The Saga of Erik the Viking

by Terry Jones

  But at that moment, Freya, the Enchanter’s daughter ran up to him and cried: ‘Don’t be afraid! They dare not shine their eyes on me,’ and as she spoke the three cats turned their heads away as one. But when Erik tried to move he knew he was already half stone. Then he spoke very slowly, and said to Freya, ‘My … sword …’

  He could say no more, but at once Freya took his sword from his hand and cut off the heads of those three creatures, and the moment she did so they changed from cats into demons that flew away and were gone forever.

  And at that moment the sun began to rise.

  ‘What is happening?’ cried the blind old Enchanter.

  ‘Follow me,’ said Erik, and slowly, very slowly, he led the way back out of the chasm, past the rock where he had first seen the three cats, and back along the shoreline. And Freya and the old Enchanter followed.

  By the time they reached the shelter of stones, the sun had fully risen. Then Erik slowly turned to the blind old Enchanter, and slowly, because he was still half stone he reached his hand towards the stones that were his eyes, and plucked them out.

  And then the Enchanter was blind no more and he saw what he had done. He saw the rocks that were Erik’s men, and he saw the great grey rock that had been their ship, Golden Dragon, and he saw the desolate island of stones and rocks and ice, and he wept.

  And the moment his first tear touched the earth, a most wonderful and amazing thing happened. The enchantment began to lift and the grey rocks on the beach moved and shook and then stood up and were Erik’s men again. And so too every rock and stone and pebble along that shoreline began to turn and tremble, and turn back into a living thing. Some into flowers and plants, some into animals and birds, until the whole coast was green and teeming with life again. And there on the shore were Thorkhild and Sven the Strong and Ragnar Forkbeard. And there too lay Golden Dragon herself.

  The old Enchanter begged his daughter’s forgiveness that in his blindness he had imprisoned her and allowed the island to be turned to desolation by the three cat-demons.

  Freya gave him her hand and at once the great mountain behind them turned back into a palace, and there Erik and his men lived well and happily all the time they took to repair their ship, Golden Dragon.

  ERiK AT THE ENCHANTER’S COURT

  WHILE ERIK AND HIS MEN were staying at the court of the old Enchanter and his daughter, Freya, a strange adventure happened.

  One day the Enchanter said he must go away for several days, and that he must leave his daughter, Freya, in their care.

  ‘Have no fear,’ said Erik, ‘I shall look after her as if she were my own dear child.’ And so the Enchanter left, riding on a huge black pig, and Erik and his men continued to repair their ship, Golden Dragon.

  That night, when the wind was howling outside round the palace and they were all gathered in the great hall around a blazing fire, the Enchanter’s daughter, Freya, stood up and said, ‘Which one of you has taken my shoes?’

  Erik and his men looked one to the other, and they all shook their heads and said not one of them would have ever dreamt of taking Freya’s shoes.

  ‘They were on my feet but a moment ago,’ said the Enchanter’s daughter, ‘and now they are gone,’ and she showed her bare feet to everyone. And Erik’s men all agreed that they were elegant white feet, but no one had any idea of what had happened to her shoes.

  So they ate some more and passed the mead jug round, and by and by Freya rose to her feet once more, and her face was clouded.

  ‘What is the trouble, Freya?’ asked Erik.

  And Freya said, ‘It grieves me to ask … but which of you has taken my ring?’

  Well, Erik’s men looked one to the other, and then they shook their heads, and Erik replied, ‘Freya, we are not thieves and robbers … not one of us would ever take your ring.’

  ‘It was here on my finger but a moment ago,’ said the Enchanter’s daughter, ‘and now it is gone,’ and she showed them her hand. Erik’s men all agreed it was a delicate white hand, but none of them had any idea of what had happened to her ring.

  So they ate some more and passed the mead jug round, and the fire burned brighter and redder. Then all of a sudden they heard a cry, and Erik and his men turned, and there was Freya, the Enchanter’s daughter, standing as naked as the day that she was born.

  ‘Who has taken my clothes?’ she cried, and she burst into tears.

