CHAPTER XXV.
SORROW AND MOURNING.
Egil’s sorrow—Egil’s song—The first song of Gudrun—The second song of Gudrun—Halls draped with black and grey.
There are several beautiful examples in Northern literature showing how strong were the affections in the hearts of the people, even among the bravest warriors. Conspicuous amongst these examples are Egil’s and Gudrun’s songs of sorrow, the former mourning the death of a son, the latter that of a husband.
“When Egil returned from his last journey to Norway and Vermland, Bödvar, his son, was full grown. He was a most promising man; handsome, tall, and strong as Egil or Thorol had been at his age. Egil loved him greatly, and Bödvar also was fond of him. One summer a ship came into Hvita (white river), where there was a large gathering for trade. Egil had bought much wood there, and had it brought home. The _huskarls_ went in an eight-oared boat which Egil owned. Bödvar begged to go with them, and this they granted him; he went to Vellir with the huskarls, who were six in number, in an eight-oared boat. At the time fixed for their departure the high tide was late in the day, so they waited for it and left late in the evening. Then came a violent south-west gale, and the ebb tide was opposed to it; the sea rose high in the fjord, as often happens there, and the boat was swamped in the heavy sea, and all were drowned; the bodies were thrown ashore the next day. That of Bödvar came ashore in Einarsnes, but others on the southern shore of the fjord, where the boat was driven, and were found at Reykjarhamar. Egil heard of it the same day, and forthwith rode to search for the bodies. He found that of Bödvar outstretched: he took it up, and put it on his knee, and rode with it out to Digranes to the mound of Skallagrim. He had the mound opened, and laid Bödvar at the side of Skallagrim, the mound was then closed, but this was not done until sunset. Egil rode home to Borg (his farm), and there went at once to the locked bed-closet where he was wont to sleep; he laid himself down and locked himself up, and nobody dared talk to him. When they laid Bödvar down in the mound, Egil wore hose fitting tight to the leg; a fustian-kirtle, red, narrow, small at the upper end, and laced on the side, but he swelled so much from grief that the kirtle as well as the hose were rent. The next day Egil did not unlock the door, nor did he take any food or drink. He lay there that day, and the night following it; nobody dared speak to him. The third morning at dawn Asgerd made a man take horse and ride as swiftly as he could west to Hjardarholt, and tell Thorgerd (daughter of Egil, wife of Olaf Höskuldsson) all these tidings. He arrived there about noon, and said that Asgerd asked her to come as soon as possible to Borg. Thorgerd at once had a horse saddled, and two men followed her. They rode that evening and all night till they reached Borg. Thorgerd at once went into the hall; Asgerd greeted her, and asked if they had supped. Thorgerd said loudly “I have had no supper, and shall have none until with Freyja.[333] I know of no better resolve than to do like my father. I will not live after my father and brother.” She went to the bedroom, and shouted, ‘Father, open the door. I want you to go with me.’ Egil drew back the latch. Thorgerd went up and shut the door; she laid herself down in another bed which was there. Then Egil said ‘Thou didst well, daughter, in wishing to follow thy father. Thou hast shown me much love. Who can expect me to live with this grief?’ Then they were silent for a while. Then Egil said ‘What is that, daughter? Dost thou chew anything?’ ‘I am chewing _samphire_ (sea-weed),’ she answered, ‘and I think that I shall suffer for it; otherwise I think I shall live too long.’ ‘Is it hurtful?’ asked Egil. ‘Very much so,’ said she; ‘wilt thou eat?’ ‘What does it matter?’ said he. Soon after she called and asked for drink. Water was then given her to drink. Then Egil said: ‘When one eats _samphire_, one gets more and more thirsty.’ ‘Wilt thou drink, father?’ said she. He took deep draughts from a horn. Then Thorgerd said: ‘We are deceived, this is milk.’ Egil bit from the horn what his teeth clutched, and threw it away. Thorgerd said: ‘What shall we do, now that this plan is upset? I should like, father, to lengthen our life, so that thou mightest compose a funeral poem on Bödvar, and I will carve it on a stick of wood; then let us die if we like. I think thy son Thorstein will be slow in making a poem on him, but it is not proper that there should be no funeral feast, for I do not think we shall sit at the drinking at his _arvel_.’ Egil said it was unlikely that he could make a poem then, even if he tried, but he would make an attempt” (Egil’s Saga).
