Ottilie A. Liljencrantz

“ How fare the elves? Why come you alone to Jotunheim?” he asked.
Loki answered sternly, “Ill fare the mighty ones. Ill fare the elves. Have you concealed the hammer of Thor?”
The giant’s grin broadened until the mouth looked like a wide crack across his face. It was evident that he thought he had played a very clever trick. He answered promptly, “I have concealed the hammer of Thor eight lengths beneath the ground. No man brings it back unless he gives me Freyja as my bride.”
Freyja the Lovely the bride of such a hoary old monster! Loki burst out laughing. ”

“ Every Spring since you have been able to stretch your hand over a sword, Hallvard, you have fared abroad; and for all that we in Iceland can tell, you may have wooed a maiden in every land your ship has touched. It is said that the sea’s own fickleness soaks into the bones of them who live on her, and many a man has done such things and been thought no less of. But with Rodny I will not have it so, and these are the terms I lay down. You shall sail abroad as you had the intention to do, and there shall be no betrothal between you ”

“ I do not think it is in your nature to feel much love for a woman, my friend. If you had not loved your own way better than me, would you not have entered the king’s service to win me, when only that lay between us? ”

“ Then once again the tumult rose, which now there was no overleaping, and the bride cowering against the 35wall saw how all heads turned toward him who stood opposite the king in the mockery of gay feasting clothes. And suddenly one called down Christ’s curse on the race of Ogmund Monks-bane, and a second echoed the cry. Whereat the other Danish hostages—to show that their hands were clean—took up the shout more fierce than any, and smote Valgard so that he reeled under their fists. And the aged woman whose son had been slain flung her cup of wine in his face. ”

“ I know it for true that she sets great store by weapon-skill and deeds of might, and I tell you for your comfort that she will never give herself away to a man who spends his days kissing the maidservants by the fire.”
But Jofried shook her head and answered: “That may well be, master; and yet Rodny is a woman for all that, and all women think alike. And the proof of that is this, that although I am no more than a gangrel woman, I have the same feelings as a maiden reared in a bower; and to me as to them, all other men look like shambling giants when Skapti, Lambi’s son, is by.” ”

“ In a tremendous hall in the centre of it, Thor spent most of his time when he was not away fighting giants or attending assembly-meetings. There were benches all around the walls for his followers; gleaming weapons hung above them; a fire blazed on the golden hearth; and in the middle of the line of seats the Strong-One had his splendid shining throne or high-seat.
One would have supposed that such a bright place would have been difficult to sleep in, yet here every night, when the feasting was over, the members of the household stretched themselves on the cushioned benches and took their rest ”

“ III The chariot-wheels rumbled like thunder. The-Goat-That-Gnashes-His-Teeth and The-Goat-That-Flashes-His-Teeth struck out fiery sparks from their gold-shod hoofs. So came Loki and the Strong-One into Jotunheim.
While they were yet a long way off, Thrym heard them coming and laughed exultantly.
72“Much wealth have I!
Many gifts have I!
Freyja, methinks, is all I lack!” he sang; then he called out to his followers, “Giants, arise and spread the embroidered cloths over the benches. Freyja comes to be my bride.” ”

“ Jofried answered, “for he is the most handsome man that men ever saw; and his hair is as fine as silk; and there is so much of it that it hides his lame back like a cloak of gold.”
“He is a little crooked stick with a gilded head,” says Hallvard.
“You can call him that if you want to,” said Jofried, “but it only proves what I knew before, that you know nothing at all about women; for with a woman, a gilded head counts for more than a great clumsy body like a dancing-bear’s.”
Now it had happened to Hallvard, each time he came before Rodny, to feel himself very big and clumsy and out of place ”

“ Fearless, Sigurd Asbiornsson looked, as always, but for the first time that something seemed gone from his boldness which had stirred the king’s temper against him.
Olaf smiled slowly as a test came to his mind.
“To please your friends, Sigurd,” he said, “I will make you an offer which you can do as you like about accepting. It is the law of the land that a man who kills a servant of the king shall undertake that man’s service, if the king will. ”

“ But Hallvard looked as if he did not know whether to laugh or get wroth, and at last he said: “I think there is no need for this to look so big in your eyes, messmate. Skapti sets too much store by himself to love anyone who does not love him, and there is little danger that Rodny will ever do that.” ”

“ Perhaps Loki wished to revenge himself on the Strong-One for having spoken so sternly to him when he first brought the message from Jotunheim. Now in his turn he said sternly:
“Be silent, Thor. Stop such talk. Soon will the giants build in the sky if you do not bring your hammer back.”
Because he knew this to be true, Thor could say nothing more. He stood frowning and stamping and growling in his beard while they brought Freyja’s jewels and her beautiful robes to dress him in. ”

“ Then Lambi said: “You take it ill, kinsman, and there is some excuse for you. But now this is to be taken into consideration, that Rodny had set her heart on the man, and his honor is great everywhere.”
“His body is great,” said Skapti, “as big as a bear’s; and he shall yet dance to my wit as a bear dances to a willow pipe.” ”