  And Erik and his men looked from one to the other in amazement, for only the moment before she had been sitting there in her slender white robe. Erik took off his cloak and put it over her shoulders, and put his arm around her and said, ‘Who could have done this?’

  And Ragnar Forkbeard stood up and replied, ‘There is no one here who would do such a thing. We are all sworn to protect this girl.’

  But Freya frowned and said, ‘If the thief is not found before my father returns, he will banish you from this island, whether your ship is finished or no.’ And with that she ran to her room.

  Then Erik said to his men, ‘No one has been in nor out of this Great Hall in this time. The thief must still be here.’ So they began to search the Great Hall. They searched under every seat and every table and every bed in the Great Hall. But they could not find the thief. Erik said to his men, ‘We must not sleep until this thief is found.’

  So they started to search the whole palace. They searched the corridors, the bedrooms, the rooms of state, the kitchens, the cellars, the turret rooms, and the closets, the cupboards and the chimneys, under the floor boards and behind the tapestries. They even looked for secret passages and hidden rooms and found plenty. They even searched the old Enchanter’s private study but they could find neither hide nor hair of any thief, nor any shred of Freya’s clothes.

  Dawn was breaking, and Erik and his men were very tired for they had been searching hard all night, when Freya appeared before them and said, ‘Well, have you found this thief?’

  They all shook their heads, and Freya looked at them and said, ‘The shoes and the robe were presents my father gave me before he left. If the thief is not found, I fear my father will turn you back to stones in his anger!’

  So Erik and his men redoubled their efforts. All day they searched the palace grounds. They looked in every conceivable place: in the stables and the out-houses, in the barns and chicken houses and the wash house and the cattle sheds, under hedges and in ditches, in the grass and amongst the flowers, up trees and in the bushes. They looked everywhere.

  And that evening they all assembled together and Freya asked them, ‘Well? Have you found the thief?’

  They all shook their heads, and Freya frowned and said, ‘The ring was my grandmother’s ring. My father gave it to me before he left. If the thief is not found before he returns, I fear he will go mad with anger and shut me away again in that dark cave.’

  Then Erik stood up and said, ‘That we will never allow him to do! We shall find this thief before your father returns.’ And with that they started to search the whole island. They searched the valleys and the mountains, the beaches and fields, the caves and woods and even the rivers and rocky ravines and the dark, deep forests. And all the while their ship, Golden Dragon, lay on her side on the beach, and not a nail was nailed in her nor a plank was sawn, and the hole in her stern was as big as ever.

  On the day when the old Enchanter was to return, Erik and his men gathered in the Great Hall, and they each looked anxiously at the others. Then Freya appeared before them and said, ‘Surely you have found the thief now?’

  But Erik shook his head, ‘We have searched every stone and every leaf of this island, but we have found neither hair nor hide of this thief.’

  Just then the door burst open and in strode the old Enchanter himself.

  Erik and his men threw themselves on their knees before him, and Erik explained what had happened.

  ‘But please don’t turn these men to stone,’ cried Freya, ‘for they have searched night and day for the thief.’

&nbs
p; ‘And please don’t shut your daughter back in the cave,’ said Erik, ‘for we shall carry on searching until we find the thief!’ And they all looked at the old Enchanter.

  And to their surprise he did not go mad with anger. He did not banish his daughter to the cave, nor turn Erik and his men to stone, nor even banish them from the island whether their boat was finished or no. Instead he smiled.

  ‘You need look no further for the thief,’ he said, ‘for he is here in this room.’

  Erik’s men looked at each other, and Freya looked from her father to Erik to Thorkhild and Sven the Strong and from Sven the Strong to Ragnar Forkbeard and then back to her father.

  ‘But we have searched every nook and cranny of this Great Hall,’ said Erik. ‘The thief could not possibly be here.’

  ‘There is one place you have not looked,’ said the old Enchanter, and he called his daughter over to him and sat her on his knee. ‘You never looked here!’ With that he quickly put his hand into Freya’s hair and pulled out a little goblin as black as soot, which kicked and screamed in a little high voice, ‘Let me go!’ But the old Enchanter held it firm between his fingers.

