The Saga of the Jomsvikings

by Lee M Hollander

  Notes

  * It is for this reason, among others, that the short version of Codex Holmiensis 7, quarto, seems more authentic than, as well as aesthetically superior to, the watered-down other versions which, quite unorganically and against the spirit of the saga, bring in the miracle of Bishop Poppo (whose successful undergoing of the ordeal is said to have convinced the Danes of the superiority of the new faith) and which speak of Hákon’s human sacrifice with vigorous condemnation.

  * See “The Sayings of Hor” in The Poetic Edda, tr. Lee M. Hollander (The University of Texas, 1928).

  THE SAGA of the JÓMSVÍKINGS

  1. KNÚT THE FOUNDLING

  Gorm1 was the name of a king who ruled over Denmark and was called the Childless. He was a mighty king, and popular with his subjects. He had long governed his kingdom when the events to be told happened. At that time there was in Saxland2 an earl called Arnfinn, who held his land in fief from King Charlemagne. Arnfinn and King Gorm were good friends and had been on viking expeditions together. The earl had a beautiful sister, and he was fonder of her than he should have been and begot a child with her; the child was kept hidden, and then the earl sent men away with it but bade them not to desert it before they knew what would befall it.

  They came to Denmark and to a forest. They were aware that King Gorm was in the forest hunting with his followers. They laid the child under a tree and hid themselves.

  In the evening the king left the forest, and so did all of his men except two brothers,3 the one named Hallvard and the other, Hávard—they had tarried behind. [And having lost their way in the darkness] they went on toward the sea. When they heard a child crying they went in that direction, not knowing what it could be. They found there a boy child lying under a tree, and a great cloth was knotted in the branches above him. The child was swathed in garments of costly fabric, and around his head was tied a silken ribbon, and in it, a golden ring weighing an ounce. They took the child up and carried him home with them. And when they returned the king was at table, drinking, and they told the king what they had found and showed him the boy.

  The king was pleased with him and said: “This boy is likely to be the child of people of great account, and it is well that he was found.” And he had the boy child baptized with water and had him called Knút because gold had been knotted in the cloth about his head.4 The king gave him good foster parents5 and called him his son and loved him greatly. And when King Gorm grew old he made Knút his foster son heir to his kingdom. Thereupon King Gorm died. Then Knút took possession of all the realm Gorm had ruled, and he came to be loved by the people. He begot one son, whose name was Gorm. He was first called Gorm the Silly, but when he was grown up, Gorm the Old or the Mighty.6

  Notes

  1 The name is in all likelihood a contraction from Gutborm—“reverer of the gods.”

  2 The Old Norse name for Germany, especially the northern portion inhabited by the Saxons.

  3 The brothers are, of course, to be regarded as purely fictitious.

  4 The whole legend evidently had its origin in the (early) popular misunderstanding of the name, which corresponds to the Old High German chnútz, “bold,” whereas the Old Norse word knútr signifies “a knot.” The Knytling dynasty of Denmark derives from this ancestral figure. The baptism referred to is the old (heathen) ceremony.

  5 In Scandinavian antiquity a child was commonly given to foster parents to bring up.

  6 On the smaller (and older) Runestone of Jellinge, Gorm is termed “the Improver, or Savior, of Denmark,” because of his building, or reinforcing, the Dannevirke—the immemorial line of fortification between the Sli Firth and the Eider River against incursions from the south—and his obtaining sway over all of Denmark. Until recently, owing to an early misunderstanding of the inscription, this appellation was attributed to Queen Thýra, both in legend and history. The stone is a fine example of the bautasteinar (grave monuments), rude monoliths erected over the graves of eminent persons.

  2. KING GORM’S DREAMS

  Harold was the name of an earl who ruled over Holtsetaland.7 He was called Klak-Harold.8 He was a wise man. The earl had a daughter named Thýra. She had a prophetic gift and was a most beautiful woman and knew how to interpret dreams better than anyone else. The earl loved her dearly, and with her advice considered he had the governance of his people firmly in hand.

