IVAR SPURNS STARKAD’S INDEMNITY
STARKAD, who had given the mortal wound to Hjorvard, feared Ivar’s
enmity, and that of his kinsmen and foster-brothers, and wished to pay
“weregild,” or indemnity, for his death. He had heard of the vow of
Ivar, and knew that sooner or later he would avenge the death of his
father, for there was a saying, that there was a wolf’s mind in a son.
Accordingly, he sent a man called Nidud, a great warrior, to Dampstadir,
to offer Ivar indemnity.
When Nidud came to the banqueting hall, the men were seated on the
benches round the fires, drinking their beloved beer, mead, and ale. On
his arrival all became silent, for the warriors knew that great news was
to be told. Ivar bade Nidud to sit on the second high seat, and it was
not long before the silence was interrupted by the rising of Nidud, who,
in a chilling voice, said: “Starkad has sent me here to thee, Ivar, with
costly presents, and I have ridden through the length of Gotland to bid
thee, and also thy foster-brothers, to his hall, and to the benches
facing the tables. Come all, with your eagle-beaked helmets, to get
honor and large gifts, helmets and shields, swords and saxes,
chain-armor, horses, and costly garments, gold and silver, and large
estates. Thou, Ivar, will get indemnity for thy father’s death, and be
reconciled to Starkad.”
Ivar wondered if Starkad had a wolf’s mind, and meant, cunningly and
treacherously, to attack him with an overwhelming host if he came with
but few men. He answered: “I and my foster-brothers own seven halls full
of swords; their hilts are of gold, and their scabbards are ornamented
also with gold. Our swords and saxes are the sharpest, our ‘brynjas’ are
the whitest and brightest, our arrows are the fleetest, our spears the
surest, our horses the best; we have no lack of gold and silver, for our
treasures are among the greatest in the northern lands.”
Nidud replied: “Here is the message and invitation in writing which
Starkad sends thee, Ivar. It is written in mystic runes;” and he handed
a stick on which the invitation had been written.
Then Ivar read the message, and turning his head to his foster-brothers
said to them in a low voice: “I shall not accept his invitation and the
indemnity he offers to me.”
“I wonder at his offer,” replied Hjalmar. “He has seldom done this
before, for he is of a miserly mind. Let us confer together alone.” So
Ivar told Nidud they would give him an answer the next day; and, bidding
his champions to entertain Nidud and his men until he came back, left
the hall with his foster-brother.
“I am surprised at the costly things Starkad has sent thee,” said
Sigurd. “But among them I noticed a ring with a wolf’s hair attached to
it. I think some one warns thee and us that he has a wolf’s mind towards
us, and means treachery.”
“It must be some woman who loves us,” replied Ivar. “Whom do we know
among women in Starkad’s realm? Let us try and recall.”
After a silence which lasted some time, during which the two
foster-brothers remained plunged in thought, Hjalmar said: “Herborg the
Lovely must have tied this wolf’s hair there,” pointing to the ring.
“She is his sister, and thinks well of us all.”
“I am sure she loves thee, Hjalmar,” said Ivar.
“I think not,” replied his foster-brother; “but I believe she likes us
very much, and has for us the greatest friendship. It is just like a
woman—kind-hearted, noble in friendship, and true to the end of life.”
Then they looked carefully at the “kelfi,” or stick, upon which runic
messages were carved or written, when suddenly they discovered that some
of the letters had been changed with a great deal of skill. Then they
inspected most minutely every letter, and found that with the invitation
there was also a warning for Ivar not to come, or if he came, to bring
many warriors and champions with him.
In the meantime, Nidud, and the men who had come with him, and the
champions of Ivar drank merrily, Nidud praising highly the gifts the
champions were to receive when they came to visit Starkad.
Sigrlin was not long in hearing of the invitation of Starkad, and the
following morning she came to Ivar just as he was making ready to go to
the banqueting hall, and said to him: “Ivar, I had a dream last night
which I am going to tell thee. It is a warning of the gods, and thou
must not go.”
“What was the dream, mother?” Ivar inquired.
“It seemed to me thy sheets burned in fire, and that a mighty flame
burst through thy house.”
“Here lie linen clothes, for which thou carest little; they will soon
burn,” answered Ivar. “This is where thou didst see sheets burning.”
“But,” Sigrlin continued, “I thought a white bear had come in here. He
broke through the walls; he shook his paws so that we were frightened;
he caught many of us in his grasp, so that we were helpless, and there
was a great struggle amongst us to be free from him.”
“That,” said Ivar, “is a storm that will arise, and soon become violent,
and thy white bear will prove a rain-storm from the east.”
“I thought an eagle flew in here,” persisted Sigrlin, “through the
length of the house; it bespattered us with blood. That forebode, I
thought, a heavy fight. It was the shape of Starkad.”
“We kill cattle speedily when we see blood; it often means oxen when we
dream of eagles,” replied Ivar, reassuringly.
“I fancied I saw a gallows made for thee, and that thou wert going to
hang thereon. I thought I buried thee alive. I saw also a bloody sword
drawn out of thy body; a spear, I thought, had pierced thy side; wolves
howled at both its ends. It is sad to tell of such a dream to such a son
as thou art; but thou art all I have in the world, and I think our own
Disirs, or family spirits, warn us of danger, Ivar.”
“They were dogs that ran, instead of wolves; they were barking loudly.”
“It seemed to me that a river ran through the length of the house,
roaring in anger, rushing over the benches, bruising the feet of thy
foster-brothers; the water spared nothing. This forebode something, I am
sure. It seemed to me, also, that dead women came hither this night;
they bade thee to come quickly to them and their benches. This must
forebode something. I say again, that I fear that the guardian spirits
of our family have abandoned thee, and that they are to be faithless to
us.”
“Mother, be not afraid,” returned Ivar, earnestly. “Dreams are not
always warnings from the gods, though I must say that what thou tellest
me is strange; but thou knowest well that no one can escape his fate,
and what the Nornir have decreed must take place.”
Then they separated, and Ivar went to the hall, his mother following him
soon afterwards, and found there the messengers waiting for his answer
to the invitation of Starkad.
The hall was filled with guests, and the ale was passed round. A hush
fell upon the throng as Ivar entered, and in the midst of expectant
attention, anxious looks, and profound silence, he said, with a voice
loud, but full of emotion: “Nidud, and you men who have come with him,
go and tell Starkad, your lord, that I have vowed at the arvel of my
father, in presence of my kinsmen and kinswomen, and of the high-born of
the land, and of the men of great renown who came from Gaul, Britain,
and the remotest countries where Norsemen have settled, that I would
within two years avenge the death of Hjorvard, my father, or perish in
the attempt. Tell him, also, that my foster-brothers and my kinsmen will
avenge his death and mine if I fall. Tell Starkad that there is no
weregild large enough to indemnify me for the death of my father, and
that when he slew him, he slew one of the bravest and most high-minded
of men. Tell him that the time of revenge is soon coming.”
“Well answered, my son,” shouted Sigrlin at the top of her voice; “the
kinsmen of Hjorvard are not all dead yet, and Starkad will find it out.”
These utterances were received with loud assent on the part of Ivar’s
followers present, and with mortification and chagrin by the messengers
of Starkad, who immediately took their departure.
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