Angantyr

“ The poem of the Waking of Angantyr is so filled with mystery and terror that it is hard to find in it anything else. After the Volospá it is the most wonderful of all the Northern poems.
Hervor, daughter of Angantyr, is left alone to avenge her father and her eleven brothers, killed by Arrow Odd before her birth. In her father's grave is the sword of the Dwarfs that never is drawn in vain, and she comes to his grave to find it. The island where he lies is full of death-fires, and the dead are astir, but Hervor goes on. She calls on her father and her brothers to help her:
"Awake, Angantyr! ”

“ It is I who am going to fight Angantyr."
And with that he drew his sword and stepped forth to meet Angantyr and they commended one [pg 147] another to Valhalla2. Hjalmar and Angantyr then made ready for the combat, and mighty strokes fell thick and fast between them.
Odd called to the berserks, saying:
Man to man should a warrior fight
Who would win a well-fought day,—
Unless it be that his courage fail,
Or his valour has ebbed away.
Then Hjörvarth advanced, and he and Odd had a stiff encounter; but Odd's silken shirt was so strong that no weapon could pierce it. ”

“ Therefore I must have my will; it would be far from my promise to the king’s daughter in Sweden, to let thee or another go to this single fight instead of me, and I will fight Angantyr. Odd said he chose the worse alternative, but Hjalmar had his will. He drew his sword and walked towards Angantyr; one pointed to the other, the way to Valhöll. Angantyr said: ‘If any one of us escapes hence no one shall take another’s weapons; I want to have Tyrfing in my mound if I die; Odd shall have his shirt and Hjalmar his weapons ”

“ The Earl said: "The death of mighty men has been revealed to you in this dream."
Then Angantyr and his brothers went away and came to Samsø, and went ashore to look for Hjalmar; and the story of their adventures there is related in the Saga of Örvar-Odd. First they came to Munarvagar, where they slew all the men from the two ships of Hjalmar and Odd; and afterwards they went ashore and encountered Hjalmar and Odd themselves on the island. Odd slew Angantyr's eleven brothers, and Hjalmar slew Angantyr, and afterwards died there himself of his wounds. ”

“ Angantyr said he was welcome in his need; then they raised war-booths for themselves, and the host slept during the night. When it was light enough for fighting they began the battle; so many fell that day that no one knew their number, and the horses waded in the blood up to the saddle-girths; they could no longer fight in the battle-field because of the bodies of the dead, and the battle turned much against the Hunar. The ninth day Hlöd sent Angantyr word that they should rest themselves that day in order to make handles to the spears and repair their shields. ”

“ Ormar rode day and night as fast as he could to King Angantyr in Arheimar. The Huns then proceeded to ravage and burn throughout the land.
And when Ormar came into the presence of King Angantyr, he cried:
From the south have I journeyed hither
To bear these tidings to thee:—
The whole of the forest of Myrkvith
Is burnt up utterly;
And the land of the Goths is drenched with blood
As our warriors fall and die.
Then he continued:
All of thy noblest warriors
On the field are lying dead.
King Heithrek's daughter fell by the sword ”

“ She often used to ask to go to visit her father, and Heithrek was indulgent to her in this matter. Her stepson Angantyr used to go with her.
On one occasion when Heithrek was returning [pg 108] from a raid, he lay in hiding off the land of the Saxons. He landed during the night and entered the building in which his wife was sleeping. He had only one companion with him. All the sentries were asleep. He found a handsome man asleep beside his wife. He took his son Angantyr and carried him away with him, and returned to his ship, having first cut off a lock of the man's hair. ”

“ Heidrek’s spear broke against the tusks of the beast, whereupon he drew his sword and killed it. But Tyrfing could only be satiated with human blood. Heidrek turned round, but seeing no other man present save his foster-son, slew him. Finally, he was himself transfixed with Tyrfing by his slaves, when he was asleep, and had suspended the fateful weapon over his bed. His son and successor, Angantyr, slew the murderers and recovered the sword. In a battle against the Huns, in which Angantyr was engaged, it committed great execution, but among the slain Angantyr found his own brother Hlodr. ”