  ‘This is the mischief-maker,’ said the old Enchanter. ‘This flibbertigibbet! This snatch-troll! I thought it was harmless, but as soon as my back was turned it got up to its old tricks, eh? Very well …’

  And he put a spell on the little creature and it turned into a little black puppy, which he gave to his daughter, saying, ‘There! Now it may get into mischief, but it won’t stop these men doing their work in future.’

  Then the old Enchanter declared a feast that night, and the next day, Erik and his men got back to repairing their ship.

  ERiK AND THE DOGFIGHTERS

  WHILE ERIK AND HIS MEN were staying at the palace of the old Enchanter and his daughter, an even stranger adventure happened.

  One morning they were hard at work on their ship, Golden Dragon, having almost finished repairing the great hole in the stern that the Sea Dragon had made, when they saw another ship far out to sea.

  Erik strained his eyes and then said, ‘I have never seen a ship like that before.’

  Ragnar Forkbeard too peered into the distance and then said, ‘This is the strangest ship I ever saw!’

  Thorkhild raised his hand to his eyes and said, ‘It has six sails and each sail is round like the sun. And how tall the masts are!’

  The old Enchanter came to the shore, and when he saw the ship approaching he shook his head, and sighed a deep sigh. ‘I fear your work on Golden Dragon has been in vain. None of us shall live to see another sunrise.’

  Erik put his hand to his sword and so too did each of his men.

  ‘Farewell, daughter,’ said the old Enchanter. ‘Even I am not powerful enough to save you from this evil that now approaches.’ And tears came to the old man’s eyes.

  But Erik gripped his arm and said, ‘What is this strange ship that approaches? What foe does it bring that strikes such terror into your heart?’

  The old Enchanter gazed at him and said, ‘I know this ship from the fearful past. I have seen it once before from another land. It brings death and destruction for it brings the Dogfighters to our peaceful shore.’

  Erik and his men looked out at the ship that was fast approaching, and they could see dark figures lining the deck and the glint of many swords.

  ‘Whoever it brings,’ said Erik, ‘we shall defend this island to the last breath in our bodies.’

  But the old man shook his head. ‘How can you succeed where all have failed before?’ And all the time the Dogfighters’ ship drew nearer and nearer.

  ‘Take your daughter to the great cave in the mountain, and we shall find you when the fight is done,’ said Erik.

  But the old Enchanter shook his head. ‘You cannot fight the Dogfighters. Come with us, and perhaps we shall escape somehow …’

  But Erik replied, ‘We shall never leave our ship, Golden Dragon, for it is certain such an enemy would steal or destroy it.’ And all the time the Dogfighters’ ship drew nearer and nearer, and now the men on the shore could see the glint of steel helmets in the wintry northern sun.

  ‘Come away, quickly, while there is still time!’ cried the old Enchanter, but Erik and his men had drawn their swords and already they were taking up their battle stations.

  The old Enchanter shook his head and turned to go, but Freya, his daughter, stood where she was and said, ‘Father, I will stay with these brave men and face this enemy. For I would rather die here and now on this shore than live in fear and shadow in the cave in the mountain.’

  The old man tried to speak, but no words came to his lips. He held his daughter to him, and then they both hid behind some rocks, as the Dogfighters’ ship drew closer to the shore.

  Erik and his men peered hard to make out their enemy, and now they could see that each of them did indeed wear a steel helmet and each helmet was shaped like a great dog’s head!

  ‘Are these men with the heads of dogs?’ said Erik. ‘Or dogs with the bodies of men?’ And secretly each of his companions felt sick with fear.

  Ragnar Forkbeard turned to Erik and said, ‘How can we fight such creatures as these?’ And Erik stared at the grey sea and said, ‘Even I fear it is hopeless.’

  And they watched as the dog-headed warriors began to leap out of their strange craft. Then Sven the Strong took Erik to one side and whispered to him, ‘Erik! Never have I felt such fear as I feel now.’ And Erik looked into his eyes, and saw the fear there, and said, ‘Then it is indeed hopeless.’ And Erik threw his sword onto the stony beach and looked at his men, and they each one of them saw the fear in his eyes.