  Now when Gorm had become grown and taken over the rule of his kingdom he left his land with a great following of men, for the purpose of asking the daughter of Earl Harold in marriage; and in case the earl refused to give him his daughter he meant to lay waste his land. When Earl Harold and his daughter learned of King Gorm’s coming and his intentions, they sent men to meet him and to invite him to a splendid banquet; and the king accepted that. And when Gorm had made his wishes known to the earl, the earl answered that his daughter was to decide for herself, “because she is much wiser than I.”9 So the king addressed his suit to her.

  Thereupon she made answer as follows: “This is not a matter to be decided on immediately. You shall journey home now, with good and worthy gifts from us. But if you are minded to ask me in marriage, when you arrive home you shall have a house built where none stood before, one which is suitable for you to sleep in; and in it you shall sleep the first night of winter, and three nights in a row. And remember clearly what dreams you have, and have your messengers tell me. Then I shall let the messengers know whether you are to come to fetch me in marriage. But if you have no dreams you need not persist.”

  The king journeyed home with honorable parting gifts and meant indeed to put her wisdom to the test. And when he arrived in his own land he proceeded as she had told him; then he slept three nights in the house, but had three10 of his men keep watch about it to prevent any treason against him.

  Thereupon the king sent his messengers to the earl and his daughter to tell them his dreams.11 When she had heard what his dreams were she told the men to say to the king that she would marry him. And the messengers told the king how matters stood, and he was very glad. He quickly outfitted a great company to go with him to fetch home his bride. Then King Gorm arrived in Holtsetaland, and the earl learned of his coming and prepared a great feast for him. And then the marriage was celebrated; and for entertainment at the banquet King Gorm told his dreams and Queen Thýra interpreted them.

  The king told how in the first night he dreamed that he was out in the open and looked over all his kingdom. It seemed to him that the sea receded from the land so far that he could not reach it with his eyes; and all the sounds and firths were dry. Then he saw three white oxen come up out of the sea. They ate all the grass from off the ground and thereupon went back into the sea.

  In the second dream it seemed to him that again three oxen came up out of the sea. They were all red and had great horns. They too ate all the grass from off the ground and then returned into the sea.

  And in his third dream the king again saw three oxen come up out of the sea. These were all black of color, and by far the largest and had the greatest horns; and they also ate the grass off the land and thereupon went back into the sea.

  And after that he heard a crash so great that he thought it could be heard over all of Denmark, and he saw that it came from the rush of the sea as it returned to the land.

  “And now, Queen, I would that you interpret these dreams for the entertainment of our men.”

  She said that so it should be.

  “When you saw the three white oxen come up on land from the sea, that signified that three winters with great snows will come, so that the fruitfulness of the land in Denmark will diminish. When you saw the three red oxen coming up on land, that signified that three winters will come with little snow, and that is not good either. And when there came out of the sea the three oxen which were black, that signified three winters to come so bad that no one can remember the like of them. And so great a famine will befall as never yet within the memory of man. And as to the oxen having big horns, t
hat signified that many a man will be deprived of all he owns. And when in your dream you heard a great crash from the tumult of the sea, that is likely to betoken warfare in this land between men of great might near to you in kin. If you had dreamed the first night as you did the last, then this turmoil of warfare would have occurred in your days, and then I would not have gone with you; but against the famine I can devise some measures.”

  After this banquet King Gorm and Queen Thýra journeyed back to Denmark. And they had many ships laden with grain and other good things conveyed into Denmark, and so every year thereafter until the famine came. And then they lacked for nothing, nor did anyone who lived in their neighborhood, because the king and queen shared these good things with their countrymen. And Thýra was the wisest woman who ever came to Denmark, and she was called the Savior of Denmark.12

  King Gorm and Queen Thýra had two sons. The older was called Knút and the younger, Harold. Both were promising men, but Knút was the wiser. He was fostered by Earl Klak-Harold, his maternal grandfather. The earl loved him greatly, and he was dear to many. But Harold, who stayed at home at the court, was very ill liked as a youth.