“ The fight took place, all the brothers and Hjaltmar were slain, and Odd buried the sons of Svafurlami along with their weapons in a great mound. Angantyr left an only child, a daughter named Hervör, who dressed herself as a man, went on Viking expeditions, and visited the island of Samsey with full purpose to recover the sword Tyrfing, that was buried with her father. A weird account is given of how at night she sought the grave-mound and sang strophes to her father, demanding the surrender of the Dwarfs’ blade. ”

“ And when Angantyr saw that, he pressed forward from behind the rampart of shields into the forefront of the battle and grasping Tyrfing in his hand, mowed down both men and horses. Then the ranks fell apart in front of the Kings of the Huns, and Hlöth exchanged blows with his brother. There fell Hlöth and King Humli, and then the Huns took to flight. The Goths cut them down and made such a great slaughter that the rivers were dammed with the bodies and diverted from their courses, and the valleys were full of dead men and horses. ”

“ Arngrim caught up Tyrfing and cut down first the King, and then many others. He took great booty there, and carried off Eyfura, the King's daughter and took her to his home in Bolm.
[pg 90]
By her he had twelve sons. The eldest was Angantyr, then Hervarth, then Hjörvarth, Sæming and Hrani, Brami, Barri, Reifnir, Tind and Bui, and the two Haddings who only did one man's work between them, because they were twins and the youngest of the family; whereas Angantyr, who was a head taller than other men, did the work of two. ”

“ Angantyr asked further questions about the host of the Huns.
He then sent men in all directions to summon every man who was willing to support him and could bear weapons. He then marched to Dunheith with his army, and it was a very great host. There the host of the Huns came against him with an army half as big again as his own.
XV.° Next day they began their battle, and they fought together the whole day, and at evening they went to their quarters. They continued fighting for eight days, but the princes were then still all unwounded, though none could count the number of the slain. ”

“ Höfund, the son of Guthmund, heard of this and went and asked for the hand of Hervör, and was accepted; and he took her home.
Höfund was a very wise man and so just in his judgments that he never swerved from giving a correct decision, whether the persons involved were natives or foreigners. And it is from him that the 'höfund' or judge of law-suits takes his name in every realm.
He and Hervör had two sons. One was called Angantyr, the other Heithrek. They were both big strong men—sensible and handsome. Angantyr resembled his father in character and was kindly disposed towards everyone. ”

“ They were all berserks, and were unequalled in strength and courage. Even when they went marauding there were never more than just the twelve brothers on one ship. They raided far and wide in many lands, and had much success and won great renown. Angantyr had Tyrfing, and Sæming Mistletoe, Hervarth had Hrotti, and each of the others possessed a sword famous in single combat. And it was their custom when they had only their own men with them, to land when they felt the berserks' fury coming upon them, and wrestle with trees or great rocks ”

“ When the feast was over the sons of Arngrim prepared for their journey to Samsey. The last night before they left, Angantyr had a dream, which he told to the jarl: ‘It seemed to me we brothers were in Samsey, and found many birds there, and killed them all. Then we went to the other side of the island, and two eagles flew against us. I had a hard fight against one of them, and at last we both sat down. The other eagle fought against my brothers, and overcame them all.’ The jarl answered: ‘Such a dream needs no unravelling. ”

“ Tyrfing hit his shoulder at the breast, and its point went inwards; Angantyr did no more, and they parted thus; the battle at once ceased. So many were slain of the Huna-host that only three hundred men lived of all the great number, and these were all wounded and tired; fifteen thousand lived of Angantyr’s and Herlaug’s men. Angantyr offered peace to the Hunar, which they 448willingly accepted. He went to search for Herlaug, and at last found him; he had ridden far away from the battle-field to the war-booths, and lay near to the king’s tent ”

“ Suaforlami was shortly after slain by the Berserker [Pg 73] [117] Andgrim, who then became master of the sword. When the twelve sons of Andgrim were to fight with Hialmar and Oddur for Ingaborg, the beautiful daughter of King Inges, Angantyr bore the dangerous Tirfing; but all the brethren were slain in the combat, and were buried with their arms. ”