I give the leading stanzas of the poem.
SONA-TORREK (the loss of sons).[334]
It is very difficult To move my tongue, Or the heavy air Of the steel-yard of sound.[335] Now there is little hope Of the theft of Vidrir,[336] Nor is it easy to draw it Out of the hiding-place of the mind.[337]
The silent find[338] Of the kinsmen of Thriggi,[339] Brought of yore From Jötunheimar Is not easily driven From the abode of the mind. Heavy sorrow Is the cause.
The blameless Bragi Got famous On the boat Of Nokkver (a Dverg);[340] The wound[341] of the neck of the Jotun Roars Down at the door Of the house of my kinsman.[342]
For my kin Has come near to its end Like the death-beaten Branches in the forest. The man is not merry Who carries The bones of his kinsmen From the place of dead bodies.[343]
Nevertheless I recall first The death of my father, The death of my mother. That timber of song,[344] With words for leaves,[345] I bring out Of the temple of speech.[346]
Cruel was the gate Which Hronn[347] broke On the kin-wall[348] Of my father. I see the place of my son, Made waste by sea, Stand empty And open.[349]
The want of brothers Comes often Into the mind Of the women of Björn.[350] I look round When the battle thickens; I heed this And look to see if
Any other Thegn Daring in fight Stands At my side; I need it often. Such are the tempers of men; My flight becomes faint When my friends get few.
It is also told That no one gets The equal of his son Unless he begets another; Nor a kinsman Who is to him Like the man Who is his born brother.
THE FIRST SONG OF GUDRUN.
The brothers of Gudrun, daughter of Gjuki, had slain her husband, Sigurd Fafnisbani, in his bed. Gudrun sat over Sigurd when he was dead; she did not weep, as other women, but almost died from grief. Both men and women came to comfort her, but did not find it easy to do so.
Gudrun was Near to death When she sat, full of grief, Over Sigurd; She did not weep, Nor wring her hands, Nor wail Like other women.
Very wise jarls Came forward, Who tried to soothe Her heavy heart; Though Gudrun was Unable to weep; She was so sad; Her heart almost broke.
The high-born Brides of jarls Sat, gold adorned, By Gudrun; Each of them Related her woes, The bitterest sorrow She had suffered.
The sister of Gjuki, Gjaflang, said: No women on earth Lack love more than I; I have felt the loss Of husbands five, Of daughters two, Of sisters three, Of brothers eight, And yet I live alone.
Still Gudrun Could not weep, So full of grief was she For her dead husband, And heavy-hearted O’er the king’s corpse.
Then said Herborg, The Queen of Hunaland: I have a harder Sorrow to tell; My seven sons And my eighth husband Fell among the slain In the southern lands.
My father and mother, My four brothers; The wind played with them On the deep; The wave dashed them Against the gunwale.
I myself had to wash, I myself had to bury, I myself had to handle Their corpses; All that I suffered In one year, And no man Gave me help.
The same year I became a bondwoman;[351] I had to dress, And to tie the shoes Of a hersir’s wife Every morning.
She threatened me Because of jealousy, And struck me with Hard blows; Nowhere found I A better house-master Nor anywhere A worse housewife.
Still Gudrun Could not weep, So sad was she For her dead husband And heavy-hearted O’er the king’s corpse.
Then said Gullrönd, The daughter of Gjuki: Little comfort Canst thou, foster-mother, Wise though thou art, Give the young wife. She bid them uncover The king’s corpse.
She drew the sheet Off Sigurd And threw it on the ground, Before the knees of the wife:— Look on thy beloved one, Put thy mouth to his lips, As if thou did’st embrace The living king.
Gudrun looked At him once; She saw his hair Dripping with blood; The flashing eyes Of the king were dead; His breast[352] Was cut with a sword.
Then Gudrun sank down Upon the pillow; Loose was her hair, Flushed was her cheek And a tear-drop Fell on her knee.
Then wept Gudrun, The daughter of Gjuki, So that the tears Flowed through her tresses; And the geese Screamed in the yard— The good fowls Which the maiden owned.
