1 A young maiden met at sunset A man with his flock on
Munarvag.
2 HERDSMAN: To visit this island all alone Is overbold:
go back to your lodging.
3 HERVOR: I have no lodging: of the island folk I know
none. I will not go back.
Before we part, first tell me How I may come to the Hjorvard
graves.
4 HERDSMAN: Do not ask: it is unwise. You do not know
your deadly peril: Let us
flee as fast as our feet can take us, All without is a
horror to view.
5 HERVOR: It is vain to hinder the viking's friend. Show
me the way: as a reward
you shall have This gold necklace: you will get nothing,
Nor ring nor ornament
if you hold your peace.
6 HERDSMAN: To have come hither, all alone To this land
of shadows, was sheer
folly. Over fen and fold fires are soaring, Graves are
opening: let us go
quickly.
7 HERVOR: Fear not the fire, fear not the graves: Although
the island be all
aflame, Never shall warriors while they live Yield to
terror. Tell me the way.
8 The herdsman had taken to his heels already, Fled to
the wood, far from the
maiden, But the fierce heart in Hervor's breast Swelled
up at the sight of these
things.
She saw now the grave fires and the graves standing open.
She went to the howe
and was not afraid. She passed the fires as if they were
smoke, until she
reached the graves of the berserks. Then she said:
9 HERVOR: Angantyr, wake! Hervor calls you, Your only
daughter whom you had by
Tofa. Give up from the grave the gleaming sword That the
dwarves smithied for
Svafrlami.
10 Hervard, Hjorvard, Hrani, awake! Hear me, all of you,
under the tree-roots,
With sharp swords, with shields and byrnies And red spears,
the rig of war.
11 Much are you changed, children of Arngrim, Once so
mighty: are you mold now?
Will Eyfur ás sons refuse to listen Or speak with me on
Munarvag?
12 May ants shred you all to pieces, Dogs rend you; may
you rot away. Give back
the sword that was smithied by Dvalin: Fine weapons are
unfit for ghosts.
13 ANGANTYR: Evil it is, Hervor, my daughter, To call
down such curses upon us:
Your words are mad, without meaning in them. Why do you
wake the bewildered
dead?
14 Nor father nor brothers buried me deep. Tyrfing was
owned by two who live,
Though only one owned it later.
15 HERVOR: Tell me the truth, that the timeless gods If
May bless your grave.
Have you got Tyrfing? Why are you unwilling to yield Your
heritage to your only
child?
Then it was as if a flame lit up all the graves which
stood open. Then Angantyr
said:
16 ANGANTYR: Graves open and Hel's doors, The island surface
is one searing
flame, All without is a horror to view: Go, while there's
time: return to your
ship.
17 HERVOR: With no flames, tonight or ever, With no fire
can you frighten me,
Nor daunt the heart in your daughter's breast With ghosts
standing at
grave-mouths.
18 ANGANTYR: Hear me, Hervor, hear from me now, Daughter
of princes, the doom I
fortell: This Tyrfing will, if the true blade, Destroy
your kindred, kill them
all.
19 You will bear a son, a bold warrior, Who shall wield
Tyrfing, trust in its
strength: After Heidrick shall the hero be named, The
bravest one under heaven.
20 HERVOR: Churlish cowards! may my curse fall On all
of you: may you ever lie
Wretched shades, in the rot of the pit. Give back the
wondrous work of smiths:
Son of Vikings, it is vain to hide it.
21 ANGANTYR: No mortal maiden to me you seem, Who walk
in the dark where the
dead lie, Uncowed by flames, with a carved spear And mailed
corselet on
Munarvag.
22 HERVOR: A mortal maiden to men I seemed Until advised
to visit your halls:
Surrender the blade, the Bane-of-Shields, Hater-of-Byrnies,
Hjalmar's-Killer.
23 ANGANTYR: Hjalmar's-Killer lies under my shoulders,
The sharp sword, sheathed
in flame: No maiden on earth, no mortal dare Touch such
a weapon, take itto
hold.
24 HERVOR: I will touch the weapon, take hold of The sharp
edge. In order to get
it I will walk through fire with unflinching step: The
flames are sinking before
my eyes.
25 ANGANTYR: Reckless maiden, rather than see you Fling
yourself on the flames
and perish, I will grant what you ask, give you the blade:
Such courage of heart
I cannot refuse.
26 HERVOR: You have done well, dead warrior, To grant
what I ask, give me the
blade: To possess the sword seems to me better Than to
own all Norway.
27 ANGANTYR: Alas, daughter, little you know, Wretched
woman, at what you
rejoice: I tell you again, this Tyrfing will Destroy your
kindred, kill them
all.
28 HERVOR: With a glad heart I will go now To ride the
horses of the roaring
sea: Little care I what may come after, What dole my sons
may deal each other.
29 ANGANTYR: Long may you hold it and long enjoy it! But
conceal it well. Beware
the edges Of Hjalmar's-Bane: both are poisoned. Mortal
to man is the
Measurer-of-Fate.
30 Farewell, daughter: would I could give you All the
strength and stoutness of
heart That was taken from Arngrim's twelve sons, The good
of life they lost in
death.
31 HERVOR: I will hasten hence:I am eager to be gone.
Blessed in your graves,
may you be at peace. I deemed in my mind that death was
near When all about me
leaped high flame.
Notes
This non-Eddic poem is found in the Saga of King Heidrek
the Wise. We have added
strophe 1 from the version in the Hauksbók manuscript.
14 Tyrfing. Svafrlami
forced Dvalin and Dulinn to forge him a sword which had
a hilt and handle of
gold, which would never rust, and which would cut iron
as though it were cloth.
The dwarves forged the sword, but Dvalin cursed it, saying
that it would kill a
man each time it was drawn, and that it would perform
three dastardly deeds, as
well as be the cause of Svafrlami's death. Arngrim then
took Svafrlami's
daughter and had twelve sons by her. Angantyr, the eldest,
fell heir to Tyrfing.
Hjalmar the Haughty and Arrow-Odd (the 'two who live')
slew all twelve in a
fight in which Hjalmar was also slain ('only one owned
it later'). Odd buried
the brothers in barrows with their weapons. Svava, Angantyr's
wife, gave birth
to a daughter (Hervor) who was inclined to fighting and
weapons. Posing as a man
(Hervrad) she joined a band of vikings and came thus to
Munarvag. 22 Bane of
Shields, Hater of Byrnies, and Hjalmar's Killer are all
kennings for Tyrfing. 29
Measurer of Fate is another kenning for Tyrfing.
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