  Notes

  7 The present Holstein.

  8 The significance of the first element of this name is uncertain.

  9 The unannounced transition from indirect to direct speech, or vice versa, is characteristic of saga style.

  10 Or, as the other versions have it, and more likely, three hundred men.

  11 The gift of interpreting dreams or visions appears to have been a family trait. Earl Klak-Harold has it, and so has his daughter and his granddaughter Ragnhild, who was married to King Halvdan the Black of Norway; see Snorri’s Heimskringla: Halfdana saga Svarta, chap. 5.

  12 See note 6.

  3. EARL HAROLD’S VISIONS

  Now it happened that King Gorm sent messengers to Earl Klak-Harold to invite him to his Yule feast. The earl accepted with pleasure, and the messengers of the king returned. Thereupon the earl made ready for the journey. And when he and his men came to the Lim Firth13 they saw a strange tree standing before them. This tree bore both small green apples and blossoms. They marveled greatly at that. And the earl said it was a great portent to have happened at this time of the year, because they saw that apples both large and old had grown there in summer; “and now we shall turn back.” And so they did. The earl remained at home that year. To the king it seemed strange that the earl did not come.

  The following winter the king sent messengers on the same errand, and the earl promised to come. With his company he traveled to the Lim Firth. Now there were many dogs aboard the earl’s ship. Then they heard the whelps barking inside the bitches.14 The earl pronounced this to be a great portent and said that they should return, and so they did. And so that winter passed.

  The third winter the king again sent men to invite the earl to his Yule feast, and he promised to come. And then the earl journeyed till he came to the Lim Firth. Then they saw a great wave rise inside the firth, and another outside. And each wave advanced against the other, and the sea grew very tumultuous, and when the waves met they clashed heavily, and the sea became all red with blood.

  Then the earl said: “This is a great portent, and we shall return.” And the earl remained at home during that Yuletide.

  Now King Gorm waxed mightily wroth at the earl since he had not accepted his invitation, and he planned to lay waste the earl’s land and thus repay him for his insult. But when Queen Thýra became aware of his plans she said it was not fitting for him to wreak vengeance on the earl and that she would give him better counsel. The king then did as the queen wished him to, sending messengers to the earl to find out the reason for his not coming. And the earl set out immediately. The king received his father-in-law in proper fashion, and both went forth-with to the council room; the king then asked him the reason for his not once coming, “and why so dishonor me and my invitation?”

  The earl replied that he had not meant to insult him and that there were other reasons. And then he told the king what marvels they had seen, “and I shall now set forth to you what I think these strange happenings may portend.” The king was agreeable, and the earl said: “I shall begin with our seeing in midwinter a tree with green apples hanging on it, and old and large ones lying on the ground beside it. That, I think, betokens a change of faith which will come to this land, and this faith will be fairer than the old faith, being foreshown by the fine apples. But the former faith will be laid low, like the old apples lying on the ground, and decay.

  “Another marvel was the barking of whelps inside the bitches. That is likely to betoken that youths will lord it over their elders and thus grow rash and reckless; and it is likely that they will have more to say about affairs even though their elders be wiser. But I think that these youths are still unborn since the whelps were not yet dropped.

  “Then there was this: that we saw great waves rise against one another with much tumult and with blood. That will betoken the discord of some men of great account within our land; and great battles will grow out of it and much turmoil, and it is more than likely that some of the strife will take place in this firth.”

  And the king understood the words of the earl well and they seemed wise to him, and he pardoned him, though he had readied his men to fall on the earl if his actions should be found due only to negligence. Thereupon they ended their conference. The earl remained there such time as the king wished and then journeyed home.