Then said Gullrönd, The daughter of Gjuki: I never knew A greater love Among all men Upon earth Than that of you two. Thou wast never happy, My sister, Indoors or out, Unless with Sigurd.
Then said Gudrun, The daughter of Gjuki: Such was my Sigurd Among the sons of Gjuki, As a garlic[353] Grown high among grass, Or a shining stone Set on a band, A precious gem, So was he above the high-born.
I seemed also To the king’s champions Higher than any Dis of Herjan;[354] Now I am lowly As a willow leaf, After the king’s death.
I miss in the seat And in the bed The talk of my friend; The sons of Gjuki cause My misery, And the sore weeping Of their sister.
So shall you Lose your land As you kept not The sworn oaths; Thou, Gunnar, wilt not Enjoy the gold; Those rings Will be thy death, As thou to Sigurd Did’st falsely swear.
Oft was it merrier When my Sigurd Saddled Grani In the grass-plot (tun), And they went To woo Brynhild, The cursed being With bad luck.
Then said Brynhild, The daughter of Budli: May that being lack[355] Husband and children Who made thee Weep, Gudrun, And to thee this morning Gave power of speech.[356]
Then said Gullrönd, The daughter of Gjuki: Speak not these words, Much hated one; Thou hast always been The Urd[357] of the high-born;
Every man disowns thee, Thou evil being! Sore sorrow Of seven kings, And the greatest spoiler Of wives’ friends.[358]
Then said Brynhild, The daughter of Budli: Atli alone causes All the misery; The son or Budli, My brother,
When we in the hall Of the Hunnish people Saw with the king The fire of the serpent lair[359] I have paid since For that journey; Of that sight I was not afraid.
She stood at the door-post; She clasped the alder-tree;[360] Fire flashed Out of the eyes Of Brynhild, Budli’s daughter; Venom gushed from her When she saw the wounds Of Sigurd.
Gudrun’s second song to King Thjodrek at the hird of Atli.
I was a maiden of maidens, My bright mother Raised me in her house; I loved my brothers well, Till Gjuki endowed me with gold, And gave me to Sigurd.
So was Sigurd Among the sons of Gjuki As a green leek Grown high in the grass, Or a long-legged hart Among the swift deer, Or ruddy gold Amidst grey silver.
Until my brothers Begrudged me A husband, Who was the foremost of all; They could not sleep Nor judge law-cases Till they had slain Sigurd.
Grani[361] ran from the Thing; The noise (of his hoofs) was heard; But then Sigurd Himself did not come. All the saddle-deer[362] Were soiled with blood, And wearied Under their murderers.
I went in my tears To talk to Grani; With wet cheeks I asked him to speak. Grani drooped his head, Bowed it down to the grass; The steed knew His owner was no more.
A long while I wavered, Long was my mind divided Before I asked The people-defender For news of the king.
Gunnar drooped his head; Högni told me The painful death Of Sigurd: The slayer of Gothorm Lies slain Beyond the water, Given to the wolves.
Seek for Sigurd there, On the southern road; Then thou wilt hear Ravens croak, Eagles scream, Glad at their booty, Wolves howl Over thy husband.
Why wilt thou, Högni, Such sorrows tell To me so joy-bereft? The ravens should Tear thy heart In far-off lands, Where thou art a stranger.
Högni answered: Some day, Gudrun, With heavy mind, With great grief; More cause wilt thou have To weep, If my heart By ravens be torn.
I went alone thence From this talk Into the forest To gather what the wolves had left.[363] I did not moan Nor wring my hands, Nor wail, Like other women, When I sat over The dead Sigurd.
Pitch dark The night seemed When I sat sorrow-stricken Over Sigurd; I should have liked The wolves far better Had they taken my life, Or I Had been burnt Like birch-wood.
In the following remarkable account of a battle between Knut and Harald, the two sons of King Gorm, in which Knut was killed, we find that when a family was in mourning the halls were draped with black and grey.
“After this Harald and his men proceeded until they reached King Gorm’s farm late at night, and went ashore fully armed. It is said, by some who know, that Harald did not know how he should tell his father, for he had made a vow that he would die if he heard of the fall of his son Knut, and would kill the man who told him of his death.
