on the same Saturday evening that the others were sitting down to the wedding feast at Borg. Illugi was glad to see his son Gunnlaug and his companions. Gunnlaug said that he wanted to ride down to Borg there and then, but Illugi said that this was not wise. Everyone else thought so too, except Gunnlaug, but he was incapacitated by his foot – although he did not let it show – and so the journey did not take place. In the morning, Hallfred rode home to Hreduvatn in Nordurardal. His brother Galti, who was a splendid fellow, was looking after their property there.

  11

  Now we turn to Hrafn, who was sitting down to his wedding feast at Borg. Most people say that the bride was rather gloomy. It is true that, as the saying goes, ‘things learned young last longest’, and that was certainly the case with her just then.

  It so happened that a man named Sverting, who was the son of Goat-Bjorn, the son of Molda-Gnup, asked for the hand of Hungerd, the daughter of Thorodd and Jofrid. The wedding was to take place up at Skaney later in the winter, after Yule. A relative of Hungerd’s, Thorkel the son of Torfi Valbrandsson, lived at Skaney. Torfi’s mother was Thorodda, the sister of Tunga-Odd.

  Hrafn went home to Mosfell with his wife Helga. One morning, when they had been living there for a little while, Helga was lying awake before they got up, but Hrafn was still sleeping. His sleep was rather fitful, and when he woke up, Helga asked him what he had been dreaming about. Then Hrafn spoke this verse:

  12. I thought I’d been stabbed

  by a yew of serpent’s dew

  and with my blood, O my bride,

  your bed was stained red.

  Beer-bowl’s goddess, you weren’t

  able to bind up the damage

  that the drubbing-thorn dealt to Hrafn:

  linden of herbs, that might please you.

  ‘I will never weep over that,’ Helga said. ‘You have all tricked me wickedly. Gunnlaug must have come back.’ And then Helga wept bitterly.

  Indeed, a little while later news came of Gunnlaug’s return. After this, Helga grew so intractable towards Hrafn that he could not keep her at home, and so they went back to Borg. Hrafn did not enjoy much intimacy with her.

  Now people were making plans for the winter’s other wedding. Thorkel from Skaney invited Illugi the Black and his sons. But while Illugi was getting ready, Gunnlaug sat in the main room and did not make any move towards getting ready himself.

  Illugi went up to him and said, ‘Why aren’t you getting ready, son?’

  ‘I don’t intend to go,’ Gunnlaug replied.

  ‘Of course you will go, son,’ Illugi said. ‘And don’t set so much store by yearning for just one woman. Behave as though you haven’t noticed, and you’ll never be short of women.’

  Gunnlaug did as his father said, and they went to the feast. Illugi and his sons were given one high seat, and Thorstein Egilsson, his son-in-law Hrafn and the bridegroom’s group had the other one, opposite Illugi. The women were sitting on the cross-bench, and Helga the Fair was next to the bride. She often cast her eyes in Gunnlaug’s direction, and so it was proved that, as the saying goes, ‘if a woman loves a man, her eyes won’t hide it’. Gunnlaug was well turned out, and had on the splendid clothes which King Sigtrygg had given him. He seemed far superior to other men for many reasons, what with his strength, his looks and his figure.

  People did not particularly enjoy the wedding feast. On the same day as the men were getting ready to leave, the women started to break up their party, too, and began getting themselves ready for the journey home. Gunnlaug went to talk to Helga, and they chatted for a long time. Then Gunnlaug spoke this verse:

  13. For Serpent-tongue no full day

  under mountains’ hall was easy

  since Helga the Fair

  took the name of Hrafn’s Wife.

  But her father, white-faced

  wielder of whizzing spears,

  took no heed of my
tongue.

  – the goddess was married for money.

  And he spoke another one, too:

  14. Fair wine-goddess, I must reward

  your father for the worst wound –

  the land of the flood-flame steals joy

  from this poet – and also your mother.

  For beneath bedclothes they both

  made a band-goddess so beautiful:

  the devil take the handiwork

  of that bold man and woman!

  And then Gunnlaug gave Helga the cloak Ethelred had given him, which was very splendid. She thanked him sincerely for the gift.

  Then Gunnlaug went outside. By now, mares and stallions – many of them fine animals – had been led into the yard, saddled up and tethered there. Gunnlaug leapt on to one of the stallions and rode at a gallop across the hayfield to where Hrafn was standing. Hrafn had to duck out of his way.

  ‘There’s no need to duck, Hrafn,’ Gunnlaug said, ‘because I don’t mean to do you any harm at the moment, though you know what you deserve.’

  Hrafn answered with this verse:

  15. Glorifier of battle-goddess,

  god of the quick-flying weapon,

  it’s not fitting for us to fight

  over one fair tunic-goddess.

  Slaughter-tree, south over sea

  there are many such women,

  you will rest assured of that.

  I set my wave-steed to sail.

  ‘There may well be a lot of women,’ Gunnlaug replied, ‘but it doesn’t look that way to me.’

  Then Illugi and Thorstein ran over to them, and would not let them fight each other. Gunnlaug spoke a verse:

  16. The fresh-faced goddess

  of the serpent’s day

  was handed to Hrafn for pay –

  he’s equal to me, people say –

  while in the pounding of steel

  peerless Ethelred delayed

  my journey from the east – that’s why

  the jewel-foe’s less greedy for words.

  After that, both parties went home, and nothing worth mentioning happened all winter. Hrafn never again enjoyed intimacy with Helga after she and Gunnlaug had met once more.