IVAR ATTAINS HIS MAJORITY
ON the last day of the sixth week (the Norse week having but five days)
of the month corresponding to our September, Ivar reached his fifteenth
year, and by law became of age. The morning of that day Gudbrand
presented him with a beautiful ship called the Elidi; it had on board
weapons for a crew of two hundred and forty men. The golden standard
which was hoisted at the masthead had been embroidered by his
foster-mother, and was called The Victorious, that victory might be sure
to follow it wherever it floated. Many spells and incantations had been
repeated over it when it was made. The length of the Elidi was one
hundred and eighty feet; it had twenty-five benches for rowers. The
poetical name given to the craft was the Stallion of the Surf. Hjalmar
also received a beautiful ship as a present, which also had weapons on
board for a crew of two hundred and forty men. This vessel was called
the Trani, and went under the poetical name of the Deer of the Surf.
The following day Gudbrand with his son and foster-son sailed for the
mainland, and after landing they pulled their boat ashore beyond the
reach of the waves, and then entered a great forest of oaks. Gudbrand
had come for a special purpose with the two lads. After building a camp
he left them the following morning, and started out with his dogs. He
did not return in the evening; the second day also passed, and still he
did not return. On the third day, towards noon, Ivar and Hjalmar heard
the barking of the dogs, and soon after two wolves ran quickly by them,
and a short time afterwards Gudbrand made his appearance with a large
wolf he had just killed with two arrows. He had gone on that hunt for
the purpose of killing a wolf, for he believed firmly that Ivar and
Hjalmar after drinking of its blood and eating of its heart would become
braver than they were before, and would partake of the fierceness of the
wolf while in battle, and that also they would be able to understand the
language of birds.
After Gudbrand had rested, he opened the wolf’s carcass, and made the
two lads drink a mouthful of its blood; then he took out its heart, and
going to the fire roasted it on a spit, and when the blood dripped from
it, he thought it was cooked enough, and dividing it in two, he gave
each a part. After they had done eating and drinking of the wolf’s heart
and blood, Gudbrand said: “Now I expect you never to flee from danger or
weapons; be brave like your kinsmen of old.” After this they returned to
Engel.
Gudbrand and Sigrid loved Ivar quite as much as their own son, and
resolved to make both equal heirs in their property; but this act could
only be done publicly, and by performing a ceremony which was called
“Taking another into one’s inheritance,” and it had to be done with the
approval and consent of the direct heir or heirs, and according to forms
of law which were very ancient and precise on the subject.
A day was named by Gudbrand for taking Ivar into his family, so that
witnesses might be present, and also those who would otherwise be
themselves entitled to his inheritance. Ale from three measures of grain
had been brewed, and a bull three winters old had been killed, and the
skin was flayed from its right hind leg above the hoof, and from that
skin a shoe was made. Then in presence of Hjalmar, his son, who was his
direct heir, Gudbrand asked Ivar, his foster-son, to step into the shoe.
After Ivar had done this, he asked his own son to do likewise, which
Hjalmar did with great willingness. After this ceremony, which was of
great antiquity, Ivar was led into the embrace of his foster-father and
mother.
Then Gudbrand said, in presence of witnesses: “I lead this man, Ivar
Hjorvardson, to my property, and make him conjoint heir with my son
Hjalmar; and this I do with the consent of my kinsmen, who are heirs to
my estate.” After which he reminded Ivar that he must announce publicly,
every twentieth year, that he was conjoint heir with Hjalmar Gudbrandson
until he should get his inheritance. Ivar replied that he hoped that his
foster-father, who had raised him so tenderly and lovingly, with his
foster-mother, would live long to enjoy his property, and thanked him
for his great kindness and the fatherly care he had bestowed upon him.
A short time after Ivar had been made co-heir with Hjalmar, the two
foster-brothers resolved to equip the Elidi and the Trani with a peace
crew of one hundred and twenty men for each vessel. No one coming to
serve on board could be less than eighteen years old or more than fifty.