“Harald sent his foster-brother, Hauk, to his mother, Queen Thyri, and requested her to find some way to give him the news. She bade him go himself and tell the king that two hawks had been fighting, one of which was entirely white, the other grey, and both brave. At last the white hawk was killed, which was thought a great pity. Hauk thereupon returned to Harald, and reported what his mother had said. Harald thereupon went to the hall, where King Gorm and his men were drinking, went up to his father, and told him about the hawks, as his mother had advised, ending by saying that the white hawk was dead. He said no more. It is not stated where Harald and his men took up their quarters that night. King Gorm did not appear to comprehend this. The men sat drinking as long as they liked that night, and then went to bed; but after they had left the hall Queen Thyri took down the hangings, and instead put up black and grey cloth until all was covered. She had done this because it was the custom in those days when tidings of grief came to do as she did.
“King Gorm, the old, rose in the morning, and went into his high-seat, intending to begin drinking. He looked at the walls of the hall; the queen sat in the high-seat with him. He said: ‘Thou, Queen Thyri, must have ordered the hall to be thus prepared.’ ‘For what purpose should I?’ she asked. ‘Because,’ the king added, ‘thou wishest now to tell me of the fall of my son Knut.’[364] ‘Thou now tellest it thyself,’ said the queen. He had been standing in front of the high-seat while they were talking, but now sat down suddenly, answered nothing, fell back against the wall of the hall, and died. He was carried to burial, and a mound was thrown up over him by order of Thyri. She then sent word to her son Harald to return with all his men and drink _arvel_ after his father. This he did, and it was very splendid.
“After this Harald took possession of the kingdom and all the lands of his father, and held a Thing with the men of the country, at which the Danes chose him as king over the whole of Denmark” (Flateyjarbok, vol. i.; Jomsvikinga Thatt).
Small clay urns, with burnt bones and objects of bronze, buttons, needles, knives, etc. In a mound, Zealand. ¼ real size.
Footnote 333:
Meaning that she would have no meals before she came to the gods, as she intended to die with her father.
Footnote 334:
He had a son called Gunnar, who had died a short time before. The best stanzas only are given.
Footnote 335:
I.e., tongue. The heavy air of the tongue = breath.
Footnote 336:
Odin’s the t = poetry.
Footnote 337:
The breast. The people believed that thought came from the breast.
Footnote 338:
The mead, stolen by Odin, poetry, song. See the later Edda.
Footnote 339:
The kinsmen of Odin are the Asar.
Footnote 340:
Boat of the Dvergar, the poetical mead.
Footnote 341:
Ymir’s blood, the sea. Egil thinks he hears the roar of the surf near the mound of the drowned son; it intensifies his sorrow.
Footnote 342:
House of my kinsmen, the mound where his son with other kinsmen was buried.
Footnote 343:
The shore bringing the bodies of the drowned.
Footnote 344:
As timber is the material for workmanship, so “timber of songs” means the subject from which the song is made.
Footnote 345:
As the leaves hang on the branches of the trees, so the words hang on the timber of song.
Footnote 346:
The mouth.
Footnote 347:
Daughter of Ægir.
Footnote 348:
Meaning that his kinsmen are round him like a sheltering wall.
Footnote 349:
I.e., he sees the seat of his son empty.
Footnote 350:
Björn = Thor. The women of Björn = the Troll women.
Footnote 351:
We see the custom of slave-women.
Footnote 352:
Breast, called here the burg of the mind.
Footnote 353:
Geirlauk.
Footnote 354:
Odin.
Footnote 355:
To be an old maid seems to have been looked upon as a curse.
Footnote 356:
Speech runes.
Footnote 357:
One of the Nornir, representing the past.
Footnote 358:
Husbands.
Footnote 359:
The gold of Fafnir’s lair.
Footnote 360:
The door-post.
Footnote 361:
Sigurd’s horse.
Footnote 362:
Horses.
Footnote 363:
Probably Sigurd’s body had been thrown into the forest after he was slain in his bed.
Footnote 364:
Knut Dana-ast was the brother of Harald Blue-tooth.