  As the Dogfighters waded nearer, the companions saw that, though the waves were high, the dog-headed warriors stood three feet above the highest!

  Then Ragnar Forkbeard also threw his sword onto the stony beach and said, ‘If Erik cannot fight these creatures, how can we? I too have never felt such fear.’ Then the shore rang to the clatter of swords as each of Erik’s men threw his sword down onto the stony beach … all except for Sven the Strong, and he said, ‘What has happened to us? Many times in my life I have been afraid, yet it has not made me throw down my sword …’

  And Erik and his men looked up and saw the dog-headed warriors wading through the boiling waters nearer and nearer to the shore and their eyes glittered in their helmets cold and hard. And then even Sven the Strong threw down his sword onto the stony beach, saying, ‘… and yet, I know, even I cannot fight with such fear in my heart …’

  But just then they heard another voice behind them, saying, ‘It is not fear that you feel!’ And they turned, and there was the old Enchanter’s daughter standing white and frail in the wintry northern sun, but her face was strong.

  ‘I feel fear,’ said Erik to Freya, ‘because I know that no one has ever faced these Dogfighters and lived …’ and he sank to his knees as if a great weight were pressing down on him, and all the time the dog-headed warriors waded closer and closer.

  ‘But you are wrong!’ cried Freya. ‘Don’t you remember there is one here who has faced them and lived!’

  At this Sven the Strong looked up, and Thorkhild looked up, and they said, ‘Who? Which one of us has ever faced these fearful creatures?’ And Freya replied, ‘None of you have, but my father has!’ And without another word Sven the Strong strode over to the old man and said, ‘Of course … If you know them from the fearful past as you say, you have met with them and lived. Tell us how!’

  And the old Enchanter wept, ‘It is hopeless.’

  ‘Tell us what happened!’ cried Sven the Strong, and he lifted the old man up in his hands as the Dogfighters reached the beach at last.

  The old man looked into Sven’s eyes, ‘Did I escape?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course you did!’ cried Sven the Strong and he saw the fear flicker a moment in the old Enchanter’s eyes.

  ‘But they are here! The Dogfighters are upon us!’ cried the old man. But Sven did not tu
rn round. He did not see the first Dogfighter reach the first of Erik’s men …

  ‘But this is the second time!’ cried Sven. ‘You escaped before! How? How?’

  ‘How?’ cried the old man, and he shut his eyes.

  ‘It was not fear you felt,’ cried his daughter. ‘Don’t you remember telling me – it was not fear you felt …’

  ‘No …’ said the old man, and the first of the Dogfighters struck the first of Erik’s men to the white bone … there, where he knelt on the stony beach.

  ‘It was not fear …’ said the old Enchanter, ‘I remember now! It was the fear of fear … It was a spell the Dogfighters cast, for they themselves are cold cowards.’ And the old Enchanter opened his eyes, raised his arms, and for an instant the wintry northern sun turned black – no more than the blinking of an eye – and then Sven the Strong gave a great cry: ‘Erik! It is a trick! These Dogfighters would make us afraid of being afraid! We are often frightened, but we are not cowards!’

  And before the words had left his lips, Erik’s sword was back in his hand, ‘I am not afraid of fear,’ he cried. ‘Fear is like an old friend, who shouts by my side,’ and he raised his sword and struck the Dogfighter a mighty blow across the shoulders, and the steel helmet rang, and before the echo had died amongst the grey rocks every one of Erik’s men – Thorkhild and Ragnar Forkbeard and Sven the Strong and the rest – had taken up their swords off the stony beach. The battle against the Dogfighters had begun …

  THORKHILD AND THE STARSWORD

  ERIK AND HIS MEN fought the Dogfighters hand to hand and sword to sword. And each of the Dogfighters stood head and shoulders three feet above each of Erik’s men. And their swords were twice as long and twice as broad as the swords that Erik and his men had in their hands. ‘How can we fight against such fearful odds?’ thought each and every one of Erik’s men. But they said not a word. They stood their ground and blow for blow, thrust for thrust they fought the Dogfighters … on that stony beach … beneath the wintry northern sun.