“ She replied: "If you want to marry me to anyone, then I would rather have a man whose good qualities I know already than one of whom I have only known by hearsay, and nothing but evil at that."
Angantyr said: "I will not bandy words with you; for I can see that you love Hjalmar. But as for you, Hjalmar, come south to Samsø and meet me in single combat. If you do not appear next midsummer you will be a coward in the eyes of all men."
Hjalmar said that he would not fail to come and fight, and the sons of Arngrim went home to their [pg 92] father and told him what had happened. ”

“ When Hlöd heard the words of Gizr, he sang—
‘Take Gizr
The man of Angantyr
(Who has) come from Arheimar.’ 445“King Humli said—
‘We shall not
Slay the messengers
Who alone
On a journey go.’ “Gizr said: ‘The Hunar cannot, nor can their horn-bows make away with us.’ He pricked his horse with his spurs, and rode to Angantyr, went before him and greeted him. The king asked if he had found the Huna-host. Gizr replied: ‘I spoke to them, and summoned them to battle-field on Dunheath in Dylgja-dales.’ Angantyr asked how many warriors the Hunar had. Gizr answered: ‘Great is their mass ”

“ When Ellida put into harbor, Earl Angantyrand his warriors were in the midst of a drinking-bout at the palace. The old attendant Halvar, while refilling the Earl's horn [Footnote: Horn, a drinking vessel, horn shaped, or made of horn.] with mead, [Footnote: Mead, a drink made of honey and water.] called the attention of the party to the incoming vessel.
"A ship that can weather such a sea must be no other than Ellida, bearing the doughty son of my good friend Thorsten," exclaimed Angantyr, rising to get a better view. ”

“ It is easy to see that when this custom came into conflict with the son's natural desire to inherit, the sacrosanctity of the dead man's treasure and of his burial-mound would be their only protection against violation. The fear of the consequences of breaking the custom took form in the myth of the curse, as in the sword of Angantyr and the Nibelungs' hoard; while the dangers attending the violation of the howe were personified in the dragon-guardian. In Gold-Thori's Saga, the dead berserks whose howe Thori enters, are found guarding their treasure in the shape of dragons ”

“ Then King Angus said: "If that is so, how is it that I find thee here armed as if for battle, with thy sword in thy hand?" "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "although I be friends with you and yours, yet I know not whether you be friends or enemies unto me; wherefore I have prepared myself so that I may see what is your will with me, for I will not have you slay me without defence upon my part." Then King Angus said: "Thou speakest in a very foolish way, for how could a single knight hope to defend himself against my whole household? ”

“ Oh, Angus, when I saw your face this morning, I feared so that your whole soul would turn to bitterness and give itself up to hatred of that man. But it must not be."
"Margaret, stop! Surely you must know——"
"Be still, Angus—it must not be. All this anguish must break in blessing. Sorrow such as yours will be either a curse or a blessing—and it must not be a curse. God's love can turn it into blessing—and so can mine. We shall take up our cross together and shall see it blossom yet. Oh, Angus, if I can forgive him, you can, for you are dearer to me than to anybody else." ”

“ Men called me a mortal, till thus I yode
To seek thee out in thine abode.
Give me what the dwarfs have wrought—
Hiding it avails thee not.
Angantheow:
Never hand of sire nor kin
Laid me here, the howe within,
But the foeman two that I did not slay—
Tyrfing one of them bears to-day.{7}
Herwor:
See now that the truth thou tell!
May the grisly fiends of hell
Tear thee piecemeal from thy grave
If thou hast not there the glaive!
Slow thou art, I tell thee true,
To give thine only child her due!
Angantheow:
Hell-gate is opening—the graves gape wide! ”

“ The conception of Angus as an all-pervading divinity who first connects being with non-being seems removed by many aeons of thought from that beautiful golden-haired youth who plays on the tympan surrounded by singing birds. But the golden-haired Angus of the bards has a relation to the earlier Eros, for in the mysteries of the Druids all the gods sent bright witnesses of their boundless being, who sat enthroned in the palaces of the Sidhe, and pointed the way to the Land of Promise to the man who dared become more than man. ”