They were to have the same laws that Hjorvard had. It was the first time
that both were to command, or to use the phraseology of the Norsemen, in
which the commanders were called “styrmen,” to steer their own ships. It
was quite an event in their lives, to which they had been looking
forward with great delight.
All the chiefs of the Viking lands had been at peace with each other for
a long time, but incessant expeditions took place, one after another,
against the Roman empire, and the ships returned home with many spoils
and slaves.
It was the intention of the foster-brothers to go first to Dampstadir,
for Ivar wanted very much to see his mother and father, and to show them
how much he had grown and improved. Both were yet too young to look like
thorough warriors, for their moustaches had not made their appearance,
and it was the custom of warriors to wear them. After a visit to
Dampstadir, they intended to visit some of their kinsmen, who ruled over
different realms.
Before leaving Hrafnista, Gudbrand said to them: “Have you taken costly
presents with you?” And when the two youths replied “No,” he continued:
“You must take some; for I never yet met a man so open-handed or free
with his food that he would not take a gift, nor one so lavish with his
property, that rewards were to him unwelcome.” Then he added: “With
weapons and clothes, such as are most sightly to one’s self, shall
friends gladden each other. Givers and receivers are the longest friends
if they give with good hearts and good wishes.” After saying this he
went to one of his store-rooms and brought to them several
gold-ornamented swords and saxes inlaid with gold, several costly
foreign cloaks, beautiful brooches of gold, some superb arm-rings, or
bracelets, and lovely necklaces, all also of gold. “These objects,” said
he to them, “you must give to the high-born men and women you shall
visit. The necklaces will be for their wives and daughters.”
The day before sailing, Gudbrand called Ivar and Hjalmar, and bade them
to sit by him, and saying, “I have called you to give you some advice
which I think may prove useful to you, and which I hope you will heed,”
he spoke as follows: “When you come to a meal among strangers, be silent
or talk little, listen and look on. Speak usefully or not at all; no man
will then blame you for ill-breeding. Never mock at a guest or wayfarer.
Remember that no man is so good that a fault follows him not, nor so bad
that he is good for nothing. Never laugh at a hoary wise man, for often
it is good and wise what old men say: ‘Skilled words come often out of a
shrivelled skin.’ Remember that love is the door that is open to all
that are in need. Give and be generous; if not, every kind of evil will
be wished to you.”
That same evening Gudbrand sent for his son Hjalmar, and said to him:
“What gladdens me is, that no man will have thy head at his feet,
although thou wilt have narrow escapes. Here is a sword, kinsman
Hjalmar, which I wish to give thee; its name is Dragvandil, and victory
has always followed it. My father took it from the slain Björn
Blue-tooth. I have another remarkable weapon, a mighty spear which I
took from Harek, but I know it is not manageable by any one who has not
reached his full strength.”
The day before their ships were ready to sail, the foster-brothers made
a great sacrifice to Frey, who ruled over wealth and the seasons. When
ready to start, both Sigrid and Gudbrand followed them to their ships,
and bade them an affectionate farewell. After a pleasant passage they
reached Dampstadir, where they were received with great joy by Hjorvard
and Sigrlin. The mother looked with the utmost pride upon her son, who
was the embodiment of manliness, and Hjalmar was treated in as kindly
manner as his foster-brother, for they loved him dearly also.
Every thing was very quiet in Gotland; the harvest was taking place, and
people were busy in the fields. The champions of Hjorvard were absent,
and had gone with a large number of ships to make war in Gaul and
Britain, and were expected to return soon. The two youths spent a great
deal of their time in the practice of athletic games, and every morning
they were seen in the fields where these took place. Ivar visited his
kinsmen and the friends living on the island, and also occupied himself
in learning still more of the art of shipbuilding, for he wished the
Norsemen to say that his ships were the finest in the land. He liked
good horses and bred them. Two of his stallions, called Slonjvir, “the
flying one,” and Hviting, were known among all the lovers of horses, and
he drove a beautiful, four-wheeled, wagon-shaped carriage, adorned with
handsome bronze-gilt ornaments, the harness of the horses being
ornamented with gold.
Occupied in these exercises and diversions, Ivar and his foster-brother
remained three years in Dampstadir.
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