  A little while thereafter Earl Harold gave all his dominion to his foster son Knút, and he himself journeyed south and was baptized there and never returned to his land.

  Notes

  13 An arm of the sea separating the northernmost portion of Jutland from the mainland. Before the great break-through to the west (1825) it was essentially a collection of fresh-water lakes. Just why the earl wishes to cross this firth is not clear, because the king’s residence was either in South Jutland or on the island of Zealand. Very likely the author’s geography was hazy on this point.

  14 A possible reminiscence of the story of Esau and Jacob struggling in Rebekah’s womb (Genesis 25:22): “and the older shall serve the younger.” It is also, of course, a motif often found in folklore.

  4. KNÚT GORMSSON IS SLAIN IN ENGLAND

  King Gorm and his son Harold fell out as soon as Harold was grown to manhood. Harold was given some ships, and he went on viking expeditions every summer but remained in Denmark during the winter.

  At that time King Æthelstan ruled in England.15 He was a good king, and old. Toward the end of his days an army of Danes invaded England, and it was headed by the sons of King Gorm, Knút and Harold. They raided the countryside in Northumberland and subdued a great realm to their rule; and they claimed it as their inheritance, because the sons of Lodbrók16 and other forebears of theirs had possessed it.

  King Æthelstan collected a great host and marched against the brothers and met them north of Cleveland and killed great numbers of Danes. But some time later the sons of Gorm went ashore at Scarborough and fought a battle there, and the Danes were victorious. Then they intended to march south to York; all the people submitted to their rule and the Danes feared no danger.

  One day when the sun shone hot, men of the Danish fleet took to swimming between the ships, and likewise the two king’s sons. Then there came men running down to the shore and shooting at them. Knút was struck by an arrow and wounded mortally, and they carried his body to the ship. When the country people learned of that, a huge army of them gathered. They were joined by the king, and all those who had sworn allegiance to Knút turned to King Æthelstan; and thereafter the Danes were not able to make any landing because of the host of country people gathered against them. And after that the Danes sailed back to Denmark.

  At that time King Gorm was in Jutland. Harold went there immediately and told his mother the tidings. King Gorm had sworn an oath that he would die if he learned of the death of his son Knút, and that he who told t
he tidings would lose his life too. Then the queen had the hall draped with gray homespun. When the king came to table all those present were silent. Then the king said: “Why are all the men silent? Has anything befallen?”

  Then the queen said: “Sire, you had two falcons, one white and the other gray. The white one flew far away into the wilderness, and there many crows attacked him and plucked him of all his feathers. And now the white one is gone and the gray one has returned, and it is he who will strike down birds to provide for your table.”

  Then King Gorm said.

  “Thus Denmark droops

  as dead is my son Knút.”

  Then said the queen:

  “True are the tidings

  you tell, my lord.”

  And all the men in the hall confirmed it. That very same hour the king fell ill, and he died at the same hour on the next day.17 He had then been king for a hundred years. A great burial mound was thrown up over his grave. Then Harold succeeded to the rule over all his father’s realm. Afterwards he drank the arvel18 for his father and dwelt in peace for a while.

  Notes

  15 Æthelstan of England ruled from 925 to 940.

  16 According to the (unhistoric) Ragnars saga lodbrókar, which may be read in The Saga of the Volsungs, etc., tr. Margaret Schlauch (New York, 1930).

  17 Saxo Grammaticus (ca. 1150–1206) has a similar story in his Gesta Danorum about the death of Gorm the Old. However, since the inscription on the smaller Runestone of Jellinge informs us that this monument was set by Gorm in memory of his queen, he must have survived her. The alliterative scheme in the original text of the saga suggests that some old and vaguely remembered lay must have treated of this legendary motif (which is also known elsewhere). The Gesta Danorum can be read in Oliver Elton’s translation, The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus (London, 1894).