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[Illustration: _Frithiof's sea journey_]
_Life Stories for Young People_
THE FRITHIOF SAGA
_Translated from the German of
Ferdinand Schmidt_
BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
_Translator of "Memories," "Immensee," etc._
With Four Illustrations
[Illustration: A. C. McCLURG & CO.]
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1907
Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1907
Published September 21, 1907
The University Press, Cambridge, U. S. A.
Translator's Preface
Iceland is the home of the Saga, a form of literature which includes the
telling of the story of a hero's life and adventures in a fixed, regular
form, and which is usually intended for recitation, though the Saga is
never set in the customary versified style of poetry. A large number of
these Sagas, relating to Iceland, Greenland, North America, and the
Norse countries, still remain, and among them the Frithiof Saga,
narrating the stirring adventures of that hero of the Northland and
Viking of its seas, is one of the most beautiful. Its subject is noble,
heroic, and free from exaggerated description or overwrought sentiment.
Frithiof is a splendid type of the old Norse hero, invincible in battle
upon the land, fearless of Nature's wrath as he sails the seas in his
dragon ship, impulsive yet just, swift in punishment yet quick in
forgiveness. The central motives of the Saga are his love for King
Bele's daughter, Ingeborg; the refusal of her brothers to sanction their
marriage because the hero is not of royal birth; her unwilling marriage
to the old King Ring; Frithiof's exile, and his final union with
Ingeborg after the death of her husband and reconciliation with her
brother. Interwoven with the narrative itself, which is full of dramatic
situations, are some of the old myths, than which none is more beautiful
than the death of the gentle god Balder. The very breath of the North
sweeps through the stately story which the German author has told with
so much skill. Those who wish to come in closer contact with the Saga
itself can do so by consulting Bishop Tegner's masterly translation.
G. P. U.
Chicago, June, 1907.
Contents
Chapter Page
I Frithiof and Ingeborg 11
II The Death of Balder 15
III King Bele and Thorsten 26
IV Frithiof's Inheritance 33
V Frithiof's Wooing 40
VI King Ring 44
VII Frithiof at Chess 48
VIII Frithiof goes to Ingeborg 50
IX The Parting 52
X Frithiof's Voyage 59
XI Frithiof at the Court of Augantyr 62
XII Frithiof's Return 68
XIII The Burning of the Temple 74
XIV Frithiof in Exile 78
XV Frithiof's Viking Life 81
XVI Frithiof comes to King Ring's Court 84
XVII The Sledge Excursion 89
XVIII Frithiof's Temptation 91
XIX Death of King Ring 97
XX The Election to the Kingdom 100
XXI The Reconciliation 102
Illustrations
Page
Frithiof's Sea Journey _Frontispiece_
Frithiof's Wooing 42
Frithiof's Wrestle 64
King Ring's Death 98
The Frithiof Saga
Chapter I
Frithiof and Ingeborg
In olden times there ruled in Norway a King of great renown called Bele,
whose wife died early, leaving him two sons and a daughter. When the
latter had reached her sixth year, the King said to Thorsten, his
brother-in-arms and lifelong friend, "My rosebud, Ingeborg, is the joy
of my heart, but none the less I must send her away and entrust her to
the guardianship of Hilding the Wise, so that, far from the turmoil and
distractions of a court, the light of true knowledge shall be hers. But
lest she should miss the companionship of her beloved playfellow, I pray
thee permit thy son Frithiof to accompany her, that they may be reared
together."
"Gladly will I do so," replied Thorsten; "not alone to honor thy
request, but because I know thou hast my son's welfare also at heart in
sending him as the companion of thine own child to be taught by the wise
Hilding. My King's will shall be done."
Hilding's abode lay on the sea-coast, surrounded by gardens and wooded
hills, and there Ingeborg and Frithiof spent the years of their
childhood, faithfully taught and cared for by the good old man. Two rare
blossoms of the Northland were these children, both richly endowed with
gifts of mind and body: Ingeborg was like the swelling rosebud within
whose heart the promise of the spring lies dreaming, while Frithiof grew
up tall and strong as a young oak tree crowned with its crest of
rustling leaves. So blessed by the gods were they with health and beauty
that never had their like been seen in all the North. Now listening to
the wondrous tales of their wise master, with clear eyes uplifted to
his; now racing over the sunny meadows or dancing lightly under the dark
boughs of the fir trees in the silvery moonlight, they were like the
Light Fairies, whose appearance betokens blessing and fills the heart
with anticipations of joy.
Frithiof was but little older than Ingeborg, and when he first learned
from Hilding to read the Runic signs, it was his delight to teach them
in turn to his beloved playmate. Ofttimes they would sail out upon the
wind-tossed sea, and when the shifting of the sail sent foam and spray
dashing into the boat, Ingeborg would clap her small hands in glee. No
tree was too high for the bold lad when he wished to capture a nest of
young birds for the King's child; even the osprey's eyrie, high among
the rocky crags, was not safe from his daring quest. 'Twas he that found
for her the first pale blossoms of the springtime, the first ripe
strawberry, the summer's first golden ear of corn. Joyously they
wandered together in the forest, Frithiof armed to protect his playmate
in case of need; for he early strove to train himself in all a hero's
duties.
Thus, like a beautiful dream, the happy days of childhood glided by.
Ingeborg blossomed into maidenhood, and Frithiof became a stalwart
youth. The King's daughter spent more time in her own chamber now,
learning the tasks of women, chief of which was the weaving of garments,
while Frithiof was often abroad with the men in quest of game or booty.
Inheriting not only his father's strength and daring, but also his
discretion and cheerfulness, he was beloved by all and soon aroused the
wonder of his companions in the chase by the boldness with which he
would attack the fiercest beasts, felling them with a blow from his
spiky club, or piercing them through with the sharp-pronged spear. As in
earlier days he had been wont to bring his playmate gifts of flowers or
fruit as greetings of the season, so now he laid at her feet the
trophies of his prowess--shaggy bears or grisly wild boars, often
revealing upon his body bloody traces of the struggle. Admiringly
Ingeborg's gaze would rest at such times on the young hero, while her
heart beat fast in terror for his life.
And when on cold winter nights they sat together in the great hall by
the blazing hearth fire listening to the legends old Hilding told them
of the gods, or, when the King's daughter would sing of the deeds of
some great hero long at rest beneath his grassy mound, she seemed to
Frithiof like a goddess sent by the great All-Father for a brief space
to the darksome earth to awaken a foretaste of Valhalla's delights.
"Praises of Frigga's golden hair are sung throughout the land," he would
say to himself, "but surely it can be no more beautiful than Ingeborg's
fair tresses." And when he gazed into those soft eyes, so full of
heaven's own light and hue, he doubted Hilding's declaration that the
eyes of the goddess Frigga were the most beautiful in all the world.