“ A snared and a savage man was Ogmund Monks-bane when they brought this word to the tent of skins in which he laired; and it saddened him besides that the boy Valgard strove to contend him, saying:
30“It will be no hindrance to you, kinsman. Never will you so much as think of me when the battle-lust comes on you. And I shall bear it well.”
In our king’s will at London, therefore, young Valgard grew into man’s estate and, contrary to his expectations, throve mightily, discovering a rare aptitude for gentle accomplishments. ”

“ It was long ago, when the world was so young that peace meant little more than a breathing spell between battles. At the Royal Farm of Augvaldsnes, in Norway, King Olaf Haraldsson sat at an Easter feast with his men. ”

“ Of a different mettle was Erling Erlingsson. Coming back from the door through which the guards had led his friend, he came straight up to the high-seat.
“Lord,” he said, “I will pay the blood-money for your bailiff, so that my kinsman may retain life and limbs. All the rest do according to your pleasure.”
King Olaf’s voice was very low. It was his way when his rage was highest.
“Is it not a matter of death, Erling, when a man breaks the Easter peace, and breaks it in the king’s lodgings, and makes the king’s feet his execution-block? ”

“ But we will so manage it that we come to land after sunset, and make a night-camp on the shore; and there we will be that night and the next day. And if it happens that during that time Rodny sends anyone down to us with a bidding, we will ride up to her hall and make the excuse that we could not come before because we had much goods to see to; but if she does not send any welcome down, then—when we have camped on the shore one more night—we will weigh anchor and sail away north.”
All said that was a better way than to keep the tryst and run the risk of being laughed at. ”

“ Hallvard laughed and said: “I did not know before that Skapti got on so well with women. But tell me who it is that you think is likely to rob you of his heart.”
“It is Rodny, Thorolf’s daughter,” said Jofried. “He has always looked upon her with eyes of love, but now I can see by his manner that his love is at the harvest; and 51the likelihood is that they will be wedded before we get back.” ”

“ And how the others laughed at him! The more they laughed, the angrier he grew—and the angrier he became, the funnier he looked in his bridal robes. The whole vault of the sky echoed and re-echoed with their mirth. ”

“ One was the Viking who had asked for the tale. Another was Erling, ominously fingering his sword-hilt. A third was a young girl sitting among the matrons on the cross-bench—a beautiful girl who bore her small fair head with brave dignity. The fourth was a strange man in poor attire 16who had come in unnoticed among the servants that were fetching fresh supplies of ale.
The stranger listened the most keenly of all—it almost seemed as if the bailiff might have left him hanging on the words. Step by step, he was drawn forward until only a space of bare table lay between him and the storyteller. ”

“ Hallvard greeted Skapti kindly, and his mates did the same, for when they saw his deformity they thought 46that there was more than enough that was wanting in his life; and Skapti took their greeting well because it seemed to him that they could not but be envious of the fairness of his face. And so they talked together smoothly, for a while, and Skapti offered to give them his help about their errand—whatever it might be—and sent a man to call Lambi out, when he heard that that was what they wanted; but he himself went back to his sport with the tumbling-girl. ”

“ He asked her what she meant by that, and she went on: “I should think any one could see that when Rodny has hung the necklace around her neck, she will think no further about it; but Skapti will sit by her side and be always speaking so as to flatter and gladden her, and the end will be that he will have all her thoughts; for in the whole of Iceland there is not his equal for a quick wit.”
Now Hallvard knew himself for a slow-witted man, so his heart went down at this; and thereafter he took no pleasure in the gifts he sent. And from that day forth he grew very silent, so that men noticed it. ”

“ In order that his spirit should not be humbled by his deformity, Lambi praised his face and his wit and all he did, and begged everyone else to do the same; and the upshot of it was that Skapti thought there was no man like himself for dash and keenness, and was always bragging and boasting, and every one had to give way to him or have his wrath. He had a shrewd mind, but he was so spiteful that many were afraid of him.
Now a fourth man is named in the story. He was called Hallvard, the son of Asgrim the White. ”

“ Wherefore the Little Nun remained unstartled and blessedly trustful, and raising her eyes to the blue heavens of which they seemed so much a part prayed softly to Our Dear Lady to keep true the heart of Ogmund Monks-bane.
The fourth morning after this, the queen’s maiden Adeleve was wedded to Valgard the Hostage. And that 34day at noon did our benignant king and his housewifely queen make a marriage feast for the young pair that both of them held dear. A marriage feast, well-a-way! ”

“ Just as twilight was falling, the chariot thundered into the courtyard.
When he saw Freyja’s robes and Freyja’s jewels, it never occurred to Thrym to doubt that it was really Freyja under the veil. He took the bride’s hand and led her to her seat, laughing exultantly and singing his boastful song:
“Much wealth have I! ”

“ But when they had been out three weeks they came to Norway, and sailed into the Bay there and made land at the King’s Crag. And Hallvard went up to the town, where some trading-booths were, and bought a good gold finger-ring and sent it out to Rodny on a ship that stood ready to sail. Jofried praised the ring much, and Hallvard was so pleased at that that he answered her eagerly and said:
52“It is no lie what you say of me, Jofried, that I know little about women; yet this has occurred to me which should also be borne in mind, that Rodny is different from other maidens. ”

“ He was the most soldier-like of men, and the best skilled in arms; tall in growth, too, and powerful 43and well-knit. Some said that his wits were rather slow because he lived so much where it was of most importance that hands